They don't want you to know ... at what social costs their jeans are made in China. Do jeans brand owners have something to hide, or don't they think you've any right to know? (Survey: corporate social responsibility).(Cover Story)

Publication: Choice (Chippendale, Australia)

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COPYRIGHT 2003 Australian Consumers' Association

You can fork out a small fortune for a pair of designer jeans, spend a little less for a well-known brand or just a small fraction for a basic pair from the local variety store. The styles and quality may vary a little, the label always does, of course, but the one thing many have in common is their origin. When we checked out the brands on offer in one suburban shopping centre, 11 out of 12 were made in China.

MADE IN CHINA

Millions of young women work in the clothing trade in China. For many it's their first paid job. They're generally young and have little formal education or awareness of their rights. Without support from independent trade unions (only government-run unions are allowed to function), these workers are vulnerable.

Many come from the countryside seeking employment in clothing factories to support their siblings or children back home. Such rural migrants often hold temporary residency permits, valid only for as long as they're working. So keeping that job is very important, even if it means working for a pittance or in appalling conditions.

Various human rights groups and non-government organisations keep track of working conditions and human rights abuses in countries such as China. Go to their websites (for example: www.sweatshopwatch.org, www.nlcnet.org, www.behindthelabel.org, www.cleanclothes.org) and you'll find detailed descriptions of their representatives' visits to clothing factories where, for example:

* Workers were forced to work 60-96-hour weeks, 10-15-hour shifts or seven-day weeks.

* Workers got paid as little as 12-28 us cents per hour.

* Women workers were dismissed as being 'too old' when they turned 25.

* Migrant workers were housed in overcrowded and dirty dormitories.

* Workers were sacked for speaking out about factory conditions, raising grievances or organising work action.

* Lax safety standards and forced overtime contributed to appalling work accidents.

Apart from these individually reported human rights abuses, Amnesty International literature warns companies setting up business in China that violations such as torture, disappearances, extra judicial killings, harassment of human rights defenders, forced labour, arbitrary arrest and detention, and denial of freedom of assembly, association and expression occur in that country, and that these can significantly damage the company's reputation in the absence of transparent and properly enforced human rights policies.

EXPLOIT OR IMPROVE?

Over the past decades, many clothing manufacturers have moved their production, or part of it,...

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