Meet Sonia. She's a 38 year old factory worker from Bangladesh.
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Where is she from? Sonia is from a city Dhaka, which is one of the largest producers of clothing in the fast fashion industry. Sonia has many other friends that work in the textile industry, including friends who died in a factory collapse at a nearby factory in 2011.
How much does Sonia get paid? Sonia gets paid approximately $13,500 rupees, or $197 USD a month. This is below a living wage as she claims that she needs at least $481 USD or 33,000 rupees a month to be able to live off.
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How many children does Sonia have? Sonia has 4 children, ages 17, 15, 10 and 5, and is married to another fellow factory worker. Both Sonia and her husband work over 12 hours a day in their respective factories. Her husband works in the leather industry, and is beginning to have trouble breathing because of the chemicals in the tannery.
The factory that Sonia works in makes clothes for H&M and Forever 21. The tannery that her husband works in provides leather goods for Dior and other high end fashion retailers.
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The water in their town is almost completely polluted because of the factories nearby, and at least 15 children are born each month with disabilities because of this.
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Meet Louisa. She's a 32 year old mother who works in a factory in Los Angeles.
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Where is she from? Louisa is originally from Mexico City, Mexico, but her parents brought her to the states as a young child. They worked to make themselves legal immigrants, and in return, had no money to pay to send Louisa to college. Since Louisa was raised in Los Angeles, CA, she continues to work there. The cost of living is very high, so Louisa has to work long hours in order to pay her rent. This is allowed because of a loophole in California's legislation with clothing retailers and factories.
How much does Louisa get paid? Louisa gets paid $6 an hour, extremely under minimum wage for California. She works 11 hours a day, pinning forever 21 tags onto various clothing. She gets paid 0.10 per top, which adds up to less than $6 an hour.
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How many children does Louisa have?
Louisa has 4 children, and also lives with her husband, sister and her sister in a small, 3 bedroom apartment. Louisa's husband works as a landscaper, but he also does not get paid enough to support the family properly. The only reason they are able to afford the place that they have is because of her sister, who works as a housecleaner and waitress, which is helpful because of tips.
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The factory that Louisa works at makes clothes for TJMaxx and Forever 21. She spends hours doing mundane work that does not leave her with enough money to properly support her 4 children.
Meet Ama. She's a 16 year old girl who works for a factory in India.
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Where is she from? Ama is originally from about 40 minutes from where her factory is in the garment sector of Delhi, India. Every day, Ama walks 8 miles to get to the factory and back. Ama has been working at the factory since she was 13 years old, sewing skirts and pants together for companies like Ross and Gap. 5.8 Million Children ages 14-18 work in India's garment sector in Delhi.
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How much does Ama get paid? Ama gets paid about $100 a month and works about 14-16 hours a day, depending on the schedule of what is being made. This does not include her 8 mile walk to work, and 8 miles back. Ama is ocassionally able to catch rides with fellow factory workers, but usually she must walk. She is currently putting money aside to purchase a bike for herself to be able to get to work easier, but her family needs the money to pay for their food and medication for her ill grandmother.
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How many children does Ama have?
Ama does not currently have any children, but she has 5 siblings, 2 younger and 3 older. Her mom works in the garment district as well, but her father died in a factory accident about 4 years ago. Ama has been asked to take his place in the factory, and therefore cannot afford to quit her job. The factory conditions are incredibly dirty, and not to mention extremely HOT.
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