Okay I'd be lying if I said I never purchased clothes from Shein. I mean cute and affordable clothes are any girl's weakness. But in life we know sometimes things may well be to good to be true. So what's the real cost of fast fashion? Allegations of workers pleading for help due to unpleasant working environments, low paying wages all while having to work long hours spread through the widely used app TikTok. Hundreds of users were uploading videos encouraging a boycott of Shein merchandise. Why …where did this come from? A article in Rolling Stone sheds light on the origin of the conspiracy.
Shein employees have been surreptitiously writing “need your help” or “help me” on the tags for its products. The “evidence” cited in some of these videos is a tag that reads, “Do not dry clean due to water saving technology, need your help washing with the soft detergent the first time” — which appears to be a poor translation of cleaning instructions for the garment, but which people are characterizing as a secret hidden message from Shein employees forced to work for the company against their will. - Rolling Stone Magazines Dickson, EJ
Dickson, EJ. “Are Shein Workers Hiding Secret Messages in Clothing Tags to Beg for Help?” Rolling Stone, Rolling Stone, 15 June 2022, https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/shien-tiktok-conspiracy-theory-help-me-tag-1367965/.
There isn't any solid proof that Shein is forcing people to work against their will but there is evidence of poor working conditions in its facilities. Last year Public Eye, a Swiss watchdog group recruited independent researchers to investigate Shein’s manufacturing and packing process. The researchers found the company to be responsible for several violations that are quoted from the article from Business of Fashion below.
In Guangzhou, the city where Shein is headquartered and where many of its suppliers are located, researchers were able to track down 17 Shein partners. They found some manufacturers were informal factories set up in residential buildings. Some also had barred windows and no emergency exits, according to Public Eye; conditions that violate Chinese labour laws. -Lieber, Chavie with The Business of Fashion
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