“Child labour is a particular issue for fashion because much of the supply chain requires low-skilled labour and some tasks are even better suited to children than adults. In cotton picking, employers prefer to hire children for their small fingers, which do not damage the crop.”
From research done by Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO), among the workers interviewed (girls and young women employed) in spinning industry in South India, 60% were below the age of 18 when they joined the mill. The youngest workers were 15 years old at time of joining. The major hub in the global knit-wear sector, supplying some of the big-name clothing brands, including C&A, HanesBrands, Mothercare and Primark. In August 2012, seven child workers were found working at the Sulochana Cotton Mills Unit inPalladam, Tirupur (the spinning mill that is topic of this research). Reportedly, the childrenwerebelow the age of 14 and came from Vellore district in Tamil Nadu and Chittur district in AndhraPradesh. Officials of the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) rescued the childrenfrom themill. The employer was issued a fine of INR 104,000 (€1,276).
Cited from TheGuardian,https://www.somo.nl/flawed-fabrics/ – cited from Dinamalar and Thinathanthi, Tamil newspapers, 4 August 2012.
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