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Luxury labels conceal blood, sweat and tears

By Wan Lixin: 0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Shanghai Daily, October 14, 2011

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Behind the glamour [By Jiao Haiyang/China.org.cn]

Shanghai Daily reported on Tuesday that some former employees of Gucci complained of "inhuman working regulations" in a Gucci flagship store in Shenzhen.

The staff said they had to ask permission if they wanted to get a drink of water or use the rest room while they were on duty.

According to a Xinhua investigation, pregnant women employees in need of extra nutrition would be reprimanded if they ate an apple while on duty at the luxury flagship store; and committing eight apple-eating offenses on duty would cost them their job.

Gucci is the biggest-selling Italian brand, generating billions of dollars in revenue worldwide, and steeped in glamour, elegance, and luxury.

As we know now, the brand is also steeped in the sweat, tears, and blood of Chinese manning the production lines, or working as shop assistants whose job is to sing the praises of Gucci.

The South Weekend newspaper reported in May on the case of Peng Shuiyin, a migrant woman from Hubei making handbags in a factory in Dongguan, Shenzhen. The factory supplies luxury brands such as Coach and Diesel.

Once branded, the value of one single handbag could surpass Peng's annual earnings of about 20,000 yuan (US$3,125).

Unable to endure the oppressive working conditions at the factory, Peng plunged to her death from her fifth-floor dormitory on May 14.

And once branded, virtually all handbags would not indicate any links with China, or Peng, the migrant who once spent 11 hours a day painting and polishing these handbags.

Professed ignorance of these hidden links or "plausible deniability" is supposed to exculpate the brand owners, making it easier for some Westerners to point an accusing finger at "slave labor," sweatshops, or the pervasive lack of human rights in areas not yet civilized by Western lifestyle and values.

According to market philosophy, the selling of Western values is best achieved through the celebration of Western consumer products.

The latest case is the buzz about iPads and iPhones.

The apotheosis of Apple is based on seeing the gadget as something more than an electronic device.

Owning the gadgets is perceived as something aspirational and spiritual, which shifts the attention away from Foxconn Technology Group, the world's largest electronics contract manufacturer by revenue, which mass produces Apple products at minimal costs.

As one of Apple's most important suppliers, Foxconn assembles most iPhones and iPads and also makes some key components.

Unable to endure the quasi-military regimen at Foxconn, 13 employees attempted suicide in the first six months of last year; 10 of them perished; three were injured.

An explosion this May at a Foxconn factory in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, killed two workers and injured many more. The blast at the plant producing the iPad 2 was blamed on a buildup of flammable dust in the air, rather than Apple.

Investigations also revealed early this year that over 100 workers at a Foxconn affiliate in Suzhou had been sickened in 2009 by a chemical used to clean iPhone screens.

Apple suppliers have also been accused of systemic pollution. Since Apple does not directly manufacture anything itself and never discloses the names of its suppliers, it can be difficult to substantiate the accusations.

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