Cheap labour - Group 4

Fashion Marketing and Communication Opportunity //

Creating Awareness of Cheap Labour

Contents 1

19

Page 1 // What is Cheap Labour?

Page 2 // Where is Cheap Labour happening in 2017?

Page 3 // Past, Present and Future of Bangladesh 19

Page 4 // Past, Present and Future of USA

3

Page 5 // Past, Present and Future of UK Page 6 // Charities Acting for Change Page 7 // Marketing Stratagies Page 8 // Fashion Revolution 19

Page 9 // Our Opportunity

19

Page 10 // Our Opportunity with ASOS Page 11 // Our proposal Page 12 // Bibliography 19

2

What is Cheap Labour?

Cheap Labour is when someone works hard and long hours on a pay rate lower than minimum wage. It usually occurs in factories where adults and children work in bad conditions. (Cheap Labour definition, 2017) As a group we have researched into 3 different countries that use Cheap Labour to make cheaper garments for the fashion industry. We looked into Bangladesh, United Kingdom and USA. As a group, we looked at an opportunity of change that can occur from the issue of cheap labour to help create attention and awareness to the public that cheap labour is still occurring globally.

We chose to focus our report on cheap labour because we feel there is still progress to be made by the fashion industry to improve worker conditions, both in third world and developed countries. Due to the popularity of fast fashion and the growing need for immediacy, cheap labour continues to be an issue in the industry.

Figure1

Daily Mail, 2015 FG.4

Past, Present and Future of Bangladesh Past In 2013, 1130 people died and 2,500 were injured in The Rana Plaza disaster, in which when a run-down eight-storey factory building making clothes for Primark, Benetton, Walmart and other Western brands collapsed. This disaster has been the highlight for change within cheap labour conditions.

In 2013, Serious accidents in the garment-trade belt around Dhaka have become regular occurrence.

Bangladesh exported nearly $31 billion of goods over- all nearly twice what it did just four years earlier in 2009 accord- ing to data to the International Trade Centre.

About 90% of that value, some $28 billion, came from clothes. It is the world’s second-largest garment exporter, and its share of the global closet just keeps growing.

Alertness and criticism of the practice of big-name fashion brands using cheap labour have been sprouting since the 1990s, and each time it has been followed by protests, apologies, and promises that stricter requirements for supply chains will be enforced (Kyla Ryan, 2015).

Present In 2016 it is said that four million people work in Bangladesh’s garment industry, which now accounts for about 80 per cent of the country’s foreign trade. From the tragic accident in 2013 in The Rana Plaza a silver lining has occurred by the factory work- ers have been given a voice and people are beginning to listen. The BGMEA (Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association) have been working to improve the lives of Bangladesh workers since 1983 BGMEA are dedicated to promote and facilitate the apparel industry through policy advocacy to the government, services to members, ensuring workers’ rights and social compliance at factories.

BGMEA works with the vision to progress the RMG industry of Bangladesh and the economy of the country.

Primarily, to protect and promote the interests of the industry, ensuring a sustained growth in the foreign exchange earnings of the country. Secondly, BGMEA is dedicated to ensuring all genuine rights and privileges of the garment workers. The association also strives toward the improvement of the society and environment. Bangladesh has a development of rising wages. The mixture of increasing job opportunities, better wages, and more payments is likely a funding force in Bangladesh’s remarkable record of poverty drop. The country’s four million garment workers received a wage increase to US$68 in November 2013, an increase of 64%, after protests and strikes in the crisis- hit industry (Bangladesh Labour Market Profile, 2014).

Future Nazma Akter is the founder of the 37,000-member Awaj Foun- dation, which fights for labour rights in Bangladesh. Due to the incident at Rana Plaza, Western clothing brands formed groups to inspect factories and provide safety oversight and some funding for improvements to the factories they worked with. It has been stated

FG.18

that the current minimum wage within Bangladesh is 176.67 Taka, to put this into perspective this is £1.798 per day (January 31, 2017). As the industry has grown, employment in the ready-made garment area has improved steadily year on year, from approximately 200,000 in 1985 to 3.6 million in 2010, with women being 80% of the workforce. To motivate Bangladesh’s economy increase, the government have approved an open door policy to invite foreign investment. The BGMEA is intending to set up a university to improve skills in domestic workers and reduce the reliance on foreign nationals for roles higher up the production chain.

FG.18

FG.17

Past, Present and Future of USA Past Preceding slavery, indentured servants were an early form of cheap labour in America. The servants, who were predominantly European, worked on four to seven years in exchange for a package that included passage, crops, armaments, lodgings, and acres of land. Indentured servants were initially entitled to laws that protected some of their rights (Indentured servants in the U.S., 2017). However, in 1705, the Virginia Slave Laws were passed. These laws condemned the servants to a lifetime of slavery, even if they were just days away from being freed of their indentured status (Lefler, 2016).

Following the demand for cotton in Britain, the invention of the cotton gin in 1793 solidified the necessity for slave labour. Cotton developed into a global commodity, and by 1861, 61% of American exports consisted of raw cotton. It has been estimated that 6 million slaves were imported from Africa during the 18th century (Slavery in America, 2017).

Present The decline of organised unions began in the 1970s. In 1980, union membership equated for 23% of the work force. Less than 40 years later, this has reduced to approximately 11% (Hogler, 2016). Aside from this decline, there are organisations dedicated to workers’ rights.

Los Angeles is at the centre of the country’s largest manufacturing industry, producing garments for fast fashion brands such as Forever 21 (Dirty threads, dangerous factories, 2017). The Garment Worker Center (GWC) is dedicated entirely to garment worker issues and helps low-wage garment workers fight for social and economic justice. The organisation was founded in 2001 after a case in California saw dozens of workers trafficked from Thailand and imprisoned in a makeshift factory (The Garment Worker Center, 2017).

A 2015 report of 307 garment workers conducted by GWC, the UCLA Center for Labor Research and UCLA Labor Occupational Safety and Health, found that: 21% of workers have experienced physical or verbal violence 6% reported sexual harassment Emplyoyees work 10-12 hours a day, 6 days a week, with no overtime Workers are often paid per unit produced, also called ‘piece rates’ Workers earn an average of $5.15 an hour, even though the minimum wage is $7.25 Illnesses reported include musculoskeletal disorders, legions and cuts, and respiratory injuries.

Future During his inauguration, President Trump vowed to “buy American and hire American”. If Trump gains congressional support, this may mean that a 35% tariff

FG.15

will apply to firms that build factories abroad and then sell back to the US markets (Chu, 2017). The aforementioned 2015 report carried out by GWC found that in L.A., 71% of the cut and sew workforce were foreign born.

This could mean a volatile future for America’s garment production, and that the price of garments may rise.

On the other hand, outsourcing may have a knock-on effect on the US garment industry. As the fast-fashion continues to gain popularity, and customers demand a quicker turnover, workers may be required to work longer hours for less pay.

Alternatively, America could see the current situation as an opportunity to forge the way for fair pay and improved conditions within the industry.

FG.14

FG.16

Past, Present and Future of The United Kingdom Past In the 19th century children as young as 8 would be working in factories and mines for long hours. Young workers entered factories as piercers where they would stand at spinning machines repairing breaks in the thread(Griffin,2016). Young children were made to start work from an early age to provide income to support their family as in the Victorian era families where quite large and so needed as much support as possible. Children were paid 3 shillings which is the same as 15p and so this made it easier for children to gain jobs as employers did not have to pay them much (BBC,2014).

Female labour was also another important factor in the Victorian era, where women would mainly work in factories or in domestic services such as house maids as well as home based work such as finishing garments and shoes(Hudson,2011). In the 19th century females would work very long hours where they were paid seven shillings which equals to 35p and so women female labour was more popular then employing men as females where cheaper to pay (BBC,2014).

Present High street stores are now allegedly selling clothes made by workers in Britain who are paid less than half the legal minimum wage(Snowdon,2017). The national living wage is £7.20 per hour however cheap labour workers are paid around £3 £3.50 from supply chains such as New Look, River Island, Boohoo and Missguided.

There are also many health and safety issues regarding cheap labour in Britain for example in a documentary on Channel 4 Undercover: Britain’s Cheap Clothes it was showed a worker smoking on the factory floor as well as workers not having their legal documents checked(Lambert,2017). When an undercover reporter challenged bosses at the factory about why staff were not being paid the National Living Wage, his superior allegedly replied: “We don’t get paid much for our clothes, and we need to compete with China and Bangladesh... If we pay everyone £10 or £6, then we will make a loss”(Armstrong, 2017). This shows how cheap labour isn’t only happening in third world countries.

Future However, in the future technology is expected to affect the way in which factories work in the future. This means the use of machines could be more likely to be used in factories rather than people meaning that cheap labour could decrease.

Successful firms will be capable of rapidly adapting their factories to exploit changes in technology as manufacturing becomes faster, more responsive to

FG. 22

changing global markets and closer to customers(Gov.uk,2013). However, the use of the machines may not be as successful for some companies, for example Mulberry production manager states that “we cannot design a robot to make a handbag� as all products are made in 2 factories by the help of 600 workers who craft the products by hand(Cook,2016). This means that the use of cheap labour may decrease in the future however will still exist as some products still need to be made by hand.

FG. 21

FG.20

Charities Acting for Change

There are many charities that are set up to change and improve the working life for labour workers.

Labour Behind the Label is one of the many that are campaigning for garment workers rights worldwide.

It is a campaign that works to improve conditions and empower workers in the global garment industry.

Oxfam is a leading UK charity fighting global poverty. Oxfam has a motto of ‘We will always act, we will speak out, and we won’t live with poverty’. Oxfam deals with a range of different global aid but aims to make a change to all problems they face

FG.5

FG.6

that face poverty.

Marketing Stratagies

We intend on targeting our opportunity at generations Y, also known as millennials, and Z. Research has shown that millennials globally account for approximately $200 billion in purchasing power, making it essential for charities to appeal to them (The 5 best ways to reach millennials, 2015). Therefore, we looked at the ways in which these demographics can be reached, and how causes and organisations currently achieve this.

A report by Give as you Live (Nahai, 2013) states that “No demographic cohort lives its life online more than generation Y�. and further reports that 89% of generation Y owns a smartphone. The importance of an online presence is widely accredited

Figure 11

throughout several reports, including the Millennial Impact Report (2016), published yearly. The same report has also stated that millennials predominantly choose social media platform Facebook to post issues of importance to them, further backing the theory that online content is of great importance.

Storytelling has been speci ed as an important aspect of gaining the attention of millennials. Furthermore, traditional forms of advertising such as street fundraising, newspaper adverts and TV commercials aren’t appealing to the demographic. Give as you Live reported that 69% of generation Y dislike these methods.

F.G 12

F.G 12

F.G 12

A marketing tool that is now widely used is the hashtag. Possibly due the fact that users can like and share posts with friends, the hashtag has been used by causes such as War Child and Tied Together to create awareness.

A recent example of this strategy is #wearitforwarchild. The public were encouraged to take a ‘sel e’ in their favourite band t-shirt and post the image on Instagram along with the hashtag. In 2014, War Child collaborated with fast fashion brand River Island to create exclusive t-shirts. The de- sign featured a design with the words ‘come together’ and was an exact replica of the t-shirt that John Lennon wore in 1971. All pro ts from the t-shirt sales went to War Child (Kil- cooleyO’Halloran, 2014).

In 2017, designers such as Tommy Hil ger and Dior integrat- ed white bandanas into their catwalk shows. The initiative, created by Business of Fashion, came “as a response to the silence from the fashion industry in the face of growing un- certainty...” The bandanas, in addition to the hashtag #tied- together, have been adopted to show solidarity, unity and inclusiveness. Supporters have been encouraged to upload images of them wearing a white bandana to social media (Amed, 2017). The movement also gained support from in uencers such as Gigi and Bella Hadid.

Figure 10

Fashion Revolution Fashion Revolution is based in the UK and was born following the Rana Plaza disaster in 2013. The company aims to inform and educate in the hopes that this leads to worldwide change in the textile and garment industry. Every year on 24th April fashion revolution hold a day where people from all over the world use fashion to help change the story for the factory workers who make our clothes.

Each year over 70,000 people ask brands using the hashtag who made my clothes which received a lot of attention throughout social media networks.

The mission of Fashion Revolution is that they want to bring everyone together to make an industry that values people, the environment, creativity and profit in equal measure (Fashion Revolution,2016).

For the future Fashion Revolution want to create a global movement uniting around an annual campaign, over the next 5 years the company believes they

F.G 7

can build considerable momentum and achieve incredible impact together.

They recognize that Fashion Revolution will bring together organisations and people that, outside of Fashion Revolution, remain competitors (Fashion Revolution,2016).

F.G 7

Fashion Revolution partnered up with Ethical Consumer to publish a transparency index that ranks companies according to the level of transparency in their supply chain. The first edition featured a selection of 40 brands that range from luxury to high street and the index provides an insight of where the products are coming from and who is making them (Transparency Index,2016).

The images shows the results and the companies that are ranked from 0 – 100%.

The results aim to show what companies are not making effort towards being

F.G 7

transparent about their supply and what companies are doing the most they can to create a transparent supply chain. In total Fashion Revolution received 10 replies out of the 40 brands providing information on how transparent they are. The other 30 brands that didn’t reply had their results created for them from research fashion revolution has found out about them through annual reports and their websites.

However, from the results Inditex, Levi Strauss & Co and Nike came out as the best three brands who have the best supply chain and offered the most information

F.G 7

F.G 7

about their company.

Our Opportunity An opportunity that has been decided as a group is to create a collaborative campaign between a fashion retailer and the charity Fashion Revolution. As a group we have decided that the fashion retailer will create a t-shirt that creates attention and awareness that cheap labour is still a current issue in the fashion industry. We have then also decided that alongside the t-shirt Fashion Revolution will create a hashtag to help create awareness for consumers and so the public can also get involved with the hashtag throughout all social medias.

As a group we have chosen to use the e-tailor ASOS to create our collaborative project. We have decided to pick this brand as it was featured in the transparency index and in the section of brands that need to be improved. We also believe that this online collaboration would also be a good way to target generations Y and Z. ASOS says it views ethical trade as their responsibility to ensure that every worker in their supply chain is respected and protected. ASOS have created objectives,

Figure 13

to achieve their vision they state they must source suppliers with ASOS’s ethical standards, suppliers must share ethical trade vision and that workers within supply chain... Work within safe environments and have financial security.

StopCheapLabour

Our Opportunity

In 2017, TK Maxx are collaborating with Red Nose Day to create an exclusive range of t-shirts.

We feel that producing a t-shirt as a collaboration between Fashion Revolution and a fast fashion brand would be a suitable marketing opportunity to pursue for this brief. This is because the t-shirt helps to create awareness in a different way compared to the hashtag. This means that it allows more people to get involved who are not technology based

F.G 9

for example generation Y and Z, helping to target a large audience. The money raised from the selling of the t-shirts also helps the charity allowing them to put more money into their charitable campaigns to raise more

F.G 9

awareness in the media.

Dior’s recent t-shirt collection with the slogan ‘we should all be feminists’. Profits from the sales will go to the Clara Lionel Foundation, which was founded by Rihanna.

F.G 8

Illustrations Figure 1,. (2017). Retrieved from http://america.aljazeera.com/content/ajam/opinions/2014/4/rana-plaza-garmentworkersfashionlaborbangladeshbetterfactories/ jcr:content/image.adapt.480.high.rana_plaza_anniversary02.1398440880316.jpg Figure 2,. (2017). Retrieved from http://gebthefutureofsustainablefashionedu.weebly.com/uploads/4/7/8/0/47800455/9565523_orig.jpg Figure 3,. (2017). Retrieved from http://labourbehindthelabel.org/our-work/whatbrands-should-do/ Figure 4,. (2017). Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3339578/ Crammed-squalid-factories-produce-clothes-West-just-20p-day-children-forcedwork-horri c-unregulated-workshops-Bangladesh.html Figure 5,. (2017). Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/user27258482 Figure 6,. (2017). Retrieved from http://www.oxfam.org.uk Figure 7,. (2017). Retrieved from http://fashionrevolution.org Figure 8,. (2017). Retrieved from http://www.harpersbazaar.com/fashion/trends/ news/a21026/dior-feminist-shirt-bene ts-rihanna-charity/ Figure 9,. (2017). Retrieved from http://www.rednoseday.com/partners/tk-maxx Figure 10,. (2017). Retrieved from https://www.warchild.org.uk Figure 11,. (2017). Retrieved from https://tiedtogether.businessoffashion.com Figure 12,. (2017). Retrieved from http://www.flaticon.com/packs/social-media-logos-2 Figure 13,. (2017). Retrieved from http://www.asos.com/women/ Figure 14,. (2017). Retrieved from http://uk.businessinsider.com/donald-trumpspeech-soccer-us-mexico-2015-10?r=US&IR=T Figure 15,. (2017). Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-americanapparel-made-in-usa-20140810-story.html

Figure 16,. (2017). Retrieved from http://thebusterclan.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/ indentured-servants-in-colonial-virginia.html Figure 17,. (2017). Retrieved from https://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/06/after-rana-plaza/ Figure 18,. (2017). Retrieved from http://blogs.ft.com/photo-diary/tag/rana-plaza/ Figure 19,. (2017). Retrieved from https://labs.theguardian.com/unicef-child-labour/ Figure 20(2017), Retrieved from: https://www.topcashback.co.uk/missguided/ Figure 21(2017), Retrieved from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/01/23/british-factory-workers-paid-3-hour-making-clothes-high-street/ Figure 22(2017), Retrieved from: http://www.mylearning.org/victorian-shoemakers-in-northampton/images/1-4045/ Front cover Image,. (2017). Retrieved from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/ news/world/what-makes-bangladesh-made-clothing-so-cheap/article11578175/

References Amed, I. (2017, 8 February). Wear a white bandana, because we are all #tiedtogether. Retrieved from https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/editors-letter/what-is-the-white-bandana-tiedtogether

“Future Of Manufacturing: A New Era Of Opportunity And Challenge For The UK Summary Report - GOV.UK”. Gov.uk. N.p., 2017. Web. 3 Apr. 2017. Retrieved from: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/future-of-manufacturing/future-ofmanufacturing-a-new-era-of-opportunity-and-challenge-for-the-uk-summary-report

America, Origins. “Slavery In America - Black History - HISTORY.Com”. HISTORY. com. N.p., 2017. Web. 3 Apr. 2017. Retrieved from: http://www.history.com/topics/ black-history/slavery

Hogler, Raymond. “What’S Behind The Decline Of American Unions?”. New Republic. N.p., 2017. Web. 3 Apr. 2017. Retrieved from: https://newrepublic.com/ article/139078/whats-behind-decline-american-unions

Ashley Armstrong,. “British Factory Workers Paid £3 An Hour Making Clothes For High Street Giants”. The Telegraph. N.p., 2017. Web. 3 Apr. 2017. Retrieved from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/01/23/british-factory-workers-paid-3hour-making-clothes-high-street/

“Indentured Servants In The U.S. | History Detectives | PBS”. Pbs.org. N.p., 2017.

Web. 3 Apr. 2017. Retrieved from: http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/feature/indentured-servants-in-the-us/

“Bangladesh Labour Market Profile”. N.p., 2014. Web. 3 Apr. 2017. Retrieved from: http://www.ulandssekretariatet.dk/sites/default/files/uploads/public/PDF/LMP/ lmp_bangladesh_2014_final_version.pdf “BBC - GCSE Bitesize: Working Conditions In Factories”. Bbc.co.uk. N.p., 2017.

Web. 3 Apr. 2017. Retrieved from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/shp/britishsociety/livingworkingconditionsrev1.shtml “BBC - History - Women’s Work”. Bbc.co.uk. N.p., 2017. Web. 3 Apr. 2017. Retrieved from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/womens_work_01.shtml “::..BGMEA B2B Web Portal..::”. Bgmea.com.bd. N.p., 2017. Web. 3 Apr. 2017. Retrieved from: http://www.bgmea.com.bd/home/about “Charities Should Target Generation Y Instead Of Relying On Traditional Fundraising, Says Polly Gowers”. Thirdsector.co.uk. N.p., 2017. Web. 3 Apr. 2017. Retrieved from: “Child Labour”. The British Library. N.p., 2017. Web. 3 Apr. 2017. Retrieved from: https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/child-labour Chu, Ben. “What Does ‘Buy American And Hire American’ Actually Mean?”. The Independent. N.p., 2017. Web. 3 Apr. 2017. Retrieved from: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/buy-american-and-hire-american-means-donaldtrump-a7538231.html “Dirty Threads, Dangerous Factories | The Garment Worker Center”. Garmentworkercenter.org. N.p., 2017. Web. 3 Apr. 2017. Rerieved from: http://garmentworkercenter.org/dirty-threads-dangerous-factories/

Kyla Ryan, The Diplomat. “‘Cheap And Trendy’ Fashion Comes At A Price”. The Diplomat. N.p., 2017. Web. 3 Apr. 2017. Retrieved from: http://thediplomat. com/2015/05/cheap-and-trendy-fashion-comes-at-a-price/ “River Island And War Child Come Together”. British Vogue. N.p., 2017. Web. 3 Apr. 2017. Retrieved from: http://www.vogue.co.uk/gallery/river-island-war-child-johnlennon-tshirt “Slavery In Virginia And The 1705 Virginia Slave Act”. Owlcation. N.p., 2017. Web. 3 Apr. 2017. Retrieved from: https://owlcation.com/humanities/Slavery-in-AmericaSlave-Codes-in-Virginia-The-1705-Virginia-Slave-Act “UK Workers Making High Street Clothes Paid Just £3 An Hour, Shock Investigation Finds”. The Huffington Post. N.p., 2017. Web. 3 Apr. 2017. Retrieved from: http:// www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/channel-4-dispatches-britains-cheap-clothes-investigation-national-living-wage_uk_5885e797e4b0b8867de86378 “User Login | WGSN | Creating Tomorrow”. WGSN | Creating Tomorrow | Trend Forecasting & Analytics. N.p., 2017. Web. 3 Apr. 2017. Retrieved from: https://www. wgsn.com/content/search/reports/?searchId=7041926#/sustainability “Will UK Fashion Survive Brexit?”. Ft.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 3 Apr. 2017. Retrieved from: https://www.ft.com/content/b163a94c-9f77-11e6-891e-abe238dee8e2 “Workers Make Clothes For Major Brands On £3 An Hour”. Mail Online. N.p., 2017. Web. 3 Apr. 2017. Retrieved from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4146648/Workers-make-clothes-major-brands-3-hour.html

StopCheapLabour