Who pays for Primark’s high profits?
05 November 2009
» Original article in Liberal Conspiracy
British companies have been battered by the financial crisis. Yet Primark, one of Britain's largest retailers, continues to thrive. Fuelled by the retailer's impressive sales growth of 7%, AB Foods, the group which owns Primark, yesterday announced £655 million in yearly earnings. The future looks bright for the high street chain.
How is it that Primark has been able to post lucrative profits while the rest of the country plunges deeper into recession?
The answer lies in its business dealings with overseas suppliers. To obtain cheap garments as cheaply as possible for sale in the UK, companies like Primark squeeze suppliers in developing countries. The net result of this practice, however, is a vicious race to the bottom in which overseas workers are hit the hardest.
The conditions facing men and women in factories making clothes for top high street brands are simply scandalous. According to original research carried out by War on Want, garment workers in sweatshops across Bangladesh earn as little as 7p an hour and face up to 80-hour weeks. Abuse at the hands of factory owners is endemic, with women workers particularly at risk.
The British public is well aware of these abuses, thanks to widespread media coverage and high-profile exposés of the industry. But while it's widely agreed that sweatshops must be put to an end, the best approach for doing so has not always been clear.
Boycotts carry the risk of shutting down factories which, in spite of their draconian conditions, are a crucial source of employment. These jobs are backbreaking and offer paltry wages, but they're better than having no work at all.
At the same time, relying on companies to regulate themselves isn't working. By signing up to voluntary codes of conduct, some companies have pledged to improve conditions in their supply chains. Such measures, however, are unenforceable. Clothing companies continue to source from sweatshops around the globe, skirting their own rules for the sake of their profits.
If these tactics have largely failed, what is the most effective way to fight sweatshop exploitation?
The new Love Fashion Hate Sweatshops campaign offers members of the public an alternative solution - firm government regulation of the fashion industry. Endorsed already by thousands of people, the campaign demands the UK government guarantee workers supplying UK companies basic rights, like a living wage and the right to join a trade union.
If the past is any guide, Primark's announcement of record-breaking profits will not cause it to rethink its business practices. Real and lasting change in the garment industry can only be achieved through strong government intervention, which in turn must come from public pressure.
UK citizens have long made it clear that they desire a world without sweatshops. Now it's up to us to make that happen.
Jesse Lerner-Kinglake is Communications Officer for War on Want
Comment:
