Primark customer, Rebecca Gallagher, recently bought a dress from the popular high street store. At the usual cheap price of £10, Gallagher was pleased with her purchase…until she went to find the washing instructions.
She was surprised to find that there was an extra tag sewn in next to the regular label, which had a hand stitched message on it. The message read: ‘Forced to work exhausting hours.’
Shockingly, this has not been the first cry for help from mistreated laborers. In 2012, a Chinese laborer left a note asking for help in a customers’ Saks Fifth Avenue shopping bag. Since the tragedy of the 2013 Rana Plaza collapse, which killed 1,129 garment workers, there has been increasing attention and scrutiny over high street stores like Primark. Events like the Fashion Revolution Day have been created in order to raise public awareness for the real issues regarding garment production.
Upon discovering the label, Swansea shopper stated: “You hear all sorts of stories about people working in sweatshops abroad – it made me feel so guilty that I can never wear that dress again.”
Gallagher told the South Wales Evening Post: “I’ve got no idea who put it there but it really took the wind out of my sails. It makes me think that it was a cry for help — to let us people in Britain know what is going on.”
Primark has finally given their side of the story to Vogue, ensuring that the high street shop is committed to providing fair and safe conditions for their workers. They also discredit the label, stating that the particular dress was in stores more than a year ago, and that there has since been no other recorded incidents or cry for helps of the kind. Read their full statement:
“We find it very strange that this has come to light so recently, given that the dress was on sale more than a year ago, with no other incidents of this kind relating to this dress,” a spokesperson for the brand said this afternoon.
“We would be grateful if the customer would give us the dress, so we can investigate how the additional label became attached and whether there are issues that need to be looked into.”
“Primark’s code of conduct sets out the core principles that suppliers and factories must follow to ensure products are made in good working conditions, and that the people making them are treated decently and paid a fair wage. We inspect each factory to ensure it is meeting the code and support it by providing guidance and training when issues are identified. Primark is a member of the Ethical Trade Initiative (ETI), and our code is based on the ETI base code.”
“Primark is committed to making working conditions safer for those who manufacture its products. It was the first UK retailer to sign the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh in order to work collaboratively with other brands and stakeholders in the industry to bring about sustainable long-term change in the country.”
