Sweatshops in Leicester - who are the owners?

SNAP petunia. I genuinely don't know if the mayor is responsible.

Just wondering - is this a cultural thing? If the owners and workers are Asian, is this the norm for them? Is it the same in their country of origin? I’m not trying to condone it, just musing.

As far as I know, the district council (we don't have cities either) doesn't have a role in inspecting workplaces, although the county council might (in certain circumstances).

Well, we have Trading Standards officers and Environmental Health inspectors (well stretched because of cutbacks to LA budgets). Don't all local authorities have these? Wouldn't they have a role?

The Mayor is responsible. I thought he was doing a great job of improving the city but it is all superficial. He also went to stay with his girlfriend, breaking the lockdown rules, because she wasnt very well.

Rosalyn69

Just wondering - is this a cultural thing? If the owners and workers are Asian, is this the norm for them? Is it the same in their country of origin? I’m not trying to condone it, just musing.

I have to say that this has crossed my mind, too, Rosalyn. I feel there is a different work ethic in Asian countries. As in tales one hears of tourists buying custom made clothes which are run up for them practically overnight.

Is it part of a culture of fear or is it a 'natural' way of working? I can't forget Priti Patel, in Britannia Unchained' claiming that the British worker is lazy...

MaizieD

^As far as I know, the district council (we don't have cities either) doesn't have a role in inspecting workplaces, although the county council might (in certain circumstances).^

Well, we have Trading Standards officers and Environmental Health inspectors (well stretched because of cutbacks to LA budgets). Don't all local authorities have these? Wouldn't they have a role?

I know somebody who is a trading standards officer for the council, but I'm almost sure she doesn't inspect workplaces, such as factories. Most of her work seems to be in markets and boot sales.

Environmental health officers inspect pubs, restaurants and anywhere (except council owned properties) with kitchens serving food to the public.

I don't think it's within the remit of either of them to inspect factories (could be wrong) and, anyway, as you say, their resources have been cut to the bone.

In the nineteenth century, we used to have factory inspectors, but I honestly don't know who does that role now.

It would appear that factories are the HSE's responsibility.

www.seton.co.uk/legislationwatch/article/180-years-of-factory-inspectors/

I was really shocked to learn that there are over one thousand of these awful places in Leicester.

How many of the workers are here illegally? As the authorities seem reluctant to investigate these places we will probably never know the full scale of the problem.

kittylester

The Mayor is responsible. I thought he was doing a great job of improving the city but it is all superficial. He also went to stay with his girlfriend, breaking the lockdown rules, because she wasnt very well.

kittylester I don't think it is one of the mayor's responsibilities.

Who knows if they're reluctant or overstretched?

Does anybody know for a fact that they weren't inspected as a result of "cultural sensibilities" or is that something dreamt up by the anti-PC brigade?

It would be helpful, for a start, to know exactly who the responsible authorities are.

I expect it's true British amatuerism, growstuff, like a conclusion from the Russian Report, no-one seems to have responsibility for these areas...

I think you could be right.

Picking up on your previous point, I wonder how many people are employed in the majority of these "factories", if they're operated from ordinary residential houses.

There are thousands of people in this country of all ethnicities, involved in making hand made "crafts". They sell them at craft fairs and online. Many of the goods they sell don't conform to trading standards. Just look at some of the face masks currently being sold.

I wonder if some of these "factories" are really extended family businesses. I know they aren't all. Many producers of handmade goods are operating illegally and I expect many of them are also working for less than minimum wage. I know somebody who makes cakes, but she gets her daughters and friends to help out. I'm pretty sure she doesn't pay them minimum wage.

Just wondering ...

You have a good point there growstuff about hidden home working. But these factories in question, and not just in Leicester, seem to operate in a similar fashion. But how can poverty and ill health improve if unscrupulous employers exploit their workforce in such a way. these workers are doomed to poor housing, overcrowding, poor health and poverty all their lives. Also, if they are here illegally, no access to public funds.
Any council or authority who even gets a hint of this behaviour should investigate.

petunia I don't think it's in the council's remit to act and most of them have had vicious cuts to funding. Some councils now act as little more than outsourcers of statutory responsibilities.

I'm not claiming for one moment that what's been going on is commendable, but it seems that loads of people are making assumptions and cherry picking a few bits to suit their agenda.

I'd like to see a proper factories review, as there was in the nineteenth century. There was a government appointed Factory Commission in 1833, which genuinely shocked many people. I have a copy of it and some of the revelations were appalling. Maybe it's time for another one.

The best way to lift the people from the factories out of poverty would be to ensure that they, particularly the females, have first-class educational opportunities and affordable childcare, when they start a family, so that they can continue with better paid careers.

There would still be the question of who works in manual, low paid jobs and they need to be regulated efficiently. It would mean consumers' paying more or importing from sweat shop economies. It would also mean more red tape for people producing home made crafts.

When I taught in the Midlands many Indian girls were trained from an early age to use their sewing machines to earn/ support the family income. Some mothers expressed concern about this, more information came from the Ethnic Minority support services, in whom the girls confided , many being far more ambitious. Education can only do so much; the family culture has a strong influence, particularly in the poorer areas. This was thirty years ago and it seems as though it is still happening.

If you're up for a long read, this is interesting:

oxfamilibrary.openrepository.com/bitstream/handle/10546/332780/rr-empowering-british-bangladeshi-women-enterprise-010614-en.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

It's about Bangladeshi women specifically rather than all women from the Indian subcontinent.

Yes, there are loads of barriers to overcome. The services which could intervene have all been cut since that report was written.

I would love to live in the La La land that some posters inhabit and not know what goes on with voting and illegal practices.
Please don't ask me to elaborate because I can't.

growstuff
Being a sewing machinist used to be a well paid job.
It is a skilled job and one that was mainly done by women.
A trainee would start of on a low wage ( or minimum wage) until she was "earning her money" that is, being productive enough to cover her wage bill.
Then she would move on to piece work and depending on speed could earn a really good wage.
Of course that was in the days when we had a manufacturing industry and when we paid more for our clothing. Before M & S and other companies decided to move their manufacturing overseas.
(Which incidentally, has not been an unqualified success for M & S)

When I worked in the clothing industry machinists came from the same background as the demographic of the local area.

It was a well paid and well respected job that didn't require a degree.

Being a sewing machinist still is a skilled job and mainly done by women.

The difference is that it's now not well paid and people want dirt cheap clothes.

These woman are being exploited by their employers and their families (who could be the same people) and the buyers who want clothes as cheap as possible. If the UK were to tighten up on working conditions, the buyers would go back overseas for their goods. The same people (mainly women) will be exploited whether it's in Bangladesh, Turkey, Indonesia or wherever.

Working as a machinist is a skilled job and anyone who does so should be paid the proper rate for the work they do.

We talk about workers in third world countries being exploited and many of us try to buy British but it seems that it makes no difference. Even paying more is no guarantee that the workers have not been poorly pauid and work in sub-standard factories.
Unfortunately, the owners will go back to dangerous sweatshops in other countries if they are shut down here.

We inhabit a throwaway society now and it's not just litter, it's clothes and other goods too.

And I'm afraid few lessons will be learnt. The UK's economy has relied for a long time on selling each other stuff we don't need and might not even really want. Houses built on sand don't last.

We really need a fundamental rethink, especially with the looming environmental crisis and the millions who are about to be unemployed. Unfortunately, I can't see that happening because there are too many selfish people who don't want to give up what they've got. Politically, I don't think there's a will either. The people who do care are smeared as loonies.

Everything Kitty says is correct. Local people know exactly what's happening in the 'factories' in Leicester. The owners constantly change and are always unavailable when asked for. The working conditions are really not good at all.