Everybody Knew About Sweatshops

[sinderella]

[royfromaus]

It could be exploitative, but not really illegal.




What?

[jno]

there's no law against being exploitative.

[jackthehat]

When you are happy to part with a large part of your disposable income week after week buying cheap clothes surely you must consider how the fabricators can afford to produce them so cheaply that the shops can sell them for peanuts?

And, of course, the mid-range shops are squeezing at both ends; paying as little as possible to the manufacturers whilst tapping the paying customer.

[237SJ]

I`m quite surprised that there are sweatshops in this country. I didn't realise that we need them being that there are enough in the Indian subcontinent to supply the UK.

[archibaldy]

What was meant by "everyone" isn't really the most important takeaway here. What worries me is that if £3.60/hr is the going rate and there are 10,000 of them then an economy of pricing is built on a falsehood of value. If this is stopped, like it should be, then the cost of living will only go one way.

I don't know what these people work but a difference per year between £3.60/hr, for 10 hrs a day for 300 days a year, and a rough national minimum of £8.40/hr, is £147M a year.

[ProfessorMaisie]

Reading some of the posts here I'd say that a few people haven't listened to the above ^.
The economic arguments, the workers happily being exploited because they can claim benefits and do less work... I don't remember hearing any of that.

[zebo]

Everyone's throwing up their hands in horror but as anyone who has worked in the public services in the last thirty years the authorities have been in a damned if they do and damned if they don't situation, No-one was allowed to make any 'criticism', however well meaning, for fear of being called 'institutionally racist', upsetting the 'community' and all the other convenitent excuses.
Like the Rochdale abuse scandal, and other places, race has been used to allow them to carry on regardless.
As a Head of Department in a High School in the North West I asked that we got supply teachers whose English could be understood, the flack I received was unbelievable.

[royfromaus]

Be fair, the video is 9 minutes and 44 seconds long...ABers hate videos that are longer than a minute.

[Togo]

//they can claim benefits and do less work./

ProfMaisie....ohh we knew that as well believe me. Why do you think that millions of em are here and even more on the way? They aren't here for the weather....or our culture, because the first thing they want to do with that is ignore it and then tear it down. The benefits...it is all about the benefits and handouts.

[youngmafbog]

Yes, some of us do know why this is allowed to happnen - and it is not likley to change whilst the Metropolitan liberal SS are still in key posts.

[ProfessorMaisie]

This is about modern slavery, the fact that some of them will be illegal immigrants isn't really the point. There's a legal minimum wage in this country, there are legally enforceable working/safety standards etc. There is tax fraud to consider and money laundering and connections to organised crime. I'm sure many of us know of small scale 'businesses' that appear to be part of the same problem - but it's the scale of what's going on in Leicester that's most alarming.

[jno]

I do hope nobody here has been complicit in slavery by buying from Boo Hoo.

[retrocop]

There were sweatshops operating in Brick Lane London (Banglatown) back in the 80s ,to my knowledge, and probably earlier. Apart from a few immigration raids nothing was ever done about them. Of course if you look who makes up the majority of Councellors in the Borough of Tower Hamlets you would probably find most of them are the owners of these premises.
https://democracy.towerhamlets.gov.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx?bcr=1

Not dissimilar to the proportion of councellors who were sitting at the time of the Rochdale Child grooming by largely people of Pakistani origins.

[Gromit]

// the Metropolitan liberal SS are still in key posts. //

Afraid you’ve gone a bit Looney Tunes there ymb.

[jno]

Of course if you look who makes up the majority of Councellors in the Borough of Tower Hamlets you would probably find most of them are the owners of these premises.

so which ones are they?

[maggiebee]

I went to a very interesting talk at the University a couple of years ago. The topic was modern day slavery. Lots of facts and figures, but one thing that did stick with me was the speaker's parting shot. "Next time you go to Primark (insert other stores too) and think - what a bargain, five pairs of socks for £1 - think about who made them, what they are being paid and the conditions they are working in."

[Gromit]

Retrocop,

Trying to make sense of your post.
Did you really mean ’Councellors’ ? That is someone who might be employed by social services to help young people with Social or personal problems.
Or did you mean ‘Councillor’ ? A person elected to represent a ward on a local Council.

[Togo]

//Retrocop,

Trying to make sense of your post./

No you're not. You are doing the usual deflecting from a subject that obviously embarrasses you. Retro's Link......says."Mayor and Councillors" in the headline. Mehhh.

[retrocop]

Thanks Togo.
I really wasn't going to bother to inform those of limited intelligence that the link would have given a clue as to whom I was referring.