Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
December Issue 2010<br />
www.seren.bangor.ac.uk<br />
11<br />
Features<br />
Primark – the place of cheap,<br />
fashionable clothing; the student’s<br />
favourite place to shop.<br />
But why are the clothes so cheap<br />
The principles that Primark aim to<br />
meet are the provision of quality and<br />
ranged clothing at an affordable price,<br />
at the bottom end of the high street<br />
b u d g e t .<br />
People are<br />
inclined to<br />
believe tht<br />
this aim<br />
encourages<br />
the potential<br />
of poor<br />
w o r k i n g<br />
conditions.<br />
Maybe this<br />
is why Primark has been the subject<br />
of so many investigations and debates<br />
upon their labour ethics over<br />
the years.<br />
2005 saw Primark scoring the<br />
lowest of all leading clothing chains<br />
throughout the UK on the ethical<br />
index, which covers issues such as<br />
workers’ rights and business dealing<br />
with oppressive regimes. Primark<br />
contested these claims and, in 2006,<br />
joined the Ethical Trading Initiative<br />
to work on labour rights within their<br />
supply chains. Joining the ETI implies<br />
that Primark were committed towards<br />
implementing a code of conduct<br />
based on the International Labour<br />
Organisation. Primark’s participation<br />
within ETI suggested that the company<br />
intends to treat their labourers<br />
fairly. This was only the first time that<br />
Primark was under fire for dubious<br />
ethics.<br />
In December 2008, the criticism<br />
continued. UK charity War on Want<br />
exposed in their report, Fashion Victims<br />
II, that conditions had not improved<br />
in the Bangladeshi suppliers<br />
that Primark used after their visit two<br />
years previously.<br />
The most controversial revelation<br />
came just six months earlier, on 23<br />
June 2008. When Panoroma revealed<br />
that three of the Bangledeshi factories<br />
sub-contracted to Primark make use<br />
of child labour the public was outraged.<br />
Once the BBC informed Primark<br />
of this fact the company released<br />
a statement; “Under no circumstances<br />
would Primark ever knowingly permit<br />
such activities”. Primark immediately<br />
halted trading with the guilty<br />
suppliers.<br />
1 aim, 1 tenner, 1 charity shop!<br />
It’s charity shop time again guys, but Christy (my model) chose the charity<br />
this time it’s a winter Christmas shop Ty Gobaith, Hope House. It is a<br />
special! This month I was inspired tiny store situated near KFC, further<br />
by the new H&M in<br />
down the high<br />
<strong>Bangor</strong> town and by<br />
some of the students<br />
walking around.<br />
I wanted to pick a<br />
cute but warm outfit<br />
that would be suitable<br />
for Christmas Day or Boxing Day, and<br />
especially with the snow approaching,<br />
the outfit I chose suits perfectly. Me and<br />
Child protection groups criticised<br />
this action, stating that this would<br />
cause greater difficulties for the workers,<br />
it would have been better to work<br />
with the suppliers to improve working<br />
conditions for their labourers and<br />
change practices for the better.<br />
This wasn’t the end of the criticism<br />
surrounding Primark. The next focus<br />
of investigation was focused towards<br />
Primark’s employment practices. On<br />
the 9 January 2009, from an investigation<br />
carried out by the BBC/The<br />
Observer, a supplier was forced by the<br />
ETI to remove branding from Primark<br />
stores and websites after allegedly<br />
using illegal immigrant labour, paying<br />
less than the legal UK minimum<br />
wage, going strongly against the ethical<br />
trading standards of both the ETI<br />
and Primark.<br />
The unearthing of the truths surrounding<br />
the suppliers and their<br />
mistreatment of workers has led to<br />
P r i m a r k<br />
changing its<br />
ethical trading<br />
statements.<br />
As<br />
a result the<br />
prices seem<br />
to be rising<br />
as they<br />
attempt to<br />
remove the<br />
stigmatism<br />
by claiming<br />
to improve<br />
the conditions<br />
of their<br />
l a b o u r e r s .<br />
Primark still<br />
sits at the<br />
bottom end<br />
of the high<br />
street spectrum<br />
though,<br />
street. Firstly I<br />
chose the bright<br />
red knitted jumper,<br />
which cost £3.<br />
It is perfect for<br />
the Christmas<br />
season, and has the traditional patterns<br />
of black and white reindeer. It is bangon<br />
trend, with Topshop and New look<br />
below the likes of New Look which,<br />
despite a student discount, can still be<br />
pretty pricey sometimes. Primark is<br />
considered to be on a similar level to<br />
supermarket clothing chains belonging<br />
to Asda and Tescos.<br />
A visit to the Primark websiteshows<br />
that the multiple criticisms has<br />
led to a change. There is now a section<br />
within the website focused entirely<br />
upon ethical trading and Primark<br />
wants to emphasise it. On every page<br />
of the website the link to the section<br />
regarding Ethical Trading is present,<br />
inviting site visitors to take a look for<br />
themselves. The In-Practice subsection<br />
says “As Primark has grown, our<br />
record on ethical trading has come in<br />
for close scrutiny... we are firmly committed<br />
to improving the ethical performance<br />
of our business and that of<br />
our suppliers and their factories.”<br />
The fact still remains that whenever<br />
a controversy has arisen regarding<br />
exploitation of workers Primark<br />
has immediately ceased trading with<br />
the guilty supplier. Personally I can’t<br />
help but wonder whether Primark<br />
truly wish to protect the rights of their<br />
workers by ceasing trading or whether<br />
they are simply trying to save public<br />
face by disassociating themselves with<br />
Cheap and fair or just plain cheap<br />
I wanted to pick a cute but<br />
warm outfit that would be<br />
suitable for Christmas day<br />
or Boxing day<br />
People rioting at the 2007 store opening<br />
the guilty parties, claiming ignorance.<br />
Primark’s controversies haven’t<br />
been solely based on abuse of labourers.<br />
Attention was focused on Primark<br />
again in 2007, this time it was aimed<br />
at one of the UK stores in London’s<br />
Oxford Street. On its opening day the<br />
queuing shoppers descended into riots<br />
in their rush to reach the bargains<br />
and a non-existant half-price sale.<br />
After the store was forced to open 15<br />
minutes early due to the crush outside,<br />
two members of staff; a security<br />
guard and a manager, were injured<br />
and taken to hospital as a precaution.<br />
For days afterwards the news of<br />
the store riot could<br />
be found in many<br />
newspapers and<br />
in TV news, questioning<br />
whether<br />
the low prices were<br />
to blame for the<br />
crowds agitation.<br />
When reporting<br />
upon the incident<br />
The Independent<br />
again returned to<br />
the exploitation of<br />
workers “Anti-poverty<br />
charities claim<br />
the clothes are<br />
made by workers<br />
in Bangladesh paid<br />
as little as £3 for an<br />
80-hour week in<br />
selling the same style for a much higher<br />
price. Because the jumper is bold and<br />
bright, I wanted an understated look<br />
for the trousers. I chose some dark<br />
grey skinny jeans, which were an amazing<br />
£3.49. To top the look off, I chose<br />
a white woollen scarf to drape around<br />
Christy’s neck. It cost £1 which makes it<br />
the bargain of the day! So there we have<br />
it, and the whole outfit didn’t even cost<br />
a tenner! Just shows, a little thought<br />
can make an ideal Christmas outfit and<br />
you will feel good for giving to a wonderful<br />
charity which supports families<br />
and their terminally-ill children. Hope<br />
House relies on donations and fundraising<br />
to keep their hospice going, so<br />
you really will be making a difference<br />
and maybe helping to make somebody<br />
else’s Christmas a lot<br />
brighter.<br />
Abbi<br />
Ryan<br />
grim sweatshops<br />
without union representation.”<br />
The<br />
frequent return to this issue suggests<br />
that no matter how long Primark<br />
sticks around there will always be a<br />
stigma attached to their clothing production.<br />
Events such as the store riot can be<br />
considered to show the high popularity<br />
of the store and it certainly hasn’t<br />
l e s s e n e d<br />
since then.<br />
If anything,<br />
despite the<br />
allegations of<br />
labour abuse<br />
and the often<br />
poor quality<br />
of the<br />
clothing, the<br />
chain seems<br />
to be growing in popularity and it appears<br />
increasingly unlikely to lessen<br />
any time soon.<br />
Do students need Primark though<br />
In most university towns, <strong>Bangor</strong> in<br />
particular, there are multiple charity<br />
shops carrying high quality, almost<br />
new clothing for a fraction of the price<br />
(sometimes the clothes can be from<br />
the top end of the high street market<br />
from stores like Jane Norman). New<br />
Look offers a 20% student discount<br />
and regular sales giving student shoppers<br />
the chance to buy a larger range<br />
of clothes that are, in my opinion, of<br />
much higher quality. River Island<br />
too offer a large number of sales, occasionally<br />
cutting prices by as much<br />
as 75% (I managed to get a dress for<br />
£12.50 that was originally £50!).<br />
Most student shoppers have the<br />
knowledge and smarts to get the most<br />
for their money without the compromise<br />
on quality of clothing that Primark<br />
seems to give us. Maybe the rest<br />
of us should take a lesson from them<br />
and do the same. Plus charity shop<br />
shopping gives you the warm fuzzy<br />
feeling of helping a good cause while<br />
snapping up a bargain.<br />
Personally I think that Primark is<br />
going to be around for a long time, as<br />
the economy gets worse and that even<br />
after it recovers Primark will still be<br />
the hunting ground of those after a<br />
good bargain. Even when fancy dress<br />
outfits are necessary Primark is the<br />
best place to go, especially if you’re<br />
only going to wear it once. Honestly<br />
though, I’m unlikely to shop there for<br />
any other reason.<br />
Nicole Nally
Change language