To think that 62p an hour is NOT what feminism looks like...

[TheBogQueen]

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2817191/62p-HOUR-s-women-sleeping-16-room-paid-make-Ed-Harriet-s-45-Feminist-Looks-Like-T-shirts.html

It's a daily mail so find your smelling salts.

But these t shirts are made by women sleeping 16 to a room paid 62 p an hour.

And then sold in Whistles.

This is (as we say at work) a WTF moment. It is possible to have a logo printed on Fair Trade T Shirts - we managed it fur our primary school polo shirts. You'd think that if the school PTA can manage this then the highly paid executives at Whistkes and the Fawcett society might manage that too.

I think we need to know what average wages are in Mauritius before we can make a judgments.
And 8 sets of bunkbeds in a 400 sqft room does not sound horrendous either.Better than a caravanning holiday!

Blimey, Frankie Boyle nails it again. It's not a new campaign, the slogan has been worn for years.

The Daily Mail are a shower of see you next Tuesdays if you ask me. They couldn't give a shit about people earning low wages here or abroad, they just want to stick the boot in.

I do think however, that this issue (sweatshop labour) is one which can't be solved by handwringing and finger pointing. I wear clothes from all over the high street including Primark etc, and my parents regularly raise a middle class eyebrow and ask how much the clothes cost and how do I think they are so cheap.

But my view is that expensive clothes are just as cheaply manufactured, and that if we all stopped buying cheap clothing tomorrow, nothing would improve for low paid workers, and in fact for many of them life would get worse.

I've yet to hear anything that makes me think otherwise.

Yes, it has been a campaign for years. I don't know who made the old design t-shirt, but let's assume for now it was ethically sourced. The Fawcett Society statement makes clear that they asked for reassurance from Whistles that the new design t-shirts were made under non-exploitative conditions and Whistles gave them that assurance. Which turns out not to be worth the paper it's written on.

Probably the majority of high street clothing is made by people on subsistence wages. Most of us are no doubt wearing clothes made by some poor woman or child paid in peanuts. You can't blame Miliband or anyone else for not investigating the provenance of the t-shirt before wearing it.

Morris - whilst it's definitely not a given that workers making clothes for mid-price high st stores are paid more than those making for the cheap shops, it's true to say that it's much harder for factories producing clothes for stores like Primark to pay higher wages - not just because of the low cost of the garments but also because the fast-fashion model puts enormous pressure on producers because of very tight production deadlines. This often means them absorbing extra costs e.g having to air freight goods if they get behind on an order. I remember speaking to a factory manager in India who said they'd had to stop taking orders from Tesco for example for these reasons, so produced instead for M&S, GAP etc.

But you're right to say that not buying high st clothes is not the answer. Workers in Asia are very clear that these jobs are important to them so we should keep buying the clothes but continue to pressure the retailers to make fair pay and good conditions a core part of how they do business with suppliers.

all it shows is that even if you pay £45 for a tshirt, they still pay the workers who made it fuck all
may as well shop at primark

or of course have everything handmade in the uk if you are the upper class cabinet

Do feminists only care about capital's exploitation of labour when it's female labour that's under the cosh? If not, then how's it remotely relevant? Feminism doesn't automatically equate to hand-wringing liberal; there are in fact right-wing, free-market feminists out there.

According to an internet search on minimum wages globally India min wage is $0.28 so 0.62 is quite high in comparison. Yes it seems low when you compare to the UK but you can't compare it like that.

They are not in India they are in Mauritius. As far as I can see the minimum wage is around $26 USD per week. I have been to Mauritius a couple of times and it isn't that cheap a place to live, so on that wage you would be in poverty. Not good

ah but I see now this is mauritius, the min here is $20 a week so it is still a fair bit higher.

As ever the solution is better lawyers - we rock. We would always include it as a warranty in the contract that the T shirts were made as stated in the meetings and not just rely on a verbal assurance in the meeting. It is a very common clause in most contracts sourcing clothes. The question is did the Fawcett S have a written contract with the supplier who gave them the verbal assurances and if not why not?

And yes there are free market liberal feminists out there. Feminism is not necessarily left wing at all.

All such a clause will do is give the FS right to damages in case of breach, but it cannot prevent the breach occurring in the first place, if a contractor wants to take the risk.

Anyway, it appears that the Mail scoop might be porkies anyway. Looking forward to their response
www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/2014/11/fawcett-society-update-allegations-whistles-fawcett-feminist-t-shirt/

Blimey Widow. Like you, I look forward to a response from the Mail... thanks for posting that, interesting.

You can't blame Miliband or anyone else for not investigating the provenance of the t-shirt before wearing it.

You can actually.

Phaedra - it appears the claims by the Mail might have been not quite true. What do you make of that then?

Hands up who reckons the mail will print a retraction?

I'm not a feminist but . . .

I find this whole thing to be a bit of a storm in a teacup, particularly given that it seems the claims have been disproven.

It's easier said then done to avoid sweat shop labour in a production line, when you consider that many of the countries where garments are made have problems with corruption. I don't think you can ever really be sure of what you are getting no matter how strong a contract you have.

Thanks for the update widow - it'll be interesting to see if the Mail comments on it.

I still think wearing it was a stunt and Cameron was right to refuse . I think sloganed t-shirts are generally ridiculous and cringe making.

i think cameron was right to refuse but for entirely different reasons. (1) he's not a feminist, and (2) wearing the t-shirt wouldn't have made him a feminist

Hasn't answered my question though

I am pleasantly surprised at the Mail's sudden interest in global inequality and labour rights. Do you think they'll do a series? Will there be a Mail-funded campaign for a global living wage?

What question do you want answered? It was a silly stunt which became an embarrassing one and has reverted just to being silly.

I've no idea what the Mail thinks since unlike you I don't read it.

This is just another example of the Daily Mail making stuff up. The latest update on the matter from the Fawcett facebook page is at www.facebook.com/fawcettsociety/posts/10153006130963296 and is worth quoting in full:

Dear Fawcett members and supporters,

We would like to update you on the situation with regards to the allegations made in this week’s Mail on Sunday that our Whistles produced ‘this is what a feminist looks like’ t-shirts may not have been made in line with the ethical standards that Fawcett would require of any product bearing our name.

We have been working around the clock to investigate these allegations since we first became aware of them on Saturday and are pleased to confirm that we have today seen expansive and current evidence from Whistles that the CMT factory in Mauritius they used to produce our ‘this is what a feminist looks like’ T-shirt conforms to ethical standards. We have been particularly pleased to receive evidence that:

^- 100% of workers are paid above the government-mandated minimum wage and all workers are paid according to their skills and years of service.

• The standard working week is 45 hours, and workers are compensated (at a higher rate of pay) for any overtime worked.
• There is a high retention of staff and employees are offered training and development.
• An audit into the CMT factory was carried out in October 2014 by an independent not-for-profit organisation and this did not reveal any material concerns on the working conditions, the welfare or the health and safety of workers.
• Workers are able to join a union and there is a union presence in the factory.^

The evidence we have seen categorically refutes the assertion that the ‘this is what a feminist looks like’ T-shirts produced by Whistles were made in a sweatshop.

Whilst we have confidence in the evidence provided to us, we are currently working closely with an international trade union body to scrutinise it so that we can be absolutely assured of its provenance, authenticity and that all findings are robust and factual.

Further, whilst Fawcett has a UK remit, we are nonetheless acutely concerned with the inequalities women across the globe face. We recognise that investment in developing countries is vital and support this provided decent labour standards are adhered to.

Many of you have sent us messages of support over the past few days and we would like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to those who have reached out to us, and to those who have continued to trust and support Fawcett in the face of the Mail on Sunday allegations.

Very best,
Fawcett x

I think Fawcett has handled this bloody well actually. They took the allegations seriously and started investigating them straight away. In short, they behaved responsibly ... unlike the Daily Fail.

I'm sure the Daily Mail will apologise to the Fawcett Society now for their irresponsible journalism. Not bloody likely.