International human rights foundation and law firm, Global Rights Compliance (GRC) recently released a landmark report on workers’ rights, in collaboration with Labour Behind the Label, which purports to expose gross failings by global high street brands to uphold labour rights in Pakistan.
According to the report, ‘Hanging on by a Thread’, garment workers are routinely underpaid, forced to work excessive hours, and risk their health and safety. Global high street brands were found by the report to be routinely sourcing labour from these factories where garment workers are grossly exploited. The report finds that over a third of workers are paid less than the minimum wage (equivalent to just £68 a month) and that nearly two thirds of workers are not paid the agreed rate for enforced overtime. It also finds that health and safety concerns are ignored, with social audits routinely failing to identify violations and, in some reported cases, families of injured or killed workers not compensated.
GRC’s report includes recommendations on how fashion brands can ensure that garment workers’ rights are upheld, and states that this should be an ‘urgent wakeup call’ for Western high street brands to review their social auditing processes for their suppliers, calling on them to commit to action.
The Communication Group plc supported the release of Hanging on by a Thread with a tailored media campaign to build awareness of both the report and its findings. An anchor feature was secured with The Guardian and supplementary coverage came with a double-page-spread feature achieved in The Irish Sun. Several of the fashion brands mentioned in the report have since made public statements committing to reviewing their social auditing processes.
