Manufacturing’s Lament: Factory Abuses Persist

Despite the development of corporate social responsibility programs, factory monitoring systems and greater overall awareness, the apparel and textile industry still suffers from widespread worker rights abuses and dangerous working conditions throughout the supply chain.

A new report, “Free2Work, The Story Behind the Barcode,” from Not for Sale, an international antihuman trafficking organization, charges that people can be found in modern-day slavery and unsafe working conditions even in some key global apparel production hubs, and six countries are known to use child and/or forced labor at the cut-make-trim level. Citing the U.S. Labor Department’s “List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor, 2011” report, the countries include China and India, both top 10 global exporters, as well as Argentina, Jordan, Malaysia and Thailand.