Performance Task #1 IRR

February 10, 2020

The Result of Fast Fashion on Sweatshop Workers

Word Count: 1204

 Fast fashion is a growing industry which encompasses the inexpensive production of

clothing by mass-market retailers in response to the latest trends. Audrey Stanton, a Content

Manager and Creator with a focus in sustainable fashion states that, “fast fashion utilizes trend

replication, rapid production, and low quality materials in order to bring inexpensive styles to the

public” (Stanton). Due to ever changing fashion trends, production of clothes are in large

demand and needed at a quick pace. According to Dana Thomas, fashion journalist and author of

the novel “Fashionopolis,” textile jobs globally have doubled from 34.2 million to 57.8 million

in the span of 1980 to present day, with fast fashion being a main contributor to the increase.

Those faced with the tough task of making clothes for fast-fashion companies are sweatshop

workers, who are clear victims of the clothes we wear once and then throw away

(Fashionopolis). Garment factories and sweatshops are notorious for harsh working conditions,

long hours, and not paying their employees adequate wages for the amount of work they

complete every day. Therefore, the fashion industry taking part in this fast fashion epidemic is

causing an increased dependence on sweatshops, further adding to the unethical practices, long

hours, and large amounts of clothes the sweatshop workers are demanded to produce on the

daily.

Sweatshops have been a moral indignation ever since their emergence in American urban

cities during the Industrial Revolution. In modern day, there are still sweatshops all around the

globe, even in countries as advanced as the United States. A report published by the Human

Rights Center out of the University of California entitled “Free The Slaves” states that “victims

of forced labor come from numerous ethnic and racial groups. Most are “trafficked” from

thirty-five or more countries and, through force, fraud, or coercion, find themselves laboring
against their will in the United States.” The US Department of Labor reportedly found numerous

sweatshop-like businesses of the fashion industry in Los Angeles, however, public awareness of

these conditions is practically nonexistent (Free the Slaves). Overseas, the conditions of

sweatshops and sweatshop workers are no better, if anything, they’re worse. A report on

sweatshops conducted by the Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior, an

organization which strives to expose the unethical conduct of large companies, concluded that a

popular Japanese fast fashion company “Uniqlo” was accused of overworking employees and not

keeping the workplace a healthy environment in their factory chains (Sacomhk_admin). The

failure of sweatshop factories to justly treat their workers and provide adequate pay is all too

common around the world.

Harsh factory and sweatshop conditions have caused problems and devastation for many

workers. One of the first major sweatshop disasters happened in 1911 in New York City. On

March 25, a fire at The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory resulted in the death of 146 garment workers.

The unsafe and hazardous conditions are to blame for the sweatshop fire (Blain). A century later

in Dhaka, Bangladesh, sweatshop conditions were just as dangerous as in 1911. In 2013, a

devastating collapse of a garment factory building caused a terrible scene in the city. A New

York Times report written by Jim Yardley, Pulitzer Prize winner for International Reporting,

states that the collapse killed more than 1,000 workers, making it the deadliest disaster in the

history of the garment industry. The building was made of cheap materials that did not meet

standards and the normal building code seemed to be completely disregarded (Yardley). Workers

were forced into work every day even though it was known that conditions were unsafe.

Survivors of the incident faced life changing injuries, and the tragic day will never be forgotten.
In another piece of writing by Dana Thomas entitled “Why Won't We Learn from the Survivors

of the Rana Plaza Disaster?” published in the New York Times included information on a

survivor of the Dhaka disaster. The article reads, “Shiuli Begum, for example, a plump

26-year-old with a little-girl voice, now lives on a wooden plank bed in a cement-walled

metal-roofed shanty a half mile from Rana Plaza. She spends her days watching television and

napping thanks to the sleeping pills on which she is now dependent; she cannot read. She can no

longer have children and she can barely move, as her spinal cord was crushed” (“Why Won’t

We”). This disaster helped gain increased awareness for unsafe working conditions in many

sweatshops. It is unethical to have workers come to their job every day if conditions are not safe

and increase the likelihood for tragedy.

The sweatshop disasters described have helped to increase awareness of factory

conditions and have encouraged people to come together in support of the workers. Recently,

human and labor rights activists have been campaigning for transparency in the garment industry.

Groups such as the Human Rights Watch (HRW) have worked towards improving conditions in

sweatshops and educating the general public on supplier factory information. The HRW website

elaborated further that they have worked alongside other businesses to “develop a public

scorecard for the human rights practices of apparel, agricultural, and extractive companies. The

benchmark has been endorsed by 85 investors representing US$5.3 trillion in assets” (“Follow

the Thread”). The goal of this scorecard is to make sure that businesses are informing consumers

on supply chain information, which includes details on the resources, individuals, and

organizations involved in the creation of a product. Furthermore, a coalition of eight international

labor rights groups formed a “Transparency Pledge.” The pledge develops a uniform
transparency standard, and encourages business to share information on their suppliers as well as

information on materials used and where they source them. Each company that commits to the

pledge must routinely publish a list of all their factories and the products they manufacture

(“Follow the Thread”). Kenneth Roth, executive director for the Human Rights Watch group

emphasized that the lists, “should specify the full name of all authorized production units and

processing facilities; site addresses; parent company information for the production units; type of

products made; and a rough indication of the number of workers at each site” (Roth). The idea of

transparency in the garment industry is a step forward in advancing awareness of conditions in

sweatshops. The increased recognition of sweatshop conditions is important for human rights in

the workplace.

To conclude, sweatshops are abundant around the world and are in high demand by fast

fashion industries due to their ability to quickly produce goods. However, their workers devote

long hours of work and face tough conditions in order to produce said goods for fashion

corporations. Devastation has resulted due to sweatshop practices on more than one occasion,

and the risk for injury is still an issue for people every day. Various groups have made small

steps forward for human and labor rights in garment factories, but there is still more progress to

be made. Due to the fast fashion industry, sweatshop workers are faced with a constant need for

labor and products due to the large dependence companies have on them, which further adds to

the long hours, little pay, and harsh conditions present in sweatshops.
 Works Cited

Bain, Marc. “Two Factory Disasters a Century Apart Show How Globalization Has Sapped

Labor's Power.” Quartz, Quartz, 1 May 2018, qz.com/1255041/two-garment-factory-

disasters-a-century-apart/. Accessed 4 Dec. 2019.

“Follow the Thread: The Need for Supply Chain Transparency in the Garment and Footwear

Industry.” Human Rights Watch, 6 Apr. 2018, www.hrw.org/report/2017/04/20/follow-

thread/need-supply-chain-transparency-garment-and-footwear-industry. Accessed 3 Dec.

2019.

Free the Slaves. 2004. Hidden Slaves: Forced Labor in the United States. Washington, DC: Free

the Slaves, and Berkeley: University of California, Human Rights Center. Accessed 4 Dec.

2019.x

Roth, Kenneth. “World Report 2018: Rights Trends in ‘Soon There Won't Be Much to Hide.’”

Human Rights Watch, 6 Apr. 2018, www.hrw.org/world-report/2018/essay/transparency-

in-apparel-industry. Accessed 5 Dec. 2019.

Stanton, Audrey. “What Is Fast Fashion, Anyway?” The Good Trade, The Good Trade, 8 Oct.

2018, www.thegoodtrade.com/features/what-is-fast-fashion. Accessed 7 Dec. 2019.

Sacomhk_admin. “[Investigative Report] Working Conditions in UNIQLO's China Suppliers.”

Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior, 2 Nov. 2018, sacom.hk/2015/

01/15/investigative-report-working-conditions-in-uniqlos-china-suppliers/. Accessed 7

Dec. 2019.

Thomas, Dana. Fashionopolis. Penguin Press, 3 Sep.2019.

Thomas, Dana. “Why Won't We Learn from the Survivors of the Rana Plaza Disaster?” The New

York Times, The New York Times, 24 Apr. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/04/24/style/

survivors-of-rana-plaza-disaster.html. Accessed 8 Dec. 2019.

Yardley, Jim. “Report on Deadly Factory Collapse in Bangladesh Finds Widespread Blame.”

The New York Times, The New York Times, 22 May 2013, www.nytimes.com/2013/

05/23/world/asia/report-on-bangladesh-building-collapse-finds-widespread-blame.

html. Accessed 2 Dec.2019.