Cross posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/17814401
Shein, a Chinese retailer, has rapidly risen to compete with the likes of H&M and Zara — and even Amazon. But now France is leading the West''s crackdown on the questionable practices of so-called "fast fashion."
An investigation provides a deep look inside the company's working and sourcing practices.
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There is not a minute to spare on the fourth floor of the sewing workshops building [...] “Here, 20,000 items are produced per day. We handle everything, from the purchase of fabrics to the packaging of the items, including cutting. SHEIN wants us to go fast and gives us fines if we don't meet deadlines,” a foreman says. The conversation ends there. SHEIN prohibits any visits and comments from its official suppliers, explains the director.
SHEIN stays very evasive about its supply chain. The retailer relies heavily on small workshops, unlike other international brands who order large volumes from large factories. SHEIN tells Les Échos it works with 6,000 suppliers but does not publish their names and contact details. That is enough to fuel questions about its production methods.
The lunch break is an opportunity to talk to several workers in the canteen or the eateries adjoining the workshop buildings.
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74 hours a week
They all tell us about their extended working hours: “I work from 8 a.m. until noon, then from 1:30 p.m. until 5:30 p.m. and, after dinner, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.,” a seamstress says. The evening is free once a week, either on Saturday or on Sunday. That's a total of 74 hours of work per week.
Under Chinese Labor Law, weekly working hours are limited to a maximum of 44 hours, with 36 additional hours allowed per month. In reality, the textile industry often goes beyond that. What about holidays at SHEIN? One Sunday per month. "If I need more, I can ask my boss but it means I won't earn anything," explains a worker, specifying that she has no contract or social benefits.
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All the workers here are migrants coming from other Chinese provinces [than Guangzhou, where the Shein factory is located] who came to find a job or a better salary. “I earn a little more than in Jiangxi [an adjoining province, north of Guangzhou],” says this 50-year-old worker. Like all the employees [...], she is paid by the piece, which encourages her to increase her hours to produce more.
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The presence of a very young girl among the three workers soon catches the eye. “I sort out the clothes according to their size then I put labels on them,” she explains. “I arrive around 9 a.m. and leave around 10 p.m. depending on overtime.” She says she earns 0.30 yuan per piece (5 cents) and has worked here since she left middle school last summer. How old is she? “My daughter is 16 and just comes to give me a hand,” her mother, who packs blouses on the side, quickly intervenes to end the discussion.
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On its U.S. website, the retailer briefly addressed modern slavery in a short statement and published a code of conduct reminding suppliers of their obligation to comply with all applicable laws, including child labor laws. But it is not uncommon in the textile industry for suppliers to subcontract part of the orders to small workshops with no direct link to the retailer, which makes controls difficult.
It takes a simple visit to the residential area of Nancun, where many small workshops are located, to confirm this. Across an alley, our gaze meets hundreds of bags stamped with the SHEIN logo. The manager, busy ironing long black dresses, says the order comes from “a friend”.
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"It is impossible for SHEIN to control all the workshops and its code of conduct mainly aims at responding to the concerns of foreign media and consumers," explains Huang Yan, professor at the University of Technology of South China, in Guangzhou [where the Shein factory is located]. More generally, [...] the use of small workshops do not make the protection of workers any easier.
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