Workers making clothes for Australian fashion firms can’t make ends meet, study shows
The country is still benefiting from a 'system of entrenched exploitation' despite its pledge to do better
Kuala Lampur/Dhaka — Australian fashion companies use a “system of entrenched exploitation” that is trapping millions of garment workers in Bangladesh and Vietnam in poverty, campaigners said on Monday. Nine out of 10 garment workers in Bangladesh and over two-thirds of those in Vietnam cannot make ends meet, with wages as low as 55 Australian cents ($0.39) per hour, according to a study by charity Oxfam Australia. As a result, the workers, most of them women, often struggle to put enough food on the table and cannot pay for medical treatment when they are sick, Oxfam said. “If we don’t see changes soon, we will continue to see a fashion industry that is perpetuating and fuelling a system of poverty,” said Oxfam Australia’s advocacy manager Joy Kyriacou. “We will continue to see women who are running out of food and skipping meals every month, women who can’t live with their children because they can’t afford any childcare,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone from Sydn...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.