Worker's Plight

The factory workers are the worst off, and yet they are the ones that keep the industry running. Yes, I do agree we cannot go back to having everyone making their own clothes anymore, yet are we aware of how the price we pay in the shops gets expanded through the ranks?

When I did my preparation for one of the new subjects I'm teaching I found an interesting concept: in retail, nothing under a 250% Gross Profit Margin is viable. (gross profit = sales - cost of sales, excluding any overheads) This means that the bottom of the hierarchy will be pushed down as far as anyone can go. The people who are at the receiving end are the CMT's (Cut, Make & Trim)- usually. They will be asked to produce a pair of jeans that retails at about R200, for about R60. Unfortunately this is not really the price that the manufacturers are paid, since this price usually includes transport as well. The CMT's usually are also not responsible for buying the fabric and trims, so the price comes down even more. I'm not sure of the ratio, but it definitely is less than half of that price. This price will be even lower if the garment was manufactured in Asia.

As an aside.... each manufacturer will manufacture tens of thousands of units, so the amount the retailers pay is not necessarily peanuts, but taken at a unit price it becomes quite an eyeopener, especially since roughly 10 - 20 machines / people have worked on each pair of jeans.In the picture above, each row will manufacture one garment, starting at the back and moving through tot the front.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that all (and I'm including myself here) who are keeping the fashion industry going are not aware of what kind of labour is involved and how we perpetuate the cycle of poverty. Not sure if this makes sense.

As Christians are we not called to be as loving towards others as towards ourselves, including the alien and stranger in our midst, especially the poor? This includes treating our employees the way we want to be treated and giving them a fair wage. I'm  a little surprised that the factory workers do not strike more often. I suppose in South Africa our labour is quite expensive, but there are city rates and rates for the rural areas.
I'm not in any way advocating anything less than just keeping this in our minds next time we covet (!) that pair of shoes or that pair of jeans.

Weaving

The history of weaving is a long one - From a simple strip (like Kente Cloth)












to intricate patterns (like Jacquard).

 Today the process is mechanised, but even with machines, scientist have struggled to reproduce the translucent fabrics of ancient Egypt found in archeological digs.

In Jesus's time, weaving was done by women on home looms. the cloak Jesus wore at the time of His crucifixion was special (and that also meant, if bought, expensive), in that is was woven in one piece. This was significant, because the soldiers were unable to break up the pieces and so had to cast lots for this cloak. (Picture)

Weaving and sewing today are inseparable in that someone has to sew together what someone else has woven. A very special seamstress is mentioned who was part of the early church. She died and other women begging Peter to bring her back to life so that she could continue her service to the community. Her name was Dorcas and the reference can be found in Acts 9:32-40. If all seamstresses got this kind of recognition today, what a different place the Fashion industry would be today.

This would bring me to "best practice" in the industry, which warrants a whole new post.