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Fairtrade Fortnight action against sweatshops
Nottingham P&P’s stall at the Student Union
Adit Goschalk and Emma Williams from Nottingham Uni P&P group report:
Leading up to Fairtrade Fortnight, Nottingham P&P raised awareness about sweatshops, demanding that companies like Primark should be held to account for their practices abroad.
A week long stall was held in the student union to encourage support for the anti-sweatshop campaign. A stunt mannequin was dressed in “Sweatshop made” clothes bearing the blood splattered words “Blood on your hands” to catch the attention of passing students.
Reports from Labour Behind the Label and War on Want were used to outline the huge number of human rights abuses exacted against workers in countries like Bangladesh and Uzbekistan, that are supported by corporate retail chains. This research was used to create a large collage showing students the extent of efforts made by major high street retailers to secure workers’ rights.
The stall was aimed at making people aware of their purchasing power as consumers and gave students the opportunity to sign a petition demanding that Primark secure their production methods and develop an effective product labeling system to guarantee that neither child nor forced labour is used at any stage of their production process.
Information used on the stall also referred to Labour Behind the Label’s `Let´s Clean up Fashion´ report that evaluated the extent to which high street stores took a proactive approach to preventing the use of sweatshops in their production systems.
Nottingham P&P will raise further awareness about abuse of rights within the cotton industry during Fairtrade Fortnight, with a particular focus on Primark.
Find out more about P&P’s ‘High Street - High Cost’ campaign
