SWEATSHOP FASHION

Hands up who’s got a Nike t-shirt in their wardrobe? I have, though I now use it as a duster. In a recent article Treehugger suggests;

‘Sweatshops are a hidden reality in an increasingly globalised world. It's difficult to know under what conditions your shirt was made, especially when it comes from halfway around the world. Of course, it's important to point out that while many sweatshops are neither owned nor operated by the big companies, it shouldn't excuse them from turning a blind eye to labour or human rights violations or acting accordingly. As clients of such factories, these companies (and we consumers) have the greater power ultimately to pressure for safer and fairer working conditions: by putting your money where your mouth is.’

Treehugger provide a list of fashion brands suspected of using sweatshops and unethical labour practices that need to work harder to clean up their act;

H&M, Abercrombie & Fitch, GAP, Wal-mart, Calvin Klien, & our old friends Nike.

Nike

As the juggernaut of designer athletic wear, Nike built its empire on shoes made with cheap foreign labour. Though it seems to have taken some environmentally-sound steps in some of its recent initiatives, it may look like greenwash when considered next to policies that some Nike contractors are implementing. In 2008, for example, an undercover investigation by a British news channel showed that a Malaysian contractor was confiscating migrant workers' passports and forcing them to sign contracts to work off their immigration 'debt' -- in effect, as indentured slaves. And in 2010, former employees in Honduras alleged that Nike still owes 1,700 workers in $2.2 million in severance pay after it closed three factories, two of which had begun to unionise.

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