Labor Issues
75 million people make clothing globally. The majority are women in the Global South earning below a living wage. The low prices of fast fashion are not a gift — they are a subsidy paid by labor exploitation.
Fit connection: Brands that invest in quality — precise grading, detailed size charts, proportional construction — tend to be the same brands that invest in fair wages. Cheap clothing requires cheap labor.
people employed in global garment manufacturing
International Labour Organization
of garment workers estimated to earn a living wage
Fashion Revolution / Labour Behind the Label
typical daily wage for garment workers in Bangladesh and Cambodia
Clean Clothes Campaign
The Structural Problem
Race to the bottom on price
Brands negotiate with factories on price per unit. Factories in countries with minimal labor protections win contracts by undercutting competitors. The pressure is passed directly to workers through poverty wages, mandatory overtime, and unsafe conditions.
Rana Plaza and beyond
In 2013, the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh killed 1,134 garment workers. The building had been flagged as unsafe. Workers were ordered in anyway. This was not an anomaly — it was the logical outcome of a system that treats labor as a pure cost to minimize.
Gender and power
An estimated 80% of garment workers are women. Factories exploit gender dynamics — women in many manufacturing regions have fewer legal protections, less union representation, and more economic vulnerability than their male counterparts. Fast fashion profits from this.
Certification is not a guarantee
Fair Trade, SA8000, and WRAP certifications exist to address labor conditions — but auditing is voluntary, infrequent, and often gamed. A "certified" badge does not mean workers are paid a living wage. It means they were in compliance on audit day.
How PWW Evaluates Labor Practices
The PWW Integrity Score evaluates brands on whether they publish a supplier list, report on living wage progress, hold credible third-party labor certifications (Fair Trade, B Corp, SA8000), and respond publicly to labor incidents in their supply chain.
We do not consider a brand "ethical" on labor solely because it is US or EU-headquartered. Manufacturing location and audit transparency matter far more than brand nationality.
What You Can Do
Buy from brands with supply chain transparency
Brands that publish their factory list have something to lose if conditions are bad. Transparency is the first step — demand it.
Support Fair Trade and B Corp certified brands
These certifications are imperfect but meaningful. They require documented living wage policies and third-party audits — not just branding.
Buy less, buy better
Every $50 spent on one quality garment that lasts is removed from the fast fashion equation. Buying fewer items from ethical brands has direct labor impact.
Use the PWW Integrity Score
We score labor transparency as a core criterion. Every brand in our database has been evaluated on whether they make their supply chain visible.