Date of publication: November 29, 2010
Source: Fashion United
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Monsoon, the 37-year-old British high street fashion brand finds itself mired in controversy as its internal audit reports reveal the use of child labor, under payment of workers and sub standard working conditions in India and China where it sources a bulk of its products. This comes as a major surprise to not only the British industry but also globally as Monsoon was first the fashion chain that pioneered ethical shopping.
In embarrassing revelations thrown up by the company’s own investigations, the standard-bearer for ethical fashion on the British high street has acknowledged that children have been discovered working in its supply chain; women working from home may have been paid less than the legal minimum wage; some workers are regularly required to work overtime; and conditions in suppliers factories sometimes break both local laws and the industry’s own ethical code. Monsoon insists that it works hard to stamp out such abuses.
Monsoon’s global ethical trading manager, Derek Jackson, says child labor was rife in India and challenged the Indian government over the issue. "I’m not trying to abrogate our responsibility but the problem is when our back is turned. We don’t encourage child labor. Of course, we are aware it is a possibility. We try to manage it to prevent it happening." In response to what Monsoon does on finding child labor in its supplier’s premises, Jackson said, they have policies to sequester the kids, involve an NGO, and the kids are basically put into a care home. They identify where they come from and then repatriate them to the family.
According to sources, many incidents of child labor were found - five children were working in a subcontractor’s factory in Shakoor Ki Dandi in Delhi in the summer of 2009, and an Indian staff came across children on several visits to suppliers. A report was filed about a number of children engaged in the manufacture of scarves in Amritsar. Another found a number of young workers aged between 12 and 16 at a factory in Uttar Pradesh in May 2009.