Big brands ‘at risk of using forced labour cotton’

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Clothing brands including Primark, ASOS and Ralph Lauren are among 103 companies at risk of using cotton made by forced labour in China's Xinjiang region, by buying through intermediaries, a new report says. Human rights groups say more than a million Uyghur Muslims have been detained in re-education camps in the Xinjiang region. It is also alleged they are being used as forced labour to produce goods such as cotton. China has consistently denied these allegations. A report from Sheffield Hallam University has explored how this cotton makes it way into the international supply chain. The report says the cotton is bought by intermediate manufacturers in countries such as Bangladesh, Vietnam, Philippines and Hong Kong, where clothes are finished for major western brands. It says brands "may be unaware of the Chinese manufacturers their suppliers are sourcing from". Professor Laura Murphy, the senior researcher of the report, said: “Companies need to be required to trace their entire supply chain, make them transparent to consumers, and to be responsible and accountable for human rights abuses they know exist “Companies will not make the choice to make human rights due diligence on their own, they’re going to have to be compelled by government action” Professor Laura Murphy What’s happening in Xinjiang? The Xinjiang region produces 85% of China's cotton, and 20% of all cotton used worldwide. According to Labour Behind the Label, a campaign that works to improve conditions for workers in the global garment industry, it’s likely that 1 in 5 of all cotton garments are made with products produced by Uyghur forced labour. The Chinese government denies any violation of human rights in the Xinjiang region. It insists its policies towards Uyghurs only exist to tackle extremism, and say that its state-sponsored labour programmes are used to assist poverty alleviation. However, testimonies included in the report suggest that those enrolled in labour programmes are either not paid, paid under minimum wage, or are even being forced to pay their employers for housing in excess of their wage, creating debt bondage. How does the supply chain work? The cotton picked and produced under these conditions is bought by intermediary manufacturers, and is then made in to garments which are possibly being sold by high-street brands, the report alleges. Infographic from the Sheffield Hallam report showing how Xinjiang cotton gets in to global supply chains. The report investigates five of these manufacturers sourcing cotton from the Xinjiang region, and then identifies the companies who obtain goods from there. The companies named range from high end brands such as Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, to high-street names such as ASOS, Nike and River Island. Although none of these brands source directly from the Xinjiang region, and maintain their manufacturers do not use cotton produced in the region to make their products, the report says their complex supply chains makes it hard to know. Campaigns director at Labour Behind the Label Meg Lewis said: “Sadly it’s not surprising, and the report shows the scale of the problem “The fact that Uyghur produced cotton is moving through very complex supply chains with multiple different levels and intermediaries’ means that even the brands who have made a commitment not to produce Uyghur produced goods may still be purchasing goods that are tainted by Uyghur forced labour” The report from Sheffield Hallam reached out to all 103 of the named companies, and included responses they received from 21 of these brands including ASOS and Primark. Popular high street shops who are named in the report. An Adidas representative said “We can confirm that none of the yarn or fabric used for Adidas products in these manufacturing units originate in China and we hold no sourcing relationship with the textile firms listed in your research. “We have a nomination process in place for our materials and a materials traceability tool. Suppliers are only permitted to use authorised materials when making our products and none of the yarn manufacturers named in your case studies are a part of our supply chain.” Brands that did not provide a comment include Calvin Klein, River Island, GAP, Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger. Professor Laura Murphy, the senior researcher on the report said: “Companies are not doing enough. It surprises me that companies are willing to rely on such weak assurances from their supplier.” What can you do as a consumer? All of these brands are considered to be ‘fast fashion’ brands, which means they mass produce garments at a low cost for high profit. There has been lots of criticism surrounding the ethical repercussions of fast fashion from groups such as Oxfam and The Clean Clothes Campaign who highlight the environmental impact of the fast fashion industry and their record of poor working conditions. Despite this, many people rely on fast fashion for clothing. Research commissioned by Oxfam estimated that more than two tonnes of new clothing are bought each minute in the UK alone. Esme Cawley, a 22-year-old student from Sheffield said: “I try to avoid buying from fast fashion brands wherever I can, but if I have to use them it’s because I’ve left [buying an outfit] too late and they’re the only brands that can deliver to me on time” Others feel as though buying from fast fashion brands are their only option due to their monopoly of the market and the cheaper price point of the items. To help reduce the harmful impacts of fast fashion on exploited garment workers, Professor Murphy said: “Consumers need to make their dismay known to companies and say that they will not buy forced labour made goods "In the meantime they can buy used clothing from the robust used clothing market in the U.K which is so much more sustainable.” You can read the full report from the Helena Kennedy Centre at Sheffield Hallam here.

What is going to be in shortage around the Christmas dinner table?

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After the pandemic had been taking control of normal people’s lives and also last year’s Christmas, people could not hide their expectations any longer for Christmas this year.  Meanwhile, fuel shortages and global supply chain issues also warned people to prepare for Christmas earlier than normal circumstances in case of potential shortages.  These kinds of problems also take place in Sheffield.   “We didn’t really face any food shortage in the past years, but we are afraid that it might happen this Christmas, so we have already filled our stock in advance last week.” said King Yun To, waiter of Smitten Cafe on West Street.  Things are a little different in different places. Owner of Devonshire Chippy told Sheffield Wire:“We are struggling to get some fish now, because as well the Christmas day coming, it becomes a little bit harder to find our stock... "Stuff we have to buy every day like chicken and fish, we need them fresh, so that’s the only thing we are sometimes struggling to find.” There is only two weeks until Christmas and is there anything going to go missing on people’s Christmas dinner table?  Turkey Turkey suppliers warned in October that we could face a national shortage due to a lack of farm labourers: The UK is no longer free to hire as many workers as it desires, after free immigration ended with Brexit; and that visa changes to allow recruitment from abroad have come too late.  According to The British Poultry Council, Christmas turkey production has dropped by 20% because of staff shortages. Richard Griffiths, Chief Executive of the British Poultry Council, said: “It would be irresponsible to grow more birds than can be slaughtered and processed, which is incredibly frustrating when the demand is there for quality British products.” At the same time, Grocery chain Iceland said that sales of frozen turkey are up by 409% than last year and mince pie sales are up 10% due to people preparing Christmas earlier.  The Traditional Farmfresh Turkey Association reported that throughout Autumn, Christmas turkey orders have been six weeks ahead of normal.  Chairwoman Kate Martin has said: “November is usually when turkey farmers see Christmas orders coming in, but orders this year began as early as August and many of our members were nearly sold out by the end.”  Pineapple juice Juice brand Robinsons has confirmed a shortage of pineapple juice. A spokeswoman for the brand’s owner Britvic told The Grocer this week of the issue, which was impacting production of Robinsons Orange & Pineapple squash. “Unfortunately, we are currently experiencing a shortage of pineapple juice, which has had a limited impact on the production of our Robinsons Orange & Pineapple squash,” she said. Stocks of Pineapple Juice Concentrate (PJC) diminished fast in every point of the supply chain in Europe and the US this november, according to Prime Products Industry Co., which provide the customers with pineapple products.  This might be the cause of this shortage of pineapple juice.  Crisps Walkers apologised recently for the continuing shortages of its crisps.  Products from ready salted crisps to Quavers have been affected by a problem with an IT system upgrade. The shortage began since November and seems not going to end during Christmas.  A Walkers spokesperson said: “We’re doing everything we can to increase production and get people’s favourites back on shelves. We’re very sorry for the inconvenience caused.” Wine and spirit The Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) said that rising costs and supply chain chaos had held up deliveries.  It takes up to five times longer to finish the imports now than a year ago due to the shortage of HGV drivers.  In November, a group of 48 wine and spirits companies told the transport secretary, Britain was facing a Christmas alcohol shortage unless the government did more to address the lack of HGV drivers.  A government spokesperson said: "The UK has a strong food supply chain and we do not expect disruption to the supply of alcohol this Christmas."  

From crack to cocaine: the proposed 10 year war on drugs

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Through the medium of a 61-page document, the government have declared war on British drug culture. Drug deaths in the UK are at an all-time high. In 2020, 4,561 deaths related to drug poisoning were registered in England and Wales. Almost half of all drug deaths are still linked to opiates, and cocaine related deaths are on the rise. But is this War on Drugs going to help the disenfranchised underclass who have been pushed outside the lines of society? And will it do anything to address affluent, middle-class recreational drug dabblers? Cocaines is part of the pub and pint culture in the UK. Zach Stevens is a 32-year-old campaigner for addiction recovery. He has over 113.7k followers on his tik tok @zach_clean, which documents his recovery. This April he will be 3 years clean. He started using cocaine at the age of 15 and developed an addiction by the age of 22. He is thankful something is finally being done. At the age of 19 his use had descended into a problem, as he used it on his own, during the week. He managed to hold back because he realised it was affecting his career but aged 22, the point he peaked in success, it became a slippery slope. Working in recruitment, his professional environment was rife with cocaine. He added: “In any sales capacity it’s normalised but also in terms of our culture, it’s part of the going out culture in Britain. "It’s not frowned upon, it’s not looked down upon, it’s socially acceptable.”

 

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Would a warning text from the government make you think twice about taking drugs? [for an article]

— Lyd (@lyd_patrick) December 9, 2021

Would the prospect of getting your passport or driving licence taken off you stop you from taking drugs?✈️

— Lyd (@lyd_patrick) December 9, 2021

Sheffield charity seeks to break stigma of adult literacy

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Sitting at home during the Covid lockdown in November 2020, Harley Jones-Ryley imagined what life must be like for people unable to read the fast-changing national guidelines. This moment of empathy triggered a movement of charitable action. In September this year, Jones-Ryley created Read Easy Sheffield to help individuals in need of support with their literacy skills. “During the pandemic I just imagined not being able to read the travel restrictions or information leaflets about Covid jabs and started to think about how isolating this must feel. “That was my motivation for starting Read Easy, I wanted to make sure we could help as many people as possible to never have to go through that loneliness,” Jones-Ryley said. First established in Dorchester and Weymouth in 2010, by literacy tutor Ginny Williams-Ellis, Read Easy is now a nationwide initiative with over 60 groups in place. Having started its working operations in September, Read Easy Sheffield hopes to officially launch in early 2022 after providing formal training to its first group of reading coaches. "Creating spaces" Jones-Ryley, Read Easy Sheffield’s Team Leader, said the idea came from a “clear need” for a charitable, free-to-access organisation focusing on adult literacy in the city. "From speaking to organisations across the city, there was just an overwhelming enthusiasm for creating spaces for people to access free confidential coaching that happens on a one-to-one basis.” This idea of “creating spaces”, both in terms of the dialogue associated with adult literacy and actual physical locations for people to feel comfortable learning how to read, serves to reflect one of Read Easy Sheffield’s main strategies to help eradicate the stigma attached to adult literacy. Jones-Ryley spoke of being surprised at how many people had opened up about their own struggles with reading and writing since founding Ready Easy Sheffield.

Image: Read Easy Sheffield

Image: Read Easy Sheffield

Read Easy Sheffield is raising money to train its first set of Reading Coaches! We would really appreciate any donations you can make 😀 #donate on @justgiving and RT https://t.co/NcNP270Wtn #reading #Sheffield #literacy #readeasy

— Read Easy Sheffield (@ReadEasySheff) November 3, 2021

Buskers face hardships due to COVID this Christmas

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Expectations of a Friday morning in Sheffield markets during the Christmas season are one of overcrowded joy, though the reality is nowhere close.  In the past, the streets of Sheffield would be filled with people who were shopping and enjoying buskers’ music and street performances. Though since the COVID pandemic began, people prefer shopping at home and this has affected the amount of money collected by buskers and charity performers.  John Clayton was one of the performers who were collecting money for Betel, a furniture company, to help the homeless on an annual basis.  https://youtu.be/Bqfk-Kz-oI0   Betel does this every year from 16 November up to Christmas. When talking about whether COVID impacted how they collected money, Clayton said: “In the past we used to go inside supermarkets and indoors. We usually go to venues to perform, but there’s been a couple of cancellations because they [the organisers] didn't know which way the government was going.” He added the government’s coronavirus policy didn’t restrict them from performing outside at Fargate. Buskers, on the other hand, have to depend on the earnings from their street performances for their livelihood.      Equity is a national union of more than 47,000 performers. Dominic Bascombe, the Regional Official for their North East, Yorkshire and Humberside offices said: “Our busker and street entertainer members could be affected by a downturn of traffic on the high street if fewer people decide to go into their physical office or place of work. "Street entertainers don't have an option in terms of working from home, so they have continued to operate as best and as safely as they can. “Like other performers, they are typically self employed so did not feel the benefit of the Furlough scheme.”     Dave Webster, the National Organiser of Live Performance for Musicians Union (MU), said buskers "have been hard hit since COVID took hold, especially during the early lockdowns". "The Union pushed back against Government policies and in some cases represented members when faced with police or local authority intervention. Obviously there is concern that this new variant could have a further detrimental effect – we will have to wait and see what the Government decides to do.” Webster said the union had been a big supporter of Busk in London (BiL) and its collaboration with Network Rail, which led to 60 musical performances at King’s Cross Station. This was to welcome the passengers to railways after the COVID restrictions were lifted. These performances ran throughout August and around the first two weeks of September.  Giulia Marelli is a busker who has worked with BiL in the past. When talking about her experience of working through the coronavirus, she said: “Last year, when venues were still closed because of the social distance and the possibility to play outdoors, I ended up working a lot in markets such as Camden and Wembley.  “The only request was to have a card reader to avoid handling cash and to keep social distances. It’s still a requirement to have a card reader to play in train stations.” When talking about the latest restrictions, she added: “I feel the bigger issue is the absence of tourists, but from what I’ve heard it’s not the new restrictions the only problem but also because all the European tourists need a passport because of Brexit and they are less in any case even before the implementation of the quarantine.” Ms Marelli is not solely dependent on busking though, as she regularly performs at different venues in London. Because of this, she was able to claim a grant under the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.   But Sheffield busker Ian Whitehead does not believe that the government is supporting buskers through this tough time.  “Since when have they cared about us? They have been too busy planning a party down at No 10,” he said, referencing the Christmas party scandal at Downing Street.   https://youtu.be/yR0jcLuoUU4   Mr Whitehead has been a busker for the past 10 years, though he has only performed four times this year due to the anxiety induced by COVID.  He doesn’t believe the new restrictions will have an impact on the busking earnings during Christmas, saying: “I don’t think the government policies are really going to affect it because I still go out shopping, so buskers can still be seen performing in-person. The only changes are the requirement for masks and COVID passports for big venues.” Mr Webster from MU said after such hardship faced by buskers through this difficult period, the need “to earn during the festive season is essential.” He talked about the possibility of buskers performing during COVID by “taking the necessary precautions, which can include the cashless system of making payments. It should mean that they can continue to bring culture and vibrancy to our town centres.”