THIRD shopper finds 'sweatshop cry for help' label sewn into £10 Primark dress

High street fashion chain Primark has launched an investigation after shoppers found the labels in Swansea, South Wales - one was also found in Belfast

A top high street fashion chain has launched an investigation after three shoppers found labels sewn into summer dresses saying “sweatshops conditions” and “exhausting hours.”

The women were shocked at finding the hand-made labels sewn into bargain tops bought from Primark stores.

Two were in Swansea, South Wales and one was in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Swansea shopper Rebecca Gallagher, 25, spotted a label reading: “Forced to work exhausting hours” next to the washing instruction of her bargain top.

And a second shopper Rebecca Jones, 21, revealed how she found another label reading: “Degrading sweatshop conditions”.

The two women - who do not know each other - bought their £10 summer dresses from the same Primark store in Swansea, South Wales.

It comes after the discount fashion retailer has been criticised over working conditions of workers abroad - but Primark insists it has a strict code of ethics.

Mum-to-be Miss Jones said: “I was really shocked when I saw the label saying it was degrading sweatshop conditions.

“I used to shop a lot at Primark but not so much now. The label has made me think about how my clothes are made.

“I have no idea who made the label or how it go it there - but it does make you think.”

Miss Jones, of Porthcawl, South Wales, said she tweeted a photograph of the label to Primark when she bought the blue dress from last year’s summer range.

She said: “I tried to ring them as well but I was put on hold forever and then it just went dead.

“But then I heard about the other label from the same shop. I think Primark should get to the bottom of it.”

Fellow shopper Miss Gallagher, 25, spotted the handmade label sewn into the multi-coloured top from discount store Primark

She had vowed never to wear it again because she fears it was made by a tired worker, toiling in a foreign sweatshop.

Miss Gallagher, of Swansea, said: “I was amazed when I checked for the washing instructions and spotted this label.

“It was stitched by hand to say 'Forced to work exhausting hours' and sewn in with the other normal labels.”

Meanwhile a shopper in Northern Ireland, Karen Wisínska, also claims to have uncovered a note in a pair of trousers she bought in Belfast.

The note alleges slave labour conditions in a Chinese prison making clothes for export.

Mrs Wisínska said: “I was shocked to find this note and card inside the trousers from Primark and even more shocked to discover that it appears to have been made under slave labour conditions in a Chinese prison.

“I am only sorry that I did not discover the note when I first purchased the clothing - then I could have brought this scandal to light much earlier.”

A Primark spokesperson described the label finds as “strange” and asked the customers to return the dresses for their investigation.

He said: “We are investigating the origins of an additional label which has been found in one of our dresses and whether there are issues which need to be looked into.”

The spokesperson added: "These crop trousers were last ordered by Primark in early 2009 and were last sold in Northern Ireland in October 2009.

"We find it very strange that this has come to light so recently, given that the trousers were on sale four years ago.

"We will be contacting the customer to obtain the trousers, so we can investigate how this occurred and whether there are issues which need to be looked into.

"Nine inspections of the supplier have been carried out by Primark's ethical standards team since 2009.

"To be clear, no prison or other forced labour of any kind was found during these inspections.

"Primark is committed to making working conditions safer for those who manufacture its products."

Primark’s ethics came under fire last year as it was one of the brands that sourced clothing from the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh which collapsed in April last year, killing more than 1,100 people.

The company recently announced it will pay out more compensation to workers who were injured and the families of workers who died in the collapse.

The high street chain assured that it has “a code of conduct in place, to ensure products are made in good working conditions and all employees are treated fairly.”

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/third-shopper-finds-sweatshop-cry-3762570#ixzz35gLw5QBo


Honestly, how the hell do they think they make them so cheap!

I heard that iPads would cost about $2,000 if they were made by American workers.

Probably, but lets turn a blind eye to people working under those conditions is most people's view I think!

I hate to point this out but people working under sweatshop conditions simply would not have the time or energy to spare to make these labels - not to mention they probably have no idea as to the language "sweatshop" in the first place. That is before you get to the checkers etc.

I would say it is far more likely it is someone in the warehouse trying to make a political protest by putting what they think of conditions. Unfortunately the reason sweatshops can exist is because the people working in them are just so grateful to have any work at all because so many around them do not have work and are worse off than they are.

I'm fairly sure these working conditions are not exclusive to Primark either. Marks and Spencers and most of the High street shops, together with Designer labels use these Chinese factories too.

If you ask me someone has got it in for Primark, maybe they are taking too much business away from other places.

harvesmom wrote:I'm fairly sure these working conditions are not exclusive to Primark either. Marks and Spencers and most of the High street shops, together with Designer labels use these Chinese factories too.

If you ask me someone has got it in for Primark, maybe they are taking too much business away from other places.

Just about every brand of everything has some sort of exploited third-world labor force.

It's a disgrace, I saw something on telly about this before, these workers don't have a voice, for if they use it even in the nicest tone, they will be sacked and another person brought in to replace them.


Many on the right like this sort if thing....business first , welfare of workers last.

sphinx wrote:I hate to point this out but people working under sweatshop conditions simply would not have the time or energy to spare to make these labels - not to mention they probably have no idea as to the language "sweatshop" in the first place.  That is before you get to the checkers etc.

I would say it is far more likely it is someone in the warehouse trying to make a political protest by putting what they think of conditions.  Unfortunately the reason sweatshops can exist is because the people working in them are just so grateful to have any work at all because so many around them do not have work and are worse off than they are.

There's no chance that could have been a genuinely exploited sweatshop worker then?

I'm fairly sure they have heard the term before Sphinx..regardless of their first or only language.


Well that's a relief if it's just some people in a warehouse making a small political protest.

The whole point of exploitation is that the victims dont think they are being exploited.
We over here imagine the workers imprisoned desperate to escape when the reality is that people will queue up to get the work even knowing exactly what the conditions are simply because as bad as those conditions are they are better than the ones experienced by those without the work.

I am not saying that the exploited dont exist because they do - I am simply saying they do not perceive their conditions the same way we do and it is highly unlikely the labels come from them.

sphinx wrote:The whole point of exploitation is that the victims dont think they are being exploited.
We over here imagine the workers imprisoned desperate to escape when the reality is that people will queue up to get the work even knowing exactly what the conditions are simply because as bad as those conditions are they are better than the ones experienced by those without the work.

I am not saying that the exploited dont exist because they do - I am simply saying they do not perceive their conditions the same way we do and it is highly unlikely the labels come from them.  

That's why they need to install nets to stop people throwing themselves off the roofs of sweatshops?

sphinx wrote:The whole point of exploitation is that the victims dont think they are being exploited.
We over here imagine the workers imprisoned desperate to escape when the reality is that people will queue up to get the work even knowing exactly what the conditions are simply because as bad as those conditions are they are better than the ones experienced by those without the work.

I am not saying that the exploited don't exist because they do - I am simply saying they do not perceive their conditions the same way we do and it is highly unlikely the labels come from them.  

it's not that simple often the workers are advanced money (family may need medical treatment or something) and then are essentially indentured labour, it is process that has been outlawed in our nations but in many third world countries big companies can get away with it.    

Sassy wrote:Probably, but lets turn a blind eye to people working under those conditions is most people's view I think!

you are correct sassy

it is most certainly my view

whats the difference between a sweat shop slave and British serviceman??

little to none at all

UK servicemen get paid a pittance to work in the worst environments imaginable,we get shot at lose limbs and see our friend chopped into meat by some Muslim suicide bombers, we often come back with incurable diseases that ruin lives and end careers, and all we get for the pleasure is a tiny pay check at the end of the month

comparatively speaking the UK serviceman is more exploited than the sweatshop slave

Yea, paintballing can do that to you Smelly, you really should change your job.