Labeling policy for the Fast Fashion industry
In 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor found that 85% of L.A. garment factories violated federal wage and hour laws. These factories are also called sweatshops, which refers to a typically tiny manufacturing establishment employing workers under unfair and unhygienic working conditions (Nguyen, 2022). Women and children are the ones who often work with suffer grueling workdays and meager pay that does not cover basic expenses, while offering them cruel working and living circumstances. Companies like Forever 21, Fashion Nova, H&M, Zara and more often buy their garments from Third World countries such as Bangladesh, China, and India. Most of the consumers from these companies unknowledge the origin of the items. For that reason, The Federal Trade Commission must implement a labeling policy providing full transparency by giving their entire supply chain.
To understand the problem and how we can solve it, we need to know the start of it all. The concept of sweatshops emerged during and after the First Industrial Revolution. The very first sweatshop was found in London and other neighboring British cities. It quickly spread to other European cities such as Paris, which are records that show that during the late 19th and 20th century, most workers in Parisian garment sweatshops were of German, Belgian, Polish, and Russian Jewish descent. (The Global…) The sweatshops would employ mostly improvised immigrant women and children who had very few jobs’ alternatives. It is frightening how two centuries have passed and the pattern is the same for the workers.
Now a days, there’s not only sweatshop in Europe but also in countries like the U.S., China and mostly third world countries. The Dunken Law firm satiated that “in the United States, sweatshops predominantly exist in major metropolitan areas such as New York and Los Angeles. This is primarily because these major cities have easy access to a large group of undocumented immigrants who may take a chance on any labor to make money for their families”. There is a pattern for sweatshops, undocumented immigrants and their shortage of job opportunities. Trisha Talker once said on her TEDx that companies are profiting from the need to work of the poor people, which is a hundred percent true. The huge fashion companies like Forever 21, they don’t get all their clothes from the United States only, they look for sweatshops in mostly their world countries where they take advantage of the workers and pay them cents an hour. A 2018 US Department of Labot report found evidence of forced and child labor in the fashion industry in Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Turkey, Vietnam and others. Rapid production means that sales and profits supersede human welfare. (Maiti, 2022)
Bangladesh was one of the countries that suffered the consequences for the inhuman workplace. In 2013, an eight-floor factory building that housed several garment factories collapsed in Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing 1 134 workers and injuring more than 2 500. (Maiti, 2022) Millions of people have heard or seen about the ”Rana Plaza collapse” but only a few of them had made action. Few months after the tragedy happened, international fashion brands who source in Bangladesh announced the creation of two five-year compliancy agreements. The legally binding Accord on Fire and Building Safety was signed by more than 200, including American Eagle, H & M and Inditex, the parent company of Zara. Sounds pretty interesting and helpful but that’s not the reality. Five years later news reporters found that “fire buckets were filled with trash, emergency water bins were cracked and half empty, no one wore safety masks, most workers — some in their early teens — were barefoot, wiring was exposed, bolts of fabric and scraps littered the floors, window panes were broken, and the lone stairwell out of the tenement-like building was obstructed by cartons of finished product destined for Russia.” (Thomas. New York Times, 2018) The act and alliance was in fact made with a good cause, but the follow up is as important as the tragedy. People with power tend to solve instant problems but seem to forget what’s next. The workers in the same factories could die again for the same mistake that was made years ago and the excuse of the big companies will be that they tried their best to prevent them. We know, that’s not the reality. A testimonial from a survivor of the accident explained the aftermath. Her name is Shiuli Begum and she suffers from cracked hip bones and spinal column damage suffered during the accident at the age of 26. She said,
“Everything went dark and I felt things falling all over me.” She lost consciousness, and 36 hours later woke up in a hospital. She also received no compensation, not even the 45,000 taka (roughly $530) pledged by brands. “You had to lobby for the money,” she said. “And I was too infirm.” Her husband is a day laborer and her caregiver.” (Thomas. New York Times, 2018)
That is the story of one out of 2 500 people who were injured in the accident and perhaps the families that lost their loved ones barely received any compensation. Trisha Striker explained that only 5% of companies worldwide know where their supplies come from. As a customer or a business owner it’s important to know the origin of what you are consuming. Maybe the jeans you are wearing right now were made by one of the victims of the accident. As bad as it sounds, it’s the reality. So, all the consumers need to know the origin of their clothing, they need to know who and where it was made from, not only the destination but also where the cotton came from, the zipper, the button and from what company. It’s important to give full transparency.
There are many solutions to the problem, but I found one that will have a huge impact, which is implementing a labeling policy by the Federal Trade Commission. This policy will be applied to all the Fashion Industry companies that require an extra label with the full supply chain of their products. By this, the company will need to do an in-depth research and follow up on their suppliers, from the fabric to the factory that made the final touches of the garments. Also, the labels need to specify that factories are in order with the labor working requirements of their country. If not, then a red color will appear on the tag. That will inform the consumer and hopefully, if there is a red mark, the product will have no demand on the market. As I said before, this is an opportunity for companies to keep track of everything and become a profit organization with a positive social and environmental impact.
As I said before there are several ways to approach the problem, in fact, there’s non-profit organizations who are fighting for the cause. There are apps that will scale the brand from very good to very bad based on their social, environmental and cultural impacts. For example, a brand like Forever 21 will receive a very bad review and explain why it is very bad. The trick here is some areas which population don’t have access to a smartphone or know the existence of the app. That’s why we need to show full transparency in clothing. In my opinion, that’s the most direct approach to the customer.
The FTC states that in general, textile and apparel products sold in the United States must be labeled with the following information: the fiber content, the country of origin, the manufacturer or dealer identity, and the care instructions. At the end of the day, we have realized that’s not what we need, we need some full transparency and honesty from the companies to prevent disaster and unfair labors.
The implementation of the policy may take time, but it will be a long year plan. First, the Federal Trade Commission will need to accept and implement the policy for all the apparels companies in the Unites States. Then, the same entity will need to set the norms and rules to consider a good or bad supply chain based on several factors as we mentioned before. Some of the factors will be if the factories are paying their workers above the minimum wage, their work conditions, no child labor, a waste policy and an environmental cause. Based on those criteria, a group of professionals in the industry, scientists, anthropologists, lawyers and more will determine first the rank of the company. With the years, we can hope that from the database of the company and their records that artificial intelligence will determine. Fashion brands must follow the policy, otherwise they will get penalized. Once they have the ratings, the FTC is going to inform the different app real companies and they will have to put the label. There are definitely two big consequences, if the company is supplying sweatshops, they will have to change imminently not only because of the FTC but also because of the reputation and the loyalty of the customers. Finally, the label will appear on the right side of the product with the whole supply chain and a color. If the color is red, it means that the business i violating one of the factors. On the other hand, if the label is green, it means that all the requirements are being followed and you are buying a piece of clothing that is sustainable and fair labor worked. The process will take years, but the final result will be worth it.
All fo this being said, I call every consumer of the fashion industry to do research into the brand they are buying. Now a days the shopping culture is buying more for less but in reality, you are buying a really cheap T-shirt because the cost of production was really cheap. I’ve always asked the reason why some stores sell their clothes for less than 1o dollars which is cray but now I know, most of them are using sweatshops as producers of their clothing. That is why the buyer must be 100% informed and at the same time they have the right to know. I would like to end this paper with a quote from the writer Rashmila Maiti who explains mainly the what’s the overall purpose of the policy “Slow fashion is the widespread reaction to fast fashion, the argument for hitting the brakes on excessive production, overcomplicated supply chains, and mindless consumption. It advocates for manufacturing that respects people, the environment and animals.” (Maiti, 2022). We are in power of our decisions, so let’s make a change. We should avoid unfair work conditions and wages by being informed before purchasing an item just because it’s on sale or really cheap.
Works Cited
Morse Alison. “The dirty truth behind Los Angeles’ garment sector” Remake, July 24, 2020. https://remake.world/stories/news/the-dirty-truth-behind-los-angeles-garment-sector/ Access date: April 26, 2023.
Maiti Rashmila. “Fast Fashion and its Environmental Impact” Earth.Org, Dec 1st, 2022. https://earth.org/fast-fashions-detrimental-effect-on-the-environment/ Access date: April 26. 2023.
Striker, Trisha. “The high cost of cheap clothing”. TEDxTownsville. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ni9gQn5rsLA. Access date: April 28th, 2023
Nguyen, Lei. “Fast Fashion: the danger of sweatshops” Earth.Org. Oct 10th, 2022. https://earth.org/sweatshops/ Access date: April 28th 2023.
“The Global History of Sweatshops” Matter. https://www.matterprints.com/journal/community/history-of-sweatshops/ Access date: May 5th, 2023.
“Sweatshops in the Unites States” The Dunken Law Firm. https://www.thedunkenlawfirm.com/sweatshops-in-the-united-states/. Acces date: May 5th, 2023.
Thomas Dana. ” Why Won’t We Learn from the Survivors of the Rana Plaza Disaster?” The New York Times. April 24th, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/24/style/survivors-of-rana-plaza-disaster.html Access date: May 6th, 2023.
Annotated bibliography
Morse Alison. “The dirty truth behind Los Angeles’ garment sector” Remake, July 24, 2020. https://remake.world/stories/news/the-dirty-truth-behind-los-angeles-garment-sector/ Access date: April 26, 2023.
Los Angeles have the most “cut and sew” factories in the U.S. and some of them had violated the laws related to federal wage and maximum hours worked. These sewing contractor factories are unclean, filled with vermin, have poor lighting, are locked and/or have blocked exit doors, and provide no workplace health and safety training. The article gives two stories from people who worked at the factories.
Maiti Rashmila. “Fast Fashion and its Environmental Impact” Earth.Org, Dec 1st, 2022. https://earth.org/fast-fashions-detrimental-effect-on-the-environment/ Access date: April 26. 2023.
The article explains the concept of Fast Fashion and the environmental impacts. There are not only environmental but also social impacts. There’s evidence found of forced and child labor in the fashion industry in Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Turkey, Vietnam and others. Rapid production means that sales and profits supersede human welfare.
Krause, Elizabeth L., and Massimo Bressan. “Circulating Children, Underwriting Capitalism: Chinese Global Households and Fast Fashion in Italy.” Current Anthropology, vol. 59, no. 5, 2018, pp. 572–95, https://doi.org/10.1086/699826. Access date: April 28th, 2023.
This paper analyzes how kin-related values, norms, and practices become entangled in the hegemony of global supply chains. Our collaboration focuses on the Made in Italy fast fashion sector, where the ultimate flexible workers are Chinese migrants. We home in on a paradox: half of the births in this Italian textile city are to foreign women, yet once weaned many of these babies are then sent to China. This circulation of children gives rise to a host of new discourses and interventions on parenting from various institutions and experts.
Striker, Trisha. “The high cost of cheap clothing”. TEDxTownsville. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ni9gQn5rsLA. Access date: April 28th, 2023
The presenter of the Ted talk starts by saying that only 5% of companies know where all their supplies come from. The clothing supply chain is a complex system. Ethical clothing is the solution to this and can be defined as the approach of the ones who make the clothes and recycle clothes. Most of the people are forced to work on the fabrics that make fast-fashioned clothing, and they don’t have another choice. Companies are profiting from the need to work of the poor people.
Nguyen, Lei. “Fast Fashion: the danger of sweatshops” Earth.Org. Oct 10th, 2022. https://earth.org/sweatshops/ Access date: April 28th 2023.
This article explains how fast fashion has increased significantly in first-world nations. Consumers buy inexpensive, fashionable clothing for a small fraction of the cost of high-end goods. Clothes manufacturers have been able to build this business model by relying on cheap labor in developing nations, where workers are exploited and underpaid and often work in inhumane conditions. Also mentions the disaster that happened in Bangladesh.
Igini, Martina. “10 concerning Fast Fashion waste statistics” . Earth.Org. Aug 2nd, 2022. https://earth.org/statistics-about-fast-fashion-waste/ Access date: April 28th , 2023
The fast fashion industry is responsible for nearly 10% of global carbon emissions, the industry is also infamously known for the amount of resources it wastes and the millions of clothes ending up in landfills every day. Here are 10 highly concerning statistics about textile waste.
“The Global History of Sweatshops” Matter. https://www.matterprints.com/journal/community/history-of-sweatshops/ Access date: May 5th, 2023.
It explains th history of sweatshops and their consequences. Starting by the First Industrial Revolution to the current Asian countries that put their workers in danger. Then it gives some solutions to this problem worldwide and nationally in the U.S.
“Sweatshops in the Unites States” The Dunken Law Firm. https://www.thedunkenlawfirm.com/sweatshops-in-the-united-states/. Acces date: May 5th, 2023.
Although nearly everyone has heard of sweatshops, many have a false perception of what a sweatshop entails. Many imagine sweatshops to be located in third-world countries, in impossibly bleak conditions with poor conditions for everybody employed. However, it may surprise some to know that sweatshops are not just a third-world problem – they persist everywhere, including developed countries such as the United States.
Thomas Dana. ” Why Won’t We Learn from the Survivors of the Rana Plaza Disaster?” The New York Times. April 24th, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/24/style/survivors-of-rana-plaza-disaster.html Access date: May 6th, 2023. After more than 1,100 people were killed in the horrific building collapse, hundreds of factories in Bangladesh were shuttered. Five years later, the garment industry looks set to return to business as usual. Gives testimonies of people who survived the accident and how the shops nor government pay for their damage.
