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High street fashion chains 'slow on ethical progress'

Marie Claire Fashion News: Burberry

High street fashion brands are still failing to pay their overseas workers a living wage - despite many promising to do so.

A report published two days before the start of London fashion week on Sunday accuses the £36 billion industry of only just starting to 'dabble' with improving the 'paltry' pay of those working for its suppliers.

None of the 30 high street brands surveyed in the report is paying its workers a living wage and only 10 get modest credit for their work.

Of those only Gap and Monsoon Accessorise are praised for having clear plans to improve matters beyond pilot projects.

Marks & Spencer, New Look and Next have initiatives with potential for change, while Sainsbury's, Asda, Primark, Tesco and the Arcadia group, which includes Topshop and Miss Selfridge, claim to have plans but lack concrete information.

Other labels including Levi Strauss, Burberry, French Connection and Matalan are criticised for having done 'no work to speak of' on living wages. Seven others such as BHS and Peacocks are said not to have replied.

Published by the anti-sweatshop coalition Labour Behind the Label, the investigation follows exposes of alleged sweatshop conditions, particularly among suppliers in Bangladesh and India.

It says garment workers in other countries including Turkey and Morocco and in eastern Europe are also not getting a living wage, The Guardian reports.

'The people who make our clothes live in poverty, usually earning half of what they need to meet their basic needs and those of their families,' said the report's author Martin Hearson.

'And 10 years since the bulk of the industry signed up to the principle that all workers should earn living wages, nothing has been done to make that principle a reality.'

Friday 12 September 2008


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This is a very interesting issue and the report gives an accurate description of the state of play for Living Wages in the garment world.

The concept of Living Wages is difficult to define, and even more difficult to implement!

Thank you for increasing the awareness of this important issue!

Jane.

Comment by Jane Blacklock on September 12 16:12

Your research is surprising because it's not linked to public perceptions of these shops. Most people, I think, assume that New Look treats their workers worse than Burberry or French Connection just because the clothes are so much cheaper. But your findings show that New Look, for example, at least pay lip service to the issue.

Of course, this is not enough, but it's more than some expensive high street chains which don't seem to think anyone even cares. This research is a good start.

Perhaps Marie Claire could lead the way in creating a viable strategy to deal with this issue. Or is the real truth that you only need to say you care to be fashionable?
Comment by Michelle on September 14 14:22

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