Rank a Brand wants to know about the labour conditions of factory workers where our cell phones are being assembled, our garments are being sewed and our prawns are being peeled. That’s why Rank a Brand scans if brands endorse acceptable working hours, pay proper wages and give their employees the right to freely join trade unions. Because the labour conditions in factories can be tough.

The stories of the people that work in those sweatshops do not often reach the outer world. The workers are afraid to lose their jobs if managers find out that they are telling others about the abusive conditions under which they have to work.

But this Chinese couple tells their story of trying to earn a living as factory workers in the short documentary ‘Made in China’ (from the film ‘Wal-Mart the high cost of low price’ by Robert Greenwald).

This couple works in a factory producing items for Wal-Mart. They both work 7 days a week. He works nightshifts, she does the dayshifts, which means working everyday from 07.30 am until 10.00 pm for just 3 dollars a day.

Working in a ‘sweatshop’ is harsh: blood, sweat and tears for extremely low wages. Although we all think that those factories only exist in developing countries, this is not the case; in the United Stated, for instance, there are factories that can easily be called sweatshops. See this link and the next short documentary: ‘Victims of Fashion: Workers Abuse in Nearby Sweatshops’ from Bay Area Video Collection.

How would it be to work in a garment factory in India? Six British fashionistas in the BBC-series ‘Blood, Sweat and T-shirts’ checked out garment factories in India and discovered that things are completely different in garment factories in India compared to their normal life back home. Whilst the conditions they had to work under were harsh, there are factories that are far worse. The fashionistas were shocked, and declared that they would start purchasing from responsible brands from now on. Our tip: to find out which brands are responsible, always check Rank a Brand!