The human and labour exploitation of textile production in 7 steps

In this article we tell you some of the barbarities that happen at different points in the chain of manufacture of the clothes we wear every day, what lies behind the relocation of textile factories and how people who have touched your clothes before they reach you live, because, although we do not like it, only by knowing the truth we can make things change.

1. A crop that kills

The cultivation of cotton is one of the most polluting crops on the planet, 25% of all pesticides used in the world are used in this crop, and among them are some of the most dangerous to humans. Causing serious diseases not only to farmers and workers in the fields, but to all communities living near these lands.

2. With child labour

Children are in great demand in these fields for what they call their ​“light fingers”, which are highly prized by the farmers, both when harvesting and manually pollinating the transgenic plants. This is manual work, long hours in the sun and direct contact with transgenic plants and highly toxic pesticides.

3. Take it or leave it

In countries like Bangladesh, China or Turkey, there is no shortage of factories that can do the job. On the contrary, the competition is enormous and the multinationals know how to take advantage of that. That’s the deal, they present them with a job, an order for x number of garments, and a deadline, or delivery date, along with a budget that is generally far from being able to cover the ​“minimum” wage of the people who will carry out the work. And just like that, they either take it or leave it. For the factories, quitting is not an option, as they would be left without work and future orders. So they sign the contract with all its conditions.

4. Endless days without voice and vote

Thus, overnight they have a stratospheric order with a deadline to be met without any possibility of delay. The working hours are extended as long as necessary in order to deliver the packages on time. Each and every one of the employees is forced to work the required hours, whether 14 or 16 hours a day, often behind closed doors. There is no choice, the only thing that matters is to arrive on time and thus ensure the next order.

5. Wages that do not cover minimums

The salaries of most of the workers in these factories are less than 80 euros a month. We are talking about less than 4 euros a day, for working days that too often exceed 10 hours a day. It is true that in these countries the cost of living is cheaper, but this salary is far from enough to cover the most basic needs, which has very serious consequences for them and their families.

6. Cycle of poverty and broken families

Children alone, out of school, children working and begging in the street. The feedback loop of poverty. The money that comes home is not enough to pay for their children’s education, clothes for them, food for everyone. Many families are forced to send their children back to their home village in rural areas, where they will live with their grandparents until they are old enough to work, seeing them only a couple of times a year. Thus creating the new generation of employees, who are starting younger and younger.

7. Dyeing the region

Nowadays all garments go through a dyeing process, which not only endangers the lives of workers, but also the surrounding ecosystems. Factories pour thousands of toxic products in liquid form. These dyes resist light, high temperatures, washing, detergents and turn the waters of the surrounding rivers into the favourite colour of that season’s collection, and into highly polluted and very dangerous substances. Often the locals, with no other source of water to draw from, use it for drinking or as irrigation water for crops.

Widespread environmental abuses, violations of the most basic human rights, all in order to be able to dress fashionably here, and paying as little as possible. And the fact is that if we don’t pay for it, someone else is paying for it, and at very expensive prices.