ABSTRACT
Globalization, while producing unprecedented wealth for a few, has also resulted in increased insecurity for many of the already poor who work and produce for the global production system (see Wade 2001). In textiles and garments, the business model in the industry means that manufacturers are increasingly driven to exploit workers. The industry operates in an environment where there are intense downward pressures on prices, demands for fast and flexible delivery and a constant shifting in production location, searching for cheaper and more productive labour (see SOMO 2003). Supply chain management mapping, which begins in corporate headquarters, based on consumer demand, is complex, even for something as simple as a T-shirt. The current logic of global capitalism dictates that manufacturers must comply with both corporate and consumer demand for cheaper products. In the end it is workers who pay the price, with low wages, long hours, poor social and employment security and a neglect of labour standards. In this competitive production process, manufacturers and trading companies scour the globe in search of low-waged workers that permit the industry to squeeze profits from products that seem ever cheaper.
