Following a boycott, BHS was the first UK clothing company to leave and Burton announced its withdrawal on the day Newsnight aired a documentary revealing its contracts with Burmese sweatshops. Levi's have for some time had guidelines on sourcing from oppressive regimes, shutting factories in Burma and deciding not to operate in Haiti or El Salvador.3 Fashion victims Globalisation of the clothes industry has led to frequent violations of workers rights, including payment of low or infrequent wages, often below the legal minimum. Long hours are common, especially when orders need to be met, with overtime often compulsory and unpaid. The lives of workers may also be endangered by poor health and safety provision. Child labour is used in some developing countries, while prison or forced labour exists in Burma and China.
Some factories operate unduly harsh rules to improve productivity, such as punishments for talking.
Efforts by workers to organise themselves into unions may be deterred or lead to sackings, and in countries such as China and Indonesia,4 independent unions are banned. Cleaning up the clothes industry Campaign groups such as Oxfam, Labour Behind the Label and Christian Aid are pressuring retailers to adopt codes of conduct for their suppliers. These list the minimum standards that retailers require from their manufacturers, for example on wages or child labour. However, these codes can be worthless if not properly enforced. As a solution, organisations are increasingly campaigning for companies to hire credible outside groups to independently monitor their manufacturers' factories and attest that their codes are or are not being adhered to.