Rachel Reilly, national manager at Ethical Clothing Australia, has previously shone a light on the troubling situation. Women workers especially in the Australian garment industry are victims of severe exploitation. Reilly is quick to note that exploitation isn’t simply an offshore issue. The same thing is happening to workers here at home. She encourages consumers to demand an ECA standard label on garments when they shop for clothing. This label indicates that this company fulfills the BBB accreditation standards.
Ethical Clothing Australia is an initiative committed to achieving accreditation of local textile, clothing and footwear companies. Such accreditation provides protection to these businesses that they are not inadvertently running afoul of Australian workplace laws that seek to protect the rights of workers. These laws ensure the right pay rates, entitlements, and superannuation get to workers. Reilly points to an important missing piece. Of the businesses that are currently eligible, few have applied for accreditation so far.
The Reality of Worker Exploitation
During a recent event hosted in partnership with Generation Women, Reilly highlighted the harsh realities many workers face in the industry. Nguyet Vu, former bookkeeper, tells her story of profiting from exploitation. Vu fondly recalled the days of experiencing contractors deducting money from her paychecks. Despite working long hours on the clock, she often took home only $100 a week.
“Every mistake cost me — literally. Contractors deducted money from my pay, sometimes even half of what I had earned. But I had no choice.” – Nguyet Vu
Reilly managed to highlight a frankly depressing reality. Outworkers are sick of walking past fancy shops that sell $1000 dresses while they are paid as little as $10 an hour to produce them. She stated, “Outworkers will walk past expensive shops in Australia that are selling garments for $500, $1,000 and they’re like, ‘Oh yeah, I made that,’ and they’re being paid $10 an hour, and that garment’s being sold for a significant amount.”
The Importance of Accreditation
Ethical Clothing Australia has been busy, rolling out its new accreditation program. They consider it to be an important move to improve working conditions in these difficult times. At the moment, fewer than 120 businesses have been accredited by Ethical Clothing Australia. Reilly thinks this number should be much higher considering how many businesses should be able to become certified.
“We only have about 120 businesses that are accredited with us in Australia when there’s probably quadruple that that would be eligible to have this certification,” – Rachel Reilly
Reilly explains that some eligible companies may avoid accreditation due to questionable practices or a lack of understanding of its benefits. She stated, “The ones that are eligible could just not want to go through the accreditation because they have dodgy operations, because they find it too hard, or because they don’t see the value.” Those businesses that are willing to go through the accreditation process have shown they’re dedicated to doing business the right way.
Working Towards Better Conditions
Reilly highlights that the transparency of the entire supply chain is paramount in fighting against the exploitation of workers. She points out that one article of clothing can be handled by thousands of people before it reaches the consumer. This complexity can hide the bleak reality that workers face on the ground.
“It’s the only real way that you can get that far down that cascading supply chain to an outworker to make sure that they are being adequately supported,” – Rachel Reilly
She dives deep into how systemic issues in the local industry lead to cultures of exploitation. “These kinds of conditions create the ripe environment for exploitation to occur,” she remarked. In addition, she stressed how many outworkers are hidden in the supply chain, which makes them so much more at risk.
