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FIGHTING GLOBAL POVERTY
Fashion Victims
The true cost of cheap clothes atPrimark,Asda and Tesco
FIGHTING GLOBAL POVERTY
Asda
Chief ExecutiveAndy BondStores 300Employees134,000Sales (2005)£14.9 billionWebsitewww.asda.co.uk
Tesco
Chief ExecutiveSir Terry LeahyStores2,705Employees389,258Sales (2005)£41.8 billionProfit (2005)£2.21 billionWebsitewww.tesco.com
Primark
Managing DirectorArthur RyanStores160Employees18,000Revenue (2005)£1.3 billionProfits (2005)£185 millionWebsitewww.primark.co.uk
Preface
This report forms part of War on Want’songoing campaign for corporateaccountability.It presents the results of systematic research and interviews conductedin Bangladesh with workers who make theclothes sold by bargain retailers such asPrimark,Asda and Tesco.The findings of this research reveal the true human cost of the goods sold so cheaply to consumersin the UK.Each of the three companies featured here hassigned up to a set of principles which aresupposed to provide decent workingconditions and a living wage for the workersin their supply chains.Yet the research in thisreport shows that these principles areregularly violated as a matter of course.Thisunderlines one of the key points of War onWant’s campaign to achieve proper regulationof multinational companies:that voluntarycodes of conduct cannot provide effectiveprotection to the workers they are supposedto shield.War on Want is proud of its long historyworking in partnership with grassrootsorganisations in Bangladesh such as theNational Garment Workers’ Federation,Karmojibi Nari and the BangladeshAgricultural Farm Labour Federation.War onWant is also a member of the Clean UpFashion campaign,a coalition of trades unions,anti-poverty and consumer groups which seek to highlight the exploitation of workersproducing fashion items for sale in the UK.This report aims not only to expose thefailure of voluntary codes to guarantee decentconditions for workers in the factories of Bangladesh.It also recommends action,bothto send a message to these companies and tochallenge the UK government’s rejection of binding regulations which would open up thepossibility of genuine corporate accountability.This is War on Want’s mission more widely:tosupport people in developing countries intheir fight against the root causes of poverty,but also to inform and inspire people in richcountries to challenge the global structureswhich sustain poverty across the world.
Louise RichardsChief Executive,War on Want
FASHION VICTIMS:THE TRUE COST OF CHEAP CLOTHES 1
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