Britain's high street chains are named by sweatshop probe

Marks & Spencer, Next, Monsoon, Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge accused by anti-poverty campaigners
By Gethin Chamberlain
The Observer, Sunday 12 December 2010

Photo caption: Workers sew at typical sweatshop. This one is in Guatemala City. Photograph: Jaime Puebla/AP

Some of the biggest names on the British high street use Indian sweatshops which pay poverty wages and break labour laws to keep costs to a bare minimum, according to a new report.

Marks & Spencer, Next, Monsoon, Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge are all named as having used factories which exploit their workers.

The allegations – levelled in a report by anti-poverty campaigners War on Want and Labour Behind the Label – will come as a particular embarrassment to M&S, which is running a glitzy, multi-million pound TV advertising campaign under the slogan "Don't put a foot wrong this Christmas". It is the second time this year the company has faced sweatshop allegations.

Some workers reported they were paid less than £60 a month while, in one factory, being regularly forced to work until 2am to produce clothes for British shoppers. Workers in another factory in Gurgaon, on the outskirts of the Indian capital Delhi, say it is not unusual for them to have to work an extra 140 hours a month for half the overtime rate they should receive.

The allegations come after a series of Observer investigations exposed the appalling conditions in which clothes, perfumes and accessories are produced for the British high street.

Ruth Tanner, War on Want campaigns and policy director, said: "It is utter hypocrisy that Marks & Spencer tells shoppers not to put a foot wrong at Christmas while Indian workers producing its clothes earn a pittance. While Christmas is a time for giving, M&S and the other retailers shamed are acting like Scrooge. For years British retailers have failed to keep their pledges on decent treatment for the people who make their clothes. It is high time the UK government stopped this abuse."

Sam Maher, a campaigner at the group Labour Behind the Label and author of the report, said: "Workers interviewed from these factories spoke of living in a climate of fear, where violence and systematic exclusion from rights was a daily reality. These conditions and their poverty wages are inexcusable. Brands sourcing from Gurgaon must take action to stop violence against unionised workers and make sure they pay prices that allow for a living wage."

The report – Taking Liberties: the Story Behind the UK High Street – lays bare the human cost of the sweatshop culture. It says workers in Gurgaon "are subject to systematic exploitation, violence and repression, long and stressful working hours, casual employment relationships, and exclusion from the social rights, protection and benefits they should be entitled to. Workers spoke of living in a climate of fear and insecurity." Researchers interviewed staff from two factories in Gurgaon, whose names have been withheld to protect them from any backlash.

Monsoon said that because the identity of the factory it is alleged to have used was unclear, it could not comment on the report. Debenhams and M&S said they took seriously any allegations that suggested a breach of their strict ethical standards, while Arcadia Group, which owns Miss Selfridge and Dorothy Perkins, said it welcomed research into labour standards and was working on new management systems and on tackling the issue of a living wage.

Next said it was already aware of problems in Gurgaon and was taking matters "very seriously indeed".

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