Sam Setter's 'Pills': Brands remain holier than thou

On more than one occasion I have reported on brands being caught using illegal labour in their supply line. From what I understand several brands regularly, but indirectly, use illegal labour and of course always deny their knowledge of this happening. The problem is that everybody knows and nobody can prove this because the brands buy from a middleman. The situation is such that several brands outsource the manufacture of leather goods to companies at a certain fixed price for which this supply company itself is unable to produce the outsourced items. These companies re-outsource the manufacture of the contracted leather goods to a third party which, on the surface, is completely legal with a few registered employees and workers, but what really happens goes on below the surface. These third and officially unknown parties employ mostly illegal (Chinese) immigrants, forcing them to work very long hours, including on weekends and holidays, like on Christmas which is obviously not a Chinese holiday. Pay is about €2.75 per hour with boarding and lodging included. The photographs that have been made public of these workplaces show horrible hygienic conditions and sleeping quarters which would be unacceptable for condemned prisoners in the Western world. All brands are one way or another certified for excellent ESG performance, as are their direct suppliers, while the brands say they have no knowledge of the third party suppliers, or more accurately, the suppliers of their suppliers. The tanneries that supply brands are very well aware of the sometimes unreasonable and often unreachable demands from brands on this platform, but apparently these demands are not for the (leather) goods suppliers. Traceability, which is now the fashion word, works where it is transparent, unless transparency stops where it becomes inconvenient. And that is where we are now. Transparency starts at farms and follows the value chain, but when it comes to manufacturing of leather goods, the transparency becomes murky and is executed depending on (financial) convenience. Furthermore, let us remember that audits are pre-announced with no surprise visits, hence whoever wants to hide what are not 100% “clean” practices, can do so on the day or days of an audit, and return to their normal routine after the audit. I am not saying that all brands do this, but several do and have procedures running against them in various courts.