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Fast fashion industry is a term used to describe an industry that produces readily available and cheaply made fashion wears that are abundant in today’s fashion market. The word fast is used to describe how quickly the product can move from its conception stage to the stores. However, a major problem that bedevils the fast fashion industry is the inhumane working conditions that laborers are subjected to.
It is an open secret that fashion wears are made in countries that restrict or ban workers’ rights, with the exception of companies who use mass customization.
Companies who pay unfair wages are constantly looking for locations that can offer them cheaper labor, even though they make lots of profit on their products. Here are some worrisome work-related issues that are prominent with the fast fashion industry—some of them are:
1. WAGES THAT CAN ONLY GUARANTEE SURVIVAL
In areas where fast fashion industries are located, the highest paying fast-fashion company’s attract top-notch laborers when they pay the country’s minimum wage, which means that most companies pay less than the minimum wage.
The tragedy of the working conditions is that even workers who are lucky to earn the minimum wage will still find survival difficult as minimum wage in these countries are usually half of the money needed to cover their needs.
2. INHUMANE WORKING HOURS
With the exception of a few mass customization fashion companies, most fashion company’s require that workers are engaged in work for about 14 to 16 hours daily, every day of the week. When they have high demand, they may be required to work until 2 or 3 am. In some instances where they are made to work overtime, they are paid so little for those extra work. Their salaries are very low—as such, they can’t reject an opportunity to earn extra, even to the detriment of their health.
3. SAFETY CONDITION THAT IS PRACTICALLY NON-EXISTENT
It is a long-known fact that the environments where fast fashion laborers are made to work are highly unsafe—this is what led to the death of 1134 people who worked at the fast fashion industry in Dhaka Bangladesh.
Employees of most fast fashion industries are made to work in environments with little or no ventilation, thus, inhaling toxic chemicals such as blasted sand and fiber dust—which are known to result in non-curable illnesses later in life.
Cases of injuries, diseases, fires, and accidents are a very common occurrence in the fast fashion industry.
Workers are also exposed to emotional and physical abuse when they fall short of their target. In extreme cases, they are even asked to drink hot water as punishment.
4. FORCEFUL USE OF MINORS
It is estimated that about 168 million kids are made to work. Due to the demand for cheap labor by fast fashion industries, children are often the preferred go-to option as they’re easy to exploit. Most of these industries put their workers in concentration camps, a camp that can be best described as a slavery camp.
5. RESTRICTION ON UNIONISM
Most fast fashion industries prevent unionism—this is to prevent workers from forming a collective force to prevent the harassment they face and demand for better pay and a more conducive working environment. In a country like Bangladesh, with over 4,500 fast fashion industries, less than 500 of those industries have a union.
RAY OF LIGHT IN THE MIDST OF DARKNESS
In the midst of this un-human practices that are perpetuated by fashion companies, some have decided to be a focal point as one that upholds best practices in the industry.
If you truly care about the future of humanity, and the effect of the pollution they cause on future generations, then you need to dump fast fashion industries for brands who focus on mass customization. Companies that focus on mass customization generally source their materials from manufacturers who take the working conditions and the remuneration of their staffs seriously.
Every time people buy from fast fashion brands, they further motivate the owners to keep nefarious acts that the industry is accustomed to—as such, people should only buy from brands who uphold the industry’s best practices. Always buy from a brand that cares for humanity and the environment, get rid of fast fashion labels and buy labels that practice mass customization today.
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