It’s a narrative that an incoming Labour government should reject out of hand, especially if the party’s attempts to portray itself as being on the side of workers is to count for anything.
It was only a couple of weeks ago that Sir Keir Starmer was up in Glasgow telling people about his so-called six steps for change, one of which is to make work pay with a “new deal for working people”.
It represents “the greatest levelling up for workers rights in a generation”: no more zero hours contracts or so-called “fire and rehire” policies, plus “a genuine” living wage because “dignity and respect at work are essential for economic growth,” the Labour leader promised.
In which case, Shein’s turbo-charged fast fashion juggernaut looks completely out of step with Starmer’s vision of what modern Britain should stand for. Obviously, the Government doesn’t control the stock market directly but it certainly has great influence over who we court as a country and the message we are trying to project to the rest of the world.
There is little to like about Shein. An investigation by Swiss campaign group Public Eye in 2021 found evidence of staff subjected to 75-hour weeks in Shein’s Chinese factories. Some employees were working three shifts a day and only getting one day off a week, often in unsafe conditions, it claimed. The company promised to conduct a “targeted investigation” into the allegations.
Then, last autumn, a Channel 4 documentary reported that some Shein factory workers earned an average of £19 for a typical 18-hour shift, produced hundreds of items a day and couldn’t go home until they’d finished. In some instances, wages were withheld and docked. In response, Shein vowed to invest $15m (£11.8m) to improve standards.
Meanwhile, its consumption of virgin polyester and oil release the same amount of CO2 as approximately 180 coal-fired power plants every year, according to Synthetics Anonymous 2.0, a report published on fashion sustainability.
Shein may feel it is being unfairly targeted when many of the claims it has faced have been levelled at rivals including British chain Boohoo. Yet, the difference is that because it is British, a powerful combination of shareholders, MPs and NGOs have been able to apply intense pressure on the company to improve standards.