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Exploited workers in Leicester textile factories have been denied more than £ 27 million in lost profits in the past three months, according to the British Retail Consortium.
He wrote to the interior secretary in July to urge the government to implement a licensing scheme to deal with unsafe and illegally underpaid conditions in some garment factories.
He received no reply and has written again, telling the Home Office: “The BRC estimates that exploited workers in the garment factories in Leicester are collectively denied £ 2.1 million a week in unpaid wages.
“This equates to over £ 27 million since we raised this issue with them in July. This is completely unacceptable.”
Ritu, who asked us to change her name to protect her identity because she fears the consequences of speaking out, has worked in textile factories in Leicester for the past six years.
His pay stub says he is paid the national minimum wage, £ 8.72 per hour, for 42 hours of work each week.
But she says that does not count the truth, since she is forced to work seven days a week for many more hours than she is paid.
“It’s 65 hours, 75 hours a week,” he says.
“No sick pay, no benefits, I just work. I work for £ 5 an hour.”
She says it’s not worth trying to find work in another factory because “each factory, £ 5, £ 5”.
‘Ritu’ told Sky News she’s scared of her bosses
Many of the factory buildings are very dilapidated.
When asked if they are afraid of factory bosses, he answers “yes, of course”.
He doesn’t think his English is good enough to find another job, so he feels unable to leave.
There are up to 10,000 people working in hundreds of factories and garment shops in Leicester.
BRC’s head of sustainability, Peter Andrews, says there needs to be more regulation of the industry.
BRC’s Peter Andrews wants a licensing system in place
“We are asking the home secretary to implement a tried and tested licensing system,” he tells Sky News.
“So that no company can operate without first having a control from the authorities to guarantee that the minimum wage is being paid, that its health and safety practices are up to par, and that workers receive fair treatment.”
Thousands of people work in factories and garment shops in Leicester.
The number of calls to the National Modern Slavery Hotline has increased, from workers in Leicester and beyond.
Justine Corrall, CEO of the charity Unseen UK, says there is a systemic problem, as some workers earn as little as £ 3.50 an hour.
“It’s not just in a factory or in one place, it’s on the other side of the piece,” he says.
“So if the workers raise the alarm, they say there is a problem, then, unfortunately, they probably won’t get a job at one of the other factories.
“There are also threats of violence, of real physical violence as well, not only for them but also for their families.
Justine Corrall says workers and their families are sometimes threatened
“And some may not have regular status in the UK, which means they are unlikely to speak up because that could put their situation in even more jeopardy.”
A spokesman for the Interior Ministry told Sky News that they had received the letter from BRC and would respond in due course.
They added: “Exploiting vulnerable workers for commercial gain is despicable and we expect companies to do everything they can to address abuse and exploitation in their supply chains.”
“We are deeply concerned about the egregious reports of illegal and unsafe working conditions for garment workers in Leicester, and we will ensure that the perpetrators face the full force of the law if the evidence comes to light thanks to the work of our new specialized task force, led by the Gangmasters and Labor Abuse Authority. “
