We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
TESCO, MARKS AND Spencer and Next are among the retailers coming under fire in a damning report by the International Textile Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation.
The lobby group examined the working conditions for 100,000 workers in 83 factories across Indonesia, Sri Lanka and The Philippines in order to assess how the workers who supply western retail chains are treated.
The report found that massive brands like Adidas, Converse, Abercrombie and Fitch, Victoria’s Secret and Billabong are “routinely breaking every rule in the book when it comes to labour rights”. A huge number of high street chains and sporting goods retailers are named in the report – there are 60 brands named in all.
The report found that no factory in the three countries examined paid a living wage to all of their workers, and that some are below the legal minimum wage for that region. Forced overtime is also a common practice. The ITGLWF says that the report’s findings “indicate that widespread violations and abuses of workers’ rights continue to be the norm in the industry”.
The report identifies that many of the factory workers are not members of unions, for fear of having their contracts terminated. In Indonesia factories had taken “anti-union measure” in order to interfere with unions’ activities. The numbers of workers on short term contracts were as high as 85 per cent in some factories.
The study found that young women working in factories in Sri Lanka were told that their employers would prefer if they did not marry, and that some factories carried out pregnancy tests as part of the recruitment process.
Ashling Seely, ITGLWF spokesperson told TheJournal.ie that such a large number of brands and retailers are named in the report that they won’t be approaching them individually, because the findings indicate that industry wide solutions are needed. She says that the factories involved were not identified by name because “less responsible” brands have pulled out of factories in the past after being named and shamed. She says:
We held a multi stakeholder meeting in Sri Lanka at the end of March and Nike, Columbia Sports, Next and Marks and Spencers attended and examined some findings relating to Sri Lanka. Adidas have pledged to write to their suppliers saying they want their workers to have the right to freedom of association.
Seely says Adidas didn’t quite endorse trade unions, but that it is a step in the right direction.
The ITGLWF is criticising big brands for spending billions on corporate social responsibility audits of factories, but failing to notice the problems highlighted in the report. Seely says:
Brands spend $60 billion conducting audits, but they’re not done by people with an intimate knowledge of the factory. You can walk into a factory and see that there have been improvements in child labour and health and safety, but it’s the unseen problems that need to be addressed.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Is it me or do we have a situation in many countries now where its like how low can the political class go these days…..or is it a case we are all just seeing it more clearly now cos doesnt seem like Ireland or England have any political parties capable of running a bath without doing something stupid or being caught out
@Tom Newell: No shame or modesty in any of them.
@Tom Newell: I think the UK and US have been showing the world that the way to get ahead in politics is to lie like a rug and tell everyone what they want to hear, stoke prejudices and hate then rise on a tide of the unthinking.
There was an Austrian who did something similar a while back, he caused a bit of bother.
@Tom Newell: mainly it’s a result of politicians slowly realising just how susceptible humans are to propaganda. Get enough media outlets onside, spend enough on targeted social media ads and bot farms, and you can pretty much get away with anything. This allows con-artists, shameless liars and assorted dummies to flourish eg Trump and Boris. They surround themselves with other like-minded souls, and you wind up with the modern Conservative party, for example.
@Steve O’Hara-Smith: There was a country also in the Middle East that lied about UNRWA which the U.S and the UK we’re only to happy to believe without the slightest bit of evidence been put forward, I’m proud of the fact that Ireland didn’t fall for these blatant propaganda lies.
@Tom Newell:
It’s the people who vote them in. Society has to take the blame too. Any muppet can run these days and get elected.
@Steve O’Hara-Smith: you would be accused of sensationalism by some but unfortunately it is frightening how true this may actually be
@Tom Newell: It seems to be a right-wing political disease, more so that anyone else.
Although no group is immune.
I’ll bet you a €1000 they didn’t bet on winning the election!!!
Labour set to gain the biggest amount of seats in UK history. What has the UK shifting leftwards?
@9QRixo8H: there isn’t another genuine alternative?.
@Ger Whelan:
Agreed, a lot of people vote against someone, rather than voting for the opposition.
Lesser of two evils as such, especially in a 2 party system like the UK and the US.
@Ger Whelan: there are a myriad of genuine alternatives. The people just simple support Labour.
@9QRixo8H: is there? Other than The conservatives and labour please name one party that is running enough candidates to be able to form a government on their own?.
Insider trading is par for the course in the political elite. So they didn’t think it was something they could be caught for.
I don’t think any politican cares about the people its all about themselves and money
We dont have to look very far in our own backyard to find how thick and ignorant the electorate can be.A certain family in Kerry and that shyster down in Tipperary can do no wrong apparently.A bit like Trump supporters, simple folk.
@carol mullen:
I don’t live in either area but it’s obvious that they get things done for locals. I wouldn’t call them thick or ignorant…they are voting for people who are getting things done in the areas…e.g roads,hospitals etc..they are nothing like trump supporters
@carol mullen: I hear that family raises the best politicians that money can buy.
The big question is did he bet on the correct date?
Has admitted to putting a flutter on the date of the election. Always trying to select words to trivialise their own dishonesty. He could also have said used insider knowledge to gamble on an election they know they will lose to enrich himself.
Recent polls show the Tories and LibDems pretty much neck-and-neck for 2nd/3rd place, with each getting around 50+ seats in parliament.
Another poll – but this should be considered an outlier – shows Farrage’s group becoming the 2nd largest party in parliament, and therefore the official opposition.
But polls, as we have seen, have not been particularly reliable in recent times.
Like, Ballydole inside information
How do you bury damaging news in the news cycle when almost everything your government does is inept or unethical. What do you try to distract with?
If someone is dumb enough to offer that bet, then why is this a problem?
@Thesaltyurchin: Exactly. And if a person who knew the election date was dumb enough NOT to put a bet on……….!
@Thesaltyurchin: it’s the same as a player picking up a yellow card after he’s backed it. It’s called ethics.
@marklars81: Not really tho, that situation is one of individual merit, so ‘a player’ decides 1) if they get a yellow and 2) when that is. Whereas this situation the outcome is not controlled by the individual? Unless the data officer decides when the English go to vote. Seems really stupid that someone would accept that bet, in a way they sort of deserve to loose.
The toxic social and media environment would put any honest person getting into politics.
Re alleged knife attack in Phoenix Park today: Bring on judge marty No…, with his special advisor, judge o’donnell from Limk & we’ll have the perpetrators out in no time. Nothing can go wrong.
Tories won’t be winning that’s for certain.
Any significant amount of money placed on ridiculous bets such as that for big returns which would be correct would immediately get flagged for investigation before paying out. Who bets to win big on rubbish like that?
@Dan The Man: Gamblers.
Whilst betting on the election date is unethical, inappropriate and unseemly, it is hardly a hanging offence!
Is the rise of the “believe anything” brigade linked to the development of social media? Seems like we’re all being manipulated to think lies are the truth….
I reckon it was just a lucky guess!
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say