SHEIN and Its Poor Work Conditions

A new investigation shows the horrible work conditions of the fast-fashion company, Shein. Specifically, in their factories in China, where they manufacture and ship clothing items.

Shein is a Chinese-owned Fast-Fashion clothing company that has gained a name for its cheap and affordable clothes. Yet many young people who buy these clothes from the brand don’t have a clue about the awful work conditions in their factories.

According to businessinsider, an undercover investigation shows that workers have a base salary of 4,000 yuan per year. This is equivalent to about $556, to make about 500 pieces of clothing per day. What’s even worse is that the employee’s pay is withheld from them in their first month, according to the investigation.

Also mentioned in the investigation, employees are hit with a fine of two-thirds of their daily salary if they even make one minor mistake. Female employees in one of the factories even washed their hair on their lunch breaks because there was so little time to do so after work.

If all this wasn’t bad enough, the employees at these factories have to work 18 hours a day, and only get one day off in the entire month. “There’s no such thing as Saturdays” said one employee during the investigation.

As mentioned above, Shein has been found to have horrible work conditions in their factories, but what’s even worse is that many people who buy cheap products from this company don’t know anything about the deplorable work conditions these clothes are manufactured in.

Not only does Shein have terrible working conditions, but they also have been in many other controversies as well. For example, even though their clothes are very cheap, some customers say they often break down easily and don’t last very long. Some designers also say that Shein steals their competitors’ designs, and just sells them for a cheaper price.

All we know is that if Shein does not solve the problems and controversies they’re in, if regular customers of the brand find out about the poor quality and horrible conditions of the clothes and factories, then some people might boycott the clothing items, and stop buying them altogether.

People also might protest the whole idea of Fast-Fashion, as it has major environmental effects from the tons of clothing items being manufactured, according to yahoo!news. 

After watching the Channel 4 investigation, some people went to social media to voice their opinion on Shein. One person wrote “Those working conditions are horrific. I truly don’t understand how Shein hasn’t been called out sooner.”

“Reminds me of the factory workers from the late 1800s. Sad that we haven’t progressed from that,” another person mentioned. 

So this is a call to action. For anyone who has been touched by this article, and wants to have their voice heard, you know what to do.