Topshop denies sweatshop allegations. Again.
Topshop, the UK's most talked about high street fashion chain, came under fire today over allegations of unethical trade practices, prompting boss Sir Philip Green to defend his clothing empire once again.
After controversy a few years ago over east London sweatshops, it has now emerged that Sri Lankan, Indian and Bangladeshi workers are forced to pay agents up to £725 to get factory jobs in Mauritius, where they make clothes for Topshop and can receive as little as 22p an hour.
Neil Kearney, of the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers Federation, said: “Because of the economic conditions of a country like Mauritius, companies are unable to attract local labour. Instead they recruit migrant workers, who pay a significant fee for the job. Many migrant workers who go to work in these garment factories are like slaves.” Two of the factories named in the inestigation were Compagnie Mauricienne de Textile (CMT) and Star Knitwear.
Philip Green and his wife Christina come in at seventh in the Sunday Times' Rich List, Green avoids tax by paying dividends to his wife who lives offshore. In 2005 Christina Green was paid the equivalent of £3.3m a day by her husband.
Meanwhile factory workers in Mauritius are forced to work 12 hours a day, six days a week with one worker saying: 'When I go to bed at the end of the day, I lay down and weep”. She also explained the pressure to fulfil targets: “There is a lot of pressure on us to get our targets. If we do not reach the target of 50 pieces [segments of T-shirts] per hour, then we are sent back to our dormitories and suspended,” she claimed.
This news must come as no surprise to Jane Shepherdson who quit the company to volunteer for Oxfam and join People Tree's advisory board. Topshop is the vanguard of high fashion on the high street and Arcadia's top brand but is one of the few retailers who have not signed up to the Ethical Trade Initiative preferring to adhere to a self-imposed code of conduct. In doing so they show the rest of womenswear retailers that fast fashion is paramount at whatever cost to ethical practices. A sea change may be on the way for the high street giants as consumers get bored of disposable fashion and shows like Mary Portas' 'Mary Queen of Shops' promote the independent stores. Shepherdson herself has said consumers cannot keep buying cheap clothes and “not ask where they come from”.
