sweatshops, Marks & Spencer

[hossoso]

The recent post on Marks & Spencer, combined with my recent studies on globalization at UW and the thread from the *********** selling fake Gucci bags prompted me to post this. M&S moved their Manila factory to the Cavite economic zone, an area not subject to Phillipine labor standards that is home to rampant labor abuses-mandatory overtime, drastically underpaid, no healthcare, no job security, random firings, pregnancy punishments, no sick leave, 14 to 18 hour shifts, no union, no complaints. I have the document in PDF form if anyone is interested or doubts these claims. I don't know the level of interest this subject will garner on this forum but if anyone else knows of clothes that are manufactured or assembled in any developing country (by any standard), I would really like to know about it. Thank you.

 

[Bob Loblaw]

I remember Marks & Spencer as dealing only in British-made clothing. I guess that information is dated.

 

[acidboy]

i seriously doubt these claims. our family own a manufacturing concern here, and believe me, you never mess with organized labour here. besides that, the government is actually very very pro-labour specially when it comes to these allegations. AND certain labour groups here are closely affiliated with leftist organizations and, allegedly, the communist party which was declared a terrorist organization by the american government because of incidences of murder and shakedowns. and i do know for a fact that some labour groups bring these allegations out in the open because of shakedowns. i have met lawyers whose jobs are to pay off labour group heads who threaten mass action or picket lines if they don't get their tithes.

also you are probably talking about the cavite export processing zone, where a lot of plants are located- like intel, motorola, sanyo, nissan, sony and honda. that area is a mandated incentive location, where they get tax breaks and such, just as long as the products they produce their are exported out of the country. it is quite a good tool to bring in investments in the country. believe me, the wages companies hand out in the epz are much higher than what they'll get as contracted labour outside the zone.

and another thing, i am not familiar of m&s operating a factory here. i do know they have a buying office that sources some of the furnitures and home accessories m&s gets and rebrand for their stores in the uk.

believe me hossoso, these allegations can't hold water here. do you know that the philippines has been experiencing capital flight because of the very active and very influential labour organizations here? a lot of companies that used to do a lot of manufacturing here like toyota, nestle and colgate-palmolive have packed their factories off to thailand because of higher labour cost and more stringent labour laws compared to the other countries in asia.

 

[hossoso]

I would rather have let this thread go into obscurity as it is obviously not a subject of interest here and that is fine with me. But I need to defend myself against the accusation of making false allegations. All of my information came from a peer-reviewed, academic journal used as part of the regular curriculum at the University of Washington. The conditions or the products assembled in the Cavite EPZ or any other may not be of interest here but I did not aquire this information from the gaurdian uk, some .com, or any other leftist source that toys with credibility but never commits. I'm sure many forumers have graduated from better schools, but UW is in good standing and would suffer immensely if found to be teaching untruths. If the forumer that accused me of posting false information would like the PDFs, supporting articles and studies, he can PM me to read them for himself. Otherwise, sorry for bringing this up again but it is something that I take very seriously. I know it is not style but it seemed related when I posted originally.

 

[acidboy]

hossoso,

i am sure your heart is in the right place regarding your crusade against sweatshops. i also believe that business should never treat the people they work with like commodities or worse. thing is, you cite a paper, while i am already here. i know where i speak off because i do business here, i have clients in cavite economic zone (thats the new name of the place), i am very familiar with labor laws in this country because that is the scope of my work, i have been in that area and its not a sweatshop hellhole that some here might think it is, i know that the garment industry in this country is very very much regulated by the government through its garment & textile board, i know for a fact that wages in the economic zone compared to the same work done outside is much higher, i know how organized labor does its thing in this country, and i also know that m&s doesnt own a factory in the philippines.

i am not affiliated with m&s or even the fashion or textile industry here, btw. i just think the other side needs a fair shake. i do not accuse you of anything, but i am voicing out the probable mistake in your premiss and argument.

and yes, i also believe this topic is better placed in a proper fora. lets just agree to disagree then.

 

[adamm411]

The alternatives are amassing forces. I just posted on alternatives to Nike.

Peace,

Adamm

Originally Posted by hossoso

The recent post on Marks & Spencer, combined with my recent studies on globalization at UW and the thread from the *********** selling fake Gucci bags prompted me to post this. M&S moved their Manila factory to the Cavite economic zone, an area not subject to Phillipine labor standards that is home to rampant labor abuses-mandatory overtime, drastically underpaid, no healthcare, no job security, random firings, pregnancy punishments, no sick leave, 14 to 18 hour shifts, no union, no complaints. I have the document in PDF form if anyone is interested or doubts these claims. I don't know the level of interest this subject will garner on this forum but if anyone else knows of clothes that are manufactured or assembled in any developing country (by any standard), I would really like to know about it. Thank you.