Primark Still Perceived as Unethical?

Despite healthy sales figures, new store openings and ethical trade initiatives Primark have been targeted with negative accusations once again when a customer, 25-year-old Rebecca Gallagher, discovered a hand-stitched label reading ‘Forced to work exhausting hours’ sewn into her £10- floral sundress.

Rebecca from Gowerton, Swansea was taken aback when she wanted to check the washing care instructions and found this alternative label instead. She said that prior to this discovery that she ‘never really thought much about how the clothes are made. But this really made her think about how we get our cheap fashion.’

Rebecca with her Primark dress and the ‘Forced to work exhausting hours’ label

(Picture: Matthew Horwood © WALES NEWS SERVICE)

The incident is thought to be a one-off with no other additional labels being found in other Primark garments.

In an official statement Primark said:

‘We are currently investigating the origins of an additional label which has been found inside one of our dresses implying that the garment was produced under poor working conditions.

Primark takes these allegations very seriously. No other incidents of this kind relating to this dress have been reported.

Primark takes allegations of this type very seriously. We have asked the customer who discovered the label to return the dress, which has not been available for sale since 2013, to us so we can fully investigate how the label became attached and whether there are issues which need to be looked into. No other incidents of this kind relating to this dress have been reported.

Our Code of Conduct states that suppliers and factories must ensure products are made in good working conditions, and that the people making them are treated decently and paid a fair wage. We inspect each factory to ensure it is meeting the Code and support it by providing guidance and training when issues are identified and are a member of the Ethical Trade Initiative.’

This isn’t the first time that Primark’s supply chain has been placed under the microscope however, the fast-fashion brand have made assurances that all of their budget clothing is produced in fair and safe conditions.

As for the mystery label, no one is sure if this was genuinely sewn-in at the factory where it was produced or if it was tampered with at a later date. While many thrifty shoppers enjoy Primark’s fast fashion model campaigners still believe that to produce such cheap fashion inevitably exploits workers overseas.