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Disney

Victoria's Secret

G A P.

The Sweat Shop Labour

Although Disney is one of the most recognizable brands in the world, especially among children, their history with sweatshop labour is in stark contrast to their image. Sweatshops in countries like China, Bangladesh and Haiti have been known to produce clothing for the company, with Chinese labour workers in particular being paid 33 to 41 cents an hour, with numerous employees being as young as 14 years of age with no health benefits or a pension included with their employment. In Tazreen, Bangladesh, a fire at a sweatshop producing Disney clothing – as well as brands associated with Sears and Walmart – caused the deaths of 114 workers.

In 2007, the lingerie company Victoria’s Secret – a company that has vouched for free trade – was caught in a sweatshop scandal of its own when it was revealed that conditions regarding their workers in Jordan were far from ideal. In fact, such conditions involved their workers being slapped and/or beaten if their production was sub-par. Furthermore, those workers were found to have been forced to work five or more overtime hours per day, without being given the overtime pay they were legally obligated to receive. A few years later, it was revealed that their lingerie was made by cotton picked by children working in Burkina Faso.

One of the most recognizable jean brands in the world, The Gap was caught up in a scandal involving workers in India in 2010 when an investigation showed that those workers had been working 16-hour days with extremely minimal – and illegal – pay, to the tune of less than 40 cents per day. The company claimed that all of its factories needed to stick to its “non-negotiable” standards. This is hardly the first time the company has been involved in such a scandal (a similar one involving the company transpired in 2007) but The Gap announced in 2013 that it would partner with 20 other companies to improve working conditions in Bangladesh.