The dark side of Shein

Shein recently dodged questions from a British Parliamentary committee about whether its suppliers rely on forced labour, once again raising questions about how the online platform achieves its aggressive prices.
The clothing retailer and marketplace faces scrutiny in the United Kingdom because it wants to list on the London Stock Exchange.
In addition to facing parliamentary scrutiny, the BBC published an investigative report last week regarding the working conditions in several factories that supply Shein.
The BBC said it visited ten factories and spoke to four owners and more than twenty workers, in addition to spending time at labour markets and textile suppliers.
One worker told the BBC that she works weekends and holidays with nearly no time off.
In general, the BBC found that Shein’s secret weapon was a labour force that worked for around 75 hours a week in contravention of Chinese labour laws.
This follows a similar undercover investigation in 2022 by UK’s Channel 4 and The i newspaper, which revealed that workers in one factory earned 4,000 yuan (R10,223) per month but had to make at least 500 pieces of clothing per day.
In another factory, workers did not get paid a base salary but earned 0.27 yuan (R0.69) per item of clothing.
The investigation also found that workers’ pay was docked for the first month and that they were subject to heavy fines amounting to two-thirds of daily wages.
During Shein’s appearance before a UK Parliamentary committee, MPs asked the company’s legal representative, Yinan Zhu, whether its suppliers use cotton from the Xinjiang region in China.
This is the location where previous reports have found that the Chinese government uses forced labour from an ethnic Muslim minority, the Uyghurs, to farm cotton.
According to the US Department of Labour, since 2016, the Chinese government has subjected Uyghurs and members of other predominantly Muslim ethnic minority groups in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to genocide, state-imposed forced labour, and crimes against humanity.
“Uyghurs detained in camps and forced to work in factories must endure oppressive conditions,” the US labour department’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs stated.
“In one internment camp in Kashgar, Xinjiang, Uyghur detainees work as forced labourers to produce textiles. They receive little pay, are not allowed to leave, and have limited or no communication with family members.”
Where family communication and visits are permitted, they are heavily monitored and can be cut short.
“When not working, the Uyghur workers must learn Mandarin and undergo ideological indoctrination.”
However, the Chinese government has denied the allegations and explained that the situation in Xinjiang is complex, involving a crackdown on jihadist terrorist organizations in the region.
This includes the Turkistan Islamic Party, a Uyghur Islamic militant organization founded in Pakistan with the stated goal of establishing an Islamic state in Xinjiang and central Asia.
It was designated a terrorist organisation by the United Nations, the United States, the UK, and the European Union.
However, critics of China’s response argued that its oppression of ethnic minorities fuelled the terrorist movement in the first place.
Critics also say China used its counter-terrorism operation as an excuse to further oppress Uyghurs and other minorities in the region.

MyBroadband contacted Shein for comment, but it did not respond by publication.
However, the company previously denied allegations of unethical labour practices.
“We are committed to respecting human rights and adhering to local laws and regulations in each market we operate in,” a Shein spokesperson said.
“Our suppliers must adhere to a strict code of conduct that is aligned to the International Labour Organisation’s core conventions. We have zero tolerance for forced labour.”
Shein also said its low prices had nothing to do with harmful labour conditions, wasteful production practices, or dodging tax.
“Contrary to some common misperceptions, we keep prices affordable through our technology-based on-demand business model and flexible supply chain,” it said.
“This reduces inefficiency, helps us to lower wastage of material, as well as reduce our unsold inventory. We pass this cost advantage to our customers, and this is what has driven our success.”