David Beckham Gets In Twitter War Over Sweatshop Accusations
You know, I am really not that interested in Twitter wars between a two soccer stars but during the Superbowl, Joey Barton accused David Beckham of using sweatshops to make his new H&M underwear and that something that costs a penny to make should not be selling for $15.
"Not arsed if they’re Beckham’s or not. 9.99 pounds for a pair of gruds for H and M is an outrage. Do one, Becks. They cost about 1p to make in a sweat shop in the Third World, Is there no limit to what ‘Brand Beckham’ will endorse for a pound note?"
The thing is, Joey Barton is correct and David Beckham called Joey a madman for bringing it up and also said he was not using child labor. I don't see anywhere in those Tweets about Beckham using child labor. Now I am wondering if they were and Beckham is feeling guilty. The thing is H&M got some calls yesterday and they said all the people making the underwear are making at least the statutory minimum wage. Have you ever looked to see what the minimum wage is in China? Each province sets their own and H&M won't say which province they are made in because this way we just have to guess.
30 comments:
Please always use that picture.
Well, this is sad. Beckham should do better. Makes me wonder about Posh's fashion line.
You know, I just don't buy any underwear, lingere if it's not made in Italy, France, US, Canada or Sweden. There are outlets and The Rack where you can get the good stuff for WalMart prices, so why not?
These days even the Victoria's Secret stuff is made by small starving children living in boxes on dirt roads. You have to be careful but that Chinese stuff is just too awful. Shoes included! There are some pretty designs out there but if it's made in China it's almost certainly going to hurt my sleds!
To me, sweat shop = child labour.
But yeah, always use that picture.
Before sanctimoniously weighing in on the side of Barton, you might want to inventory your own wardrobes and figure out what items originated in a sweatshop. Because it's a lock that most if not all of what's on your back was made in a sweatshop. And your wearing it, perpetuatin' the oppression, you FIEND. Seems to me that the real story is of two silly gits who want attention, one to sell product and one to restore a reputation marred by unfortunate tendency to deliver beat-downs at McDonalds. Dignified!
And, yes, please, always use that photo.
The flat board freaks me out on that photo. Don't use that photo - there are plenty of others from that photo shoot that are just as beautiful.
There are plenty of other costs on top of the labor cost - shipping and marketing. But yeah, 9.99 GBP is expensive for a pair of H&M quality underwear. And it's not like Becks is known for his underwear designs.
Becks SHOULD be known for his underwear designs. And yes, that's a good picture!
Not defending H&M necessarily in this case, and obviously conditions will vary country to country, but when I was in India I worked with a women's group who frequently received orders from export houses like H&M, Zara, etc. and H&M was by far the best. Their wages were always better than Zara's or other competitors (and usually for less intensive work, not eye-straining bead-work or things other companies wanted) and they were the only company to have ever sent an inspector to the site to make sure the women were working in proper conditions (no one underage, payed correct wage, safety, etc.). Again, in China it could be a whole different story and not like it's any prize to be the best of the companies outsourcing to developing countries for cheap labor :/ Obviously there needs to be a more transparent process for this kind of stuff...
Everything made in China is made in sweatshop conditions, and 2) Joey Barton is an asshole.
I dont buy chinese products. The end
What Amartel said...
whooo? whaaaaa? sorry, I was too busy looking at the photo. I suspect most people are going to as well.
I dont buy chinese products. The end
Did he or did he not stuff down there for the shoot? I think he "enhances" his junk.
ummm, EVERYTHING is made in China these days. good luck finding items that are not. and, people won't buy locally made products because they cost too much. then, the company needs to save money and starts outsourcing to China (or some other developing country). or, even if they are making record profits each year, they still outsource so they can make more.
anyways, good luck with "not buying anything from china"
If I have a choice I will buy non made in China stuff but that being said, I often don't have a choice these days. Often I will get so fed up I end up not buying anything.
I don't know if you do sweatshop workers a favor by not buying their products. Then they have no jobs at all. It's not like some other employer in their neighborhood is going to treat them any better.
I think H&M's approach is the right one - making sure the workers have safe conditions and are being treated fairly.
Sweatshops have been around forever, but they've really multiplied in the past 20 years due to globalization and the taste for "fast fashion" and disposable clothes.
I try to get around it by buying fewer clothes but better clothes, stuff that will last longer. Some of it is still made in Europe. Second-hand clothes are another good option. And don't some chains, like American Apparel, advertise that all their stuff is made locally by union-wage workers?
I try only to buy American, but it doesn't work out for me. The best I can do is S. America. :(
If American Apparel's line didn't look like rags modeled by C-list amateur porn stars, it'd be different.
I'm so tired of not being able to buy anything made in this country, even when I can afford to.
I have no idea if the place where these are made is a sweatshop or not. AND - it's been a really long time since I've been to China.
However, looking at a place's minimum wage and comparing the hourly rate to our wages here is a little unfair. I don't know what $1 gets you in China.
When I lived in Bulgaria ten cents got me a large drink or a pack of cigarettes or even a loaf of bread. So a dollar an hour is ten large vodkas. I don't make ten large vodkas an hour here.
@Nutty_Flavor I agree with nearly everything you said. A family making a fair wage in their country under good working conditions is much better than not having any income.
I love American made if I can find it. I have a problem with unions that have literally priced themselves out of a job. There should be a fair wage paid for any job done. However longevity is no criteria for expertise.
Becks should visit the factory and speak from his own knowledge.
@ Del Riser... it's not always the unions fault. take a look at what has happened recently in London, Ontario (that'd be canada). Caterpillar was making record profit each and every year, asked their workers to take a 50% pay cut and loose a lot of their benefis. when they refused, they pulled up stakes and outsourced the work. cause making record profits every year wasn't good enough anymore?
so, what happens when no one has a job, or a decently paying job, anymore... who's going to buy the stuff the companies are trying to sell> who's paying taxes to help fund schools, police, ect.
sorry, i'll stop now :)
go labgrrl!! these corporations are so GREEDY. and its not about the stockholders, its about the CEOs and their multi multi multi millions.
Verizon paid 0 corporate taxes last year and made a healthy profit. Yes, that is zero taxes. and they moved all of the jobs that they could from massachusetts (and other expensive states) and put them in the south. at least still america, but alot of people lost their jobs.
virtually all, if not all of the celebs who sell clothes use sweat shop labor. anything in H & M has to be sweatshop, otherwise it wouldn't be that cheap.
thanks annabella! i was kinda thinking i was going to get yelled at :) i don't post much, usually just lurk and get amazed at how you all guess the blind riddles, but i am pretty passionate on this subject... now, if/when i get yelled at, i won't feel completely alone!
@labgrrl I lived most of my life in Washington, the state,not the district,so I'm familiar with Canada.
My point about unions was that *longevity is not criteria for expertise*. Pay should be for performance. My sole opinion about the whole union deal.
My company was not union, but held by a conglomerate who sent all the factory jobs offshore. Greedy bastards are everywhere.
Joey Barton is pure scum.
Have a good read about him http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joey_Barton
attacking team mates during training, stubbing a cigar out on a youth team players eye, attacking a 15 year old rival fan, the list goes on and on.
I'll just point out that it's not just China that uses sweatshops. Bangladesh, Vietnam, India, Cambodia, etc. all use them. I'd bet my life there are sweatshops in California and other border states that uses cheap labour from people in the country illegally.
What are the rules for "Made in the ----"? I don't know about clothing but in Canada, juice was allowed to say "Made in Canada" if the last stage of the manufacturing was done in Canada. I don't know if that's the same for clothing, etc. I don't know if this was changed. My point being, the label may not mean anything.
He is not exonerated because 'sweat shops' are commonly used. As an 'role model'and a UN ambassador he should of done his homework but he was too busy chasing that paper. Yes, the multi-millionaire was far too concerned with money than anything else. The fact he referred to a critic as a 'mad man' speaks volumes. Because of course Brand Beckham cannot be attacked.
I'm glad someone dare have the courage to call Becks out on this. This is a complicated issue. One one hand, the US KNOWS better than to pay dirt poor wages, but on the other hand, these sweat shops are giving women in China an independence they've never had. Personally, I don't know why the US CEO's can't spare a few bucks and make it so Chinese workers didn't want to jump off a roof now and then. I can't condone this, considering US CEO's make 475 times more wages than the average US worker, and that number is probably astronomical when you compare it to the average wage of the sweatshop worker.
This does not bode well for our karma.
Thank you Enty for bringing this up... I hate buying clothes because I know some poor kid in the third world made only 1/2 cent for it while I am paying $20. And the rest is making some pig rich. Oh wait - that's an insult to pigs.
It's sick. Fashion sucks.
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