The only thing that surprises me is that the headline uses the word 'was'! It's still going on and will continue.
(Why do you think the illegal Channel crossings are allowed.)
(Why do you think the illegal Channel crossings are allowed.)
Quote:Illegal work in Leicester 'sweatshops' was allowed to flourish 'due to fear of racism claims'Archived Daily Mail Article:
*Boohoo made an investigation after accusations were made about staff salaries
*Claims were made that workers in a Leicester factory are paid £3.50 an hour
*An MP said that these conditions have occurred due to 'racial sensitivities'
*Labour MP Claudia Webbe said she raised concerns about this in March
'Illegal conditions in Leicester’s fast fashion sweatshops have been allowed to persist because of officials’
‘racial sensitivities’, an MP has claimed.
Mass-exploitation has been an ‘open secret’ for years with one report revealing up to 90 per cent of workers
are not paid the minimum wage. Over the last five years, there have been four separate reports – including
two by parliamentary committees – acknowledging poor working environments, very low wages and exploitation
of vulnerable migrants in ‘slave’ conditions.
Inside one of the factories and MP Claudia Webbe.
Yesterday, HMRC – which investigates minimum wage law violations – came under fire after it emerged action
was taken against just six clothing factories in the city between 2012 and 2018.
A Home Office source told The Sunday Times: ‘HMRC has been asleep on this issue for ages. They are too busy
going after Mrs Miggins. They do not do enough.’ Tory MP Andrew Bridgen likened the failure to clean up the
sweatshops to the failure to tackle child sex grooming gangs in towns and cities such as Bradford and Rotherham
for fear of racism.
Mr Bridgen, who represents North West Leicestershire, said: ‘There has been a total systemic failure by the organisations
supposed to protect the public and those who work at these factories. Some of it is down to racial sensitivities, and the
same as the child abuse situation.’
Former North West chief crown prosecutor Nazir Afzal, who led prosecutions of child sex grooming gangs in Rochdale,
said: ‘I think the desire for cultural sensitivity has played a part in what we’ve seen in Leicester but there are other issues
as well. The broader issues are that the authorities don’t have the resources [to investigate].’
Leicester East Labour MP Claudia Webbe said: ‘It’s such an open secret that no one took any notice when I raised the
issue during my maiden speech in March. Nothing ever gets done about it.’ Concerns about Leicester’s sweatshops
resurfaced after fears a resurgence of coronavirus in the city may be linked to working conditions in the clothing factories
used by internet retailers including Boohoo.
The first report documenting poor working conditions was published in 2015 by Leicester University.
It described ‘excessive working hours, poor health and safety, health problems, verbal abuse, bullying, threats and humiliation’.
The report, led by academic Dr Nik Hammer, blamed subcontracting to small, unregulated factories and pressure in the
industry to keep costs to a minimum. Non-payment of the £8.72 per hour National Minimum Wage was ‘endemic’.
The average wage was found to be £3 an hour, applying to ‘75-90 per cent of jobs’.
Immigrants made ‘vulnerable’ due to their poor English and lack of residency status were exploited, with the workforce
‘regularly replenished’ through new arrivals.
A 2017 report by the joint parliamentary committee on human rights found human rights abuses were ‘endemic’ in Leicester’s
garments industry. The same year, a report by Leicester and Leicestershire Local Enterprise Partnership – a committee of
business and council leaders – highlighted the same problems.
And in 2019 the parliamentary environmental audit committee found factories were still ‘breaking the law to maximise profits’.
Leicester City Council said it has no powers to check working conditions inside a building, enforce the minimum wage, or
monitor the legality of the workforce...'
Edith Head Gives Good Wardrobe.