Now a week ago Sarah O'Connor in the same
FT wrote:
'Covid-19 has found its way into the neglected cracks in our economies.
In the US, Europe and Asia, poor working conditions in care homes, meat
plants and factories have helped to spread the virus. This week [3rd, July 2020], a
campaign group blamed clothing sweatshops in the English city of
Leicester for contributing to a local surge in cases.
The story of Leicester’s garment district is worth knowing, because it
reveals something important about how the British economy evolved in the
decade between the financial crisis and this pandemic. It also
demonstrates what it will take for the country to “build back better”,
as UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised to do this week.'
Sarah O'Connor describes how in 2018, she investigated Leicester’s clothing industry which she concludes was
'a bizarre microeconomy where £4 to £4.50 an hour was the going rate for sewing machinists in many factories (£3 for packers).' Based on tiny sweatshops that were crammed into crumbling old buildings and legally compliant factories using expensive machines were being outcompeted by illegally underpaid humans.
When she exposed this industry two years ago she likened it to be more like the 19th Century than the 21st Century.
It seems that large scale buyers of Leicester’s clothes are based online as 'fast fashion' retailers, which have done well in the pandemic owing to the proximity and speed of their UK suppliers. And
Boohoo, which sources about 40 per cent of its clothing in the UK, much of it in Leicester, prospered in lockdown by switching nimbly to producing leisurewear for the homebound, while rivals were left with shipping containers from Asia full of summer party dresses.
It seems that the big boy on the block Boohoo’s co-founder Mahmud Kamani has become a billionaire and is set for a £50m bonus if Boohoo’s share price continues to rise. And the campaign group
Labour Behind the Label has alleged that the some of company’s suppliers contributed to the spread of coronavirus; meanwhile Boohoo says it adhered to all government guidance and that its supply chain adheres to all labour laws, though it does not publish a list of its suppliers.
Sarah O'Connor reports that:
'Leicester’s sweatshops, which comprise part but not all of the city’s
garment sector, were an open secret even before my investigation began.
In fact, a senior Whitehall official first told me about them. A local
official in Leicester warned me in 2018 that, if I published my story, I
would cause mass unemployment for people with no other options. In
fact, nothing changed. After publication, I was invited to testify at a
parliamentary select committee hearing into the costs of online fast
fashion. The government rejected every one of the committee’s
recommendations.'
Ms. O'Connor writes:
'As unemployment rises in the months ahead, it will be vital to focus on jobs. But to prioritise quantity while turning a blind eye to quality would be to repeat past mistakes.'
Tellingly she points to the crucial coming dilemma:
'As well as the feared harm to public health, Leicester’s economy will suffer from a prolonged lockdown and fall further behind more prosperous parts of the UK. So much for “levelling up”. In truth, there was always an economic cost to allowing labour exploitation to flourish. The garment factories are a microcosm of Britain’s productivity problem. Job creation boomed after the financial crisis and ministers did not worry initially about their quality. They pushed up the minimum wage but left it badly under-enforced, while cutting back health and safety inspections to free up “entrepreneurialism”.'
This is all too reminiscent of other industries which have suffered like the British building trade and outsourcing.
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