Dear _______ MP,

I am writing to bring to your attention the findings of Fashion Victims II, a new report by War on Want which exposes the appalling conditions faced by overseas workers producing clothes for UK supermarkets and high street retailers.

Workers are struggling to survive on extremely low pay, suffering poor working conditions, arduous hours and a complete lack of trade union representation in the factories. The report’s findings come two years on from War on Want’s original Fashion Victims report, which detailed the deplorable conditions and wages in supplier factories in Bangladesh.

Yet despite increased calls for improving workers’ rights, garment workers in these factories still face appalling conditions and are not paid a living wage. In fact, given the damaging effects of the global food crisis, workers are now in an even worse position than they were before. This is happening despite promises from companies to improve the lives of their workers.

Many UK retailers are signed up to an ethical code of practice which commits them to a living wage, yet we have still not seen any substantial improvements in workers’ rights. The systemic nature of the problem, and the lack of progress on it, has shown that voluntary approaches to ethical treatment of labour have failed.

The UK government can no longer rely on these mechanisms to guarantee workers’ rights. As a matter of urgency, legislation is needed to guarantee the rights of workers and provide them with a living wage. I urge you to call on the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills to introduce legislation to regulate UK companies and allow workers to seek justice in the UK.