Meet the People Who Made Your Clothes

The following is a guest blog by Kelsey Timmerman of Travelin Light | Blog

During my research for my book Where am I Wearing: A Global Tour to the Countries, Factories, and People that Make Our Clothes I met a lot of garment workers. Allow me to introduce you to a few of them:


Arifa holding her daughter Sadia

Arifa
Dhaka, Bangladesh
Quote: “Their father was a crook, and the government doesn’t take care of my children. It’s not like the USA or the UK.”

Arifa is a single mother. She lives on the sixth floor of a crumbling apartment building in Dhaka with her daughter Sadia, 4, and her son Abir, 11. She has another son, Arman, 18, who went to Saudi Arabia to work. He sends half of his money home to help his mom and siblings Arifa works at a nearby garment factory where she earns $24/month. A trip through the market is enough to show that Arifa is well respected by all and feared by merchants, who don’t dare bargain with her.


Nari (left) with roommates

Nari
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Quote: “The workers at beauty salons make less than garment workers, but I will be an owner and make more.”

Nari works at a factory that makes blue jeans. She shares an 8’ X 12’ apartment with seven other girls. Four of the girls sleep on a bamboo bed and the other four sleep on the concrete floor. Nari irons jeans. It’s a job that she had to pay a $50 bribe – a month’s wage – to get. Fifty dollars is probably enough for one person in Cambodia to live on, but Nari, like many of the garment workers in Cambodia, supports her family of six. She is attending beauty school and hopes to open her own salon someday. She doesn’t like bowling.

Ai
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Quote: “I miss working and talking in the rice fields. At the factory, we aren’t allowed to talk. The bosses want us to work as quickly as possible.”

Ai shares an apartment with Nari and works at the same factory. She is a checker, looking for flaws. Eighty-five people have a hand in sewing together a single pair of blue jeans, and Ai makes sure that no one screwed up. Like many garment workers, she lives far from her home village and rarely visits; a six-day workweek won’t allow it. Ai doesn’t have a contract with the factory, which means she doesn’t have the same rights as other workers. She can be fired for absolutely no reason. She supports six people on her wage of $55/month. She owns a Tweety Bird shirt, but has no idea who Tweety Bird is.


Zhu Chun (left), Dewan (right)

Dewan and Zhu Chun
Guangzhou, China
Quote by Zhu Chun: “One thing is for sure. I don’t want (my son) to come here to work in the factory. I just want him to study, because people like us who don’t have knowledge have to work very hard.”

Dewan and Zhu Chun moved from their village 600-miles away to Guangzhou to get a job at a factory making shoes. They haven’t seen their 13 year-old-son in three years. The original plan was to work a few years to pay off the home they built in their village, but Dewan’s mother got sick and died. Now they have a house and expensive medical bills to pay off. A few years have become a few more. The law limits their workweek to 44 hours, but they often work more than a hundred. Neither one of them has eaten cheese.


Debbie holding the author's favorite shorts

Debbie
Perry, New York
Quote: “They would have to push me out the door to get me to leave.”

Debbie’s job working for Champion was supposed to be a filler between college and whatever she decided to do next. Twenty-eight years later she is still working at the factory, which is no longer owned by Champion. In 2002 Champion moved the factory’s work and hundreds of jobs to Mexico. Lucky for Debbie the community of Perry pulled together and a new company, American Classic Outfitters, was born from the ashes of Champion. You’ve seen Debbie’s and ACO’s work. They make uniforms for 16 of the 30 NBA teams, all of the WNBA, 73 colleges, and 3 NFL teams.


Kelsey Timmerman is the author of Where am I Wearing. From the inside flap:

Ninety-seven percent of our clothes are made overseas. Yet globalization makes it difficult to know much about the origin of the products we buy—beyond the standard "Made in" label. So journalist and blogger Kelsey Timmerman decided to visit each of the countries and factories where his five favorite items of clothing were made and meet the workers. He knew the basics of globalized labor—the forces, processes, economics, and politics at work. But what was lost among all those facts and numbers was an understanding of the lives, personalities, hopes, and dreams of the people who made his clothes.

In Bangladesh, he went undercover as an under-wear buyer, witnessed the child labor industry in action, and spent the day with a single mother who was forced to send her eldest son to Saudi Arabia to help support her family. In Cambodia, he learned the difference between those who wear Levi's and those who make them. In China, he saw the costs of globalization and the dark side of the Chinese economic miracle.

Kelsey's blog is full of neat tidbits from the book. Don't miss the Underwear Wall of Fame and his informal survey of where people's T-shirts were made.

Oh, one more thing: his wife Annie just gave birth to the couple's first child, Harper Willow Timmerman, on January 6, 2009. She's very cute! (Congrats Kelsey!)


Are you an author and would like your books promoted on Neatorama? Let's talk about a possible guest blog post just like this one!


All I have to say is that disgust me. They make $24 dollars a month breaking their backs just for us to put a shirt on our backs. At what expense do we value the quality of lives of others for sewn up fabric to wear.
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My customers always fight for a bargain price. It only comes with imported cheap labor. buyer beware.

Another view (I think that was in Newsweek about 2 years ago) is that globalization helped 2 billion people rising from hunger to poverty...
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They make $24 a month?
Good for them!
And you know what? They're glad to have it.

It's a lot more than most people make in the third world hellholes that they live in.

Don't press your values on their lives.
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And one more thing.

I wonder why Debbie in New York's wages weren't mentioned?
Probably because she's probably making some outrageous union negotiated wage for sewing shorts for the NBA.

Wonder why her plant moved to Mexico and everyone's clothes are made in Bangladesh?
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Great comments all.

@ Geekazoid it is still possible to buy American made products even though only about 3% of clothes are still made here. American Apparel is the nation's largest clothing manufacturer. The company produces all of their products near LA. You probably have seen their billboards in which the women on them aren't wearing any of the clothes they are trying to sell.

@ wookielover the really heartbreaking part is that many of them don't have a better option. The garment industry is crucial in countries like Bangladesh and Cambodia where it accounts for 3/4 of all exports. Without it life might be worse. I know that's hard to imagine, but the realities in these places are harsh. Still, I think these workers could be treated and paid better.

@ Christophe In my mind poverty is just one bit of bad luck (illness, job loss, lost crop, robbery) away from hunger. Unfortunately, I think the current state of the world's economy will reverse some of this upward mobility. I read reports of rice cost as much as $15/month in Bangladesh this past summer as food prices skyrocketed. And I recently talked with my translator in China who has lost contact with Dewan and Zhu Chun. He suspects they lost their jobs and had to move back to their village.

@ gorgehu Why is it that anytime I post something about the garment/shoe industry in China someone leaves a comment how they can find me a very good deal just for me?

@ Ted My interactions with the workers were often funny. We laughed more than we were serious. Of course most of the time the laughter was at my expense. But what can you expect when you visit someone's country because your underwear were made there?

@ Ray I don't press my values on their lives. Throughout the book I don't even press my values on the reader. My goal was to introduce readers to the people that make our clothes not preach at them. However, calling someone's home a "third world hellhole" is pressing your values/beliefs on them. Also, I bet you couldn't look Arifa in the eye as she holds here daughter Sadia, who awoke with hunger pains, and tell her "You make $24/month...good for you!"
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@ Ray the average worker at ACO starts at $8.50/hour. That doesn't seem too outrageous to me, how about you? To put the industry in perspective: Mexico is losing the jobs that we lost because cheaper labor exists in places like Bangladesh and China. The fact that the process of making garments is so labor intensive (85 people have a hand in sewing together one pair of blue jeans) leads to the industry seeking out the lowest wage.
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This seems to be a lot about education rather than anything else. Poorly educated people are hard up all over the world, but in states where there isn't a social security safety net they end up in sweatshops.
While there's someone poorer than you somewhere in the world there's someone who can undercut you, though this is more true of low-skilled work for uneducated people.
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If you compare by MONTH, a Mexican worker gets around $200~300 working between 8~10 hrs in a manufacturing company, minimum salary is of $4 by DAY but is rare to pay that in a company.
Bangladeshi gets $24 but for 12~15 hrs its even harder for them.
Of course US wages are high, even comparing US-MEX-BAN professionals but that's another topic.

I live in Monterrey Mexico one of the largest industrial cities in Mexico, at least, companies here are not closing to move to China, India or any other "third world hellhole country" (please change your mind only those 2 are going to rule the world and be your bosses in the midterm), as many are foreign, especially from the US, those that close is because of LOW DEMAND in their products, so they preferred to move the low demand to US, like York now JCI, where a friend worked. They could do the other way moving from US to Mexico, many times cheaper, good quality and work force/experience but they will lose their jobs.
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I actually know someone who used to run a cut & sew house in Asia. Her operation was very clean and cool (it's Asia, so that's much preferable than "warm") - it's not a "sweatshop" that you typically see on TV.

Yes, it has rows and rows of sewing machines, but the garment workers are both males and females in almost equal proportions. The workers are friendly, they chit chat though since they're paid per piece, most of them choose to work quietly, focusing on getting as much done as possible.

The factory has an attached building where the workers sleep (They can also live at home, but since many of them come from afar, it makes no sense for them to commute every workday. Instead they go home on the weekends). Beds and bathroom are provided.

When I visited her operation, the factory was cutting and sewing shirts for Calvin Klein. When you go out and buy an expensive shirt, remember this: the cost for cutting and sewing a shirt (including putting on collar and buttons) is about $0.10 per piece. That's right. Ten cents (the clothing line provides the fabric).

She closed down her operation a while ago, because the price of $0.10 per piece turns out to be too high as compared to other cheaper countries like Vietnam. Her employees were very upset - they had lost clean, reliable, and relatively high paying jobs.
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@ skipweasel Rock star economist Jeff Sachs and NYT columnist Nick Kristof both say that one of the best ways to lift people out of poverty is to educate girls/women. Birth rates drop and women tend to make better decisions with regards to the future of their children than men do.

@ Alex Great point. Most people assume our clothes are made in "sweatshops." Personally, I hate the term. Not all garment factories in developing countries are sweatshops. Some are good, safe place to work and provide a standard of living that is at or above the country's average. I met with several factory owners during global quest and not a single one of them failed to mention the squeeze brands and buyers are putting on them. One owner in Bangladesh said that his profits have been cut in half over the last few years and he didn't know how much longer he could operate. I think what needs to happen is that brands need to establish long term relationships with factories that are monitored by a third party. Also, we as consumers need to educate ourselves as to which brands are making the effort to support the people making their products.
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Virtually every garment I own was bought in a vintage secondhand shop (most of them I needed to repair somewhat before wearing.) You can't make me feel bad about this one.

Except my socks and underwear. Those were probably made in a sweatshop.
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Very interesting story - yes, $24.00/month seems low - but for many it is a fact of life and they are appreciative to get that since the alternative is to beg on the streets. You haven't seen poverty until you've visited a third-world country or emerging country. If that CK shirt cost $0.10 to make - where does the other $59.90 go??? I'm curious as to the breakdown...
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@Mo: cost of shirt = cost of material + cost to make + cost to transport/import + cost of advertisement + profit (of retailer and of clothing line).

You can bet that profit is pretty hefty ;)
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True Kelsey, but I was referring mostly to those that are bullheaded 'buy americans,' who especially scoff at import cars (most of which have parts from all over the world and or are built in the US anyhow).
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Hi,
I had the remarkable opportunity to interview for, transcribe and edit a book entitled Chicken Feathers and Garlic Skin: Diary of a Chinese Factory Girl [on Saipan]. It was fascinating to get the perspective and chronicle the author's journey.

The last garment factory on Saipan is about to close (Jan 14), and a unique era is ending (I'm a business author, and consultant who also freelances a column which is published weekly in the Saipan Tribune).

I'd be glad to answer any questions people may have about what they think, feel and believe about what they do.
(www.saipanfactorygirl.com)
or email me at info@saipanfactoryfacts.org
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I understand that the average woman in the US owns about 27 pairs of shoes. I have info about the number of cell phones, computers and ipods, etc. that the average teen owns,etc.

What does the average woman in a third world (working for $24 a month) own - how many outfits, shoes, cell phones,etc.

I think it is critical to understand how impossible it is to live on less than $1 per day, even though nearly 1/3 of the world's population is having to do just that. The next billion people are living on less than $2 per day!

What we buy and consume in America does change the lives of others who live in poverty. If we choose to buy mostly Fair Trade clothes and products - we can assure that the worker is paid a Living Wage". It is the people in the developed nations who have the power to end poverty.
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"I think it is critical to understand how impossible it is to live on less than $1 per day, even though nearly 1/3 of the world’s population is having to do just that. The next billion people are living on less than $2 per day!"

This is a ridiculous statement. India and south-east Asia are proof that it is quite the opposite of "impossible" to live on less than a dollar a day. What seems to be misunderstood is the relative buying power of a dollar in each place. Where I can hardly get a McDonald's hamburger for a dollar in the USA, in India that dollar will pay for lunch for the whole family.
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why do some people have such a hatred for unions. unions give you and i a voice. if a union were to get greedy, they company would lose money and lay off the workers or even close up shop. there are many situations where a company experiences hard times and the union will institute a pay freeze or give up things that were won in the past. everyone wants the companies to succeed. their main function is to negotiate a FAIR contract.
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Im studying the global fashion industry in school and some of the stuff i have been told is very disturbing. Though I do notce a lot of people buy clothes without knowing where it comes from. My friends are very aware, and by all costs do not shop at clothes that they know support child labour and "sweatshops" e.g primark. I think we should stop being so ignorant and put ourselves in the position that the workers would be. Is it so hard to care for someone? @Ray Your So cold hearted and sorry to say but you need a reality check.
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i can't believe it, soo why Giorgio Armani, Juicy Couture and some brands they said don't buy from china manufactory are fake when they made from them,, that's redicules sooo now i'm not gonna spend $300 usd in 1 handbag when i can buy 10 the same price and all are made in china and other countries.
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"wookielover
Jan 12th, 2009 at 3:50 am

All I have to say is that disgust me. They make $24 dollars a month breaking their backs just for us to put a shirt on our backs. At what expense do we value the quality of lives of others for sewn up fabric to wear."

Yes, but consider that because of corrupt governments and failing economy, most other jobs pay even smaller amounts. $24 a month may seem like nothing to us but in poorer countries it's a pretty good amount of cash. Especially in places like El Salvador, and most other South American countries.
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hi iam looking to have my own branded clothing range made, but after looking on here i don't want people working for peanuts to achieve this.
can some one point me in the right direction for fair trade clothing manufactures please.
Chris England
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With regard to your story about Debbie in New York. I have an "American Classics" shirt - it is very well made - I bought it at Wallymart for $12.00. The label says made in Bangladesh? When I read the story I thought it was great and that my shirt maybe came from New York and this would explain the good quality. Do you think my Wallymart shirt comes from a different company with the same name?

I wonder how much the shirt really cost to make? Surely they have the money to the seamstress and then the graft to the local town and the government and then custom charges.

Do you think it possible that Americans could do these jobs on a contractor / piece work type program and still sell the shirt for 12.00?
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