Dating back to the late 19th century, sweatshops emerged as a source for clothing production and cheap labor. Mostly made up of immigrants, women and children, sweatshops imposed daily deadly conditions for the workers. Demand dramatically increased throughout the 20th century, so garment workers would be forced to work 15 to 18 hour days, six days straight while only receiving four days worth of pay. Sweatshop workers were outcasted by society, and the work was viewed as a “lower class problem”.
From 1900-1997, sweatshop conditions persisted. We see a huge historic tragedy in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire dating back to March 25, 1911. This is one of the earliest and deadliest industrial disasters in U.S. history, 146 workers perished most of which were young women and girls of immigrant status. As a spokesperson and labor organizer, Rose Schneiderman, explained at a memorial gathering, “This is not the first time girls have been burned alive in the city. Every week I must learn of the untimely death of one of my sister workers. Every year thousands of us are maimed. The life of men and women is so cheap, and property is so sacred. There are so many of us for one job it matters little if 143 of us are burned to death.” (1911).
Depictions of garment workers in the media created false narratives for the conditions and lifestyles of people in this role. The "Garment Workers at Play”, from the LIFE Magazine Cover Life, (August 1, 1938) shares the false narrative of luxury as a garment worker. Instead, young girls’ lives were being threatened each day at work.
Activist groups such as National Consumers’ League and the National Women’s Trade Union League were formed during the early Liberal feminist movement to bring a voice to this exploited group of people.
Fast forward to 2013, when the Rana Plaza disaster occurred in Savar, Bangladesh. The industrial building was not up to code, leading to the
collapse of the building and tragic deaths of at least 1,132 people. Since this incident, there have been other casualties due to the lack of safety and protection of garment workers. Another one of the most fatal industrial disasters in history was the Tazreen Fashions factory caught fire where 112 people were killed. These awful events will not go unnoticed, and activists push for code enforcement, compensation of the families who lost loved ones, and awareness of the brutal cycle of fast fashion production.
It is no secret that unethical garment labor practices are fundamental to the fast fashion business model, but voices are emerging to advocate for change.
This week marks Fashion Revolution Week where businesses and activists unite to organize boycotts against large corporations who rely on labor exploitation.
A few of their aims include:
Safe, dignified working conditions and living wages for all people in the supply chain
Redistributed and more equal balance of power across the global fashion industry
An end to throwaway culture and shift to a system where materials are used for much longer and nothing goes to waste
Heritage, craftsmanship and local wisdom are recognized and valued
To learn more about this organization and support the cause, visit their website https://www.fashionrevolution.org/about/.
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