Meet Joanne Goddard. As the name suggests, no, she is not a garment worker in Bangladesh nor is she a sex trafficker forced into the labor force in Cambodia. Goddard has lived in Barnsley, New England her whole life. In 2016, she took a job as an agency worker at English online retailer ASOS, which gave her a 3pm-11pm flexible working schedule that allowed her to still be able to care for her two children. It was easy money -- she would sit on her terrace and take phone calls while her children were playing at her foot.
This easy money soon became hard. Assigned to work at the warehouse now, Goddard faced immense stress and pressure to meet the target of scanning 160 items an hour. Workers are divided into two categories: the pickers and packers. Pickers run around the three floors of the warehouse, scavenging, scanning, and collecting items to be packed into an order. From here, the packers package the items to be delivered at your doorsteps in just 48 hours. For the past 3 months, Buzzfeed investigated ASOS’s warehouse conditions, revealing exploitative contracts, an intense security regime, and stressed workers. Upon entering the building, she is subject to security checks at any time during her shift. Employees are not allowed to have jewelry, cosmetics, electronic devices -- cell phones included -- on them until their shifts end. They wear wristbands that keep track of how many items they scan, and tell them where to go and find the specific orders among the tons (literally tons) of clothes in the warehouse. Sounds very familiar, doesn’t it? To meet our insatiable demand for fast fashion, the warehouse runs 24/7. Day shift workers leave the building only to be replaced by a flood of nighttime workers. These are workers like Joanne who package the clothes, shoes, and accessories to be delivered to us in just two days, no matter where we are. As a result of this overwhelming pressure and high demand, Goddard recently lost her job to a panic attack. This is a pure case of the ugliness behind the frills and fancies. ASOS is among the most popular online shopping sites. However, behind the glamour and energy ASOS seems to portray on their websites with their smiling models and flashing “SALE” signs, look at what’s happening behind the scenes. The damages done by the fashion industry is not just in distant countries like India or Vietnam. The scars are hidden in less prevalent places, like at the heart of a retail store that could be where you bought that shirt on the floor of your room. Think twice -- fast fashion isn’t a distant issue that you can detach yourself from; it’s a persistent and uncomfortable presence looming over what we decide to be our chosen skin. http://www.vocativ.com/363935/asos-investigation-reveals-the-dark-future-of-online-retail/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=CPC&utm_campaign=CK-VOC-TRF-000-FB-FBLP-FKW-ENG.W-MED-BO-15a-T07
1 Comment
Robby
12/16/2016 10:31:09 am
My family consists of multiple online shopping enthusiasts (addicts??) and as I retrieve daily deliveries on my front porch, I need to be more in touch with the labor behind the instant satisfaction of online shopping. Our mode of online shopping encourages consumers to be impulsive and reactionary and feeds the mayhem that you so clearly depicted in this article. Every time we click purchase and are excited by the quick shipping options that are increasingly available, we need to take a moment and reflect on the importance of this purchase relative to the damage that it causes on so many fronts. Let's call it, mindful shopping. Efficient delivery systems can be a beautiful thing, but they do not need to prey on those without any better options.
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Our Goal:To inform on the ongoing crises that the clothing industry poses on our community and applaud any acts that rise over the conventional ways of consumption.
Archives
January 2017
Have a story you want to share?
Contact us at our email or phone number!
|