Taking Liberties

I love most things by Monsoon, the bags, the clothes, the earrings...

So just imagine my dismay when I read in a recent report that they, along with M&S, Debenhams, NEXT and the Arcadia group were the bad guys. The report is by Labour behind the Label, which campaigns to support garment workers worldwide. ‘Taking Liberties – the story behind the UK high street’ investigates the lives of garment workers who produce clothing for these highstreet brands.

Did you know that all of the retailers mentioned, except the Arcadia group, are members of Ethical Trading Initiative and all sell clothes at a price that should allow a living wage? This means that that wage should enable the garment worker and their dependents to meet their everyday living, nutrition, education and health needs. Despite signing up to a much needed initiative, the workers in two different factories in Gurgaon, India, reported long hours of work in sweltering temperatures, verbal and physical abuse, unsafe water and poor sanitation and earnings below wage needed to live a decent life.

So why is this happening if the retailers make ethical claims and do really well in ‘ethical’ ratings? There is obviously a gap in what is being said and the actual implementation of policies. Are corporate social responsibility policies enough? Or are retailers just avoiding the real issues?

Click here to read the full report and the list of suggested actions that we can take to demand that UK retailers and politicians address the issue and take action.

Am I going to stop buying from Monsoon? Probably not. That would be taking the easy way out with no real benefit to anyone. But I’m certainly going to use my voice to help the garment workers of Gurgaon. Will you?