“Degrading Sweatshop Conditions”: Two More Hidden Messages Discovered In Penneys’ Clothing

Fashion chain Primark, the UK equivalent of Penneys, is investigating further complaints after two more shoppers reportedly found messages citing unethical working conditions.  Rebecca Williams discovered the words "degrading sweatshop conditions" on a clothing label next to the washing instructions of her garment. Earlier in the week Rebecca Gallagher found a stitched message sewn into the seam of her dress that read: "Forced to work exhausting hours”. Both of the ladies purchased the items from the same outlet in Swansea. The second item from the Swansea store with a sewn note placed alongside washing instructions.  Williams told press: "I was really shocked when I saw the label saying it was degrading sweatshop conditions." "I used to to shop a lot at Primark but not so much now. The label has made me think about how my clothes are made." "I have no idea who made the label or how it go it there - but it does make you think." Rebecca Gallagher was the first to raise a complaint. A woman in Belfast claims to be the third Primark shopper to discover a 'SOS' message. According to ITV, Karen Wisínska purchased a pair of trousers in June 2011 that remained unworn until earlier this week. Karen explained how she found a handwritten note, which claims to be from a prisoner in China working under slave labour conditions, in a trouser pocket. After making the find she immediately contacted Amnesty International. The message, titled "SOS! SOS! SOS!" reads: "We are prisoners in the Xiang Nan Prison of the Hubei Province in China. Our job inside the prison is to produce fashion clothes for export. "We work 15 hours per day and the food we eat wouldn't even be given to dogs or pigs. We work as hard as oxen in the field. "We call on the international community to condemn the Chinese government for the violation of our human rights!" Following the collapse of a factory that resulted in the death of over a thousand workers in Bangladesh last year, the clothing chain insisted that it has "a code of conduct in place, to ensure products are made in good working conditions and all employees are treated fairly." Investigations are still being carried out regarding the latest complaints against the company's ethics.