Ethical Threads is a clothing manufacturer based in the United Kingdom. The company is wholly owned by the Battersea and Wandsworth Trades Union Council and the London Region GMB Union. The company was created as a source of ethical non-sweatshop clothing, and all producers follow international conventions of workers rights and will not employ child labour. Ethical Threads' organically grown cotton is supplied by the Vasudha Cotton Project in India to the Oeko-tex standard.[1]

The company was boosted in 2002 when the Glastonbury Festival sourced official merchandise from Ethical Threads, who used disabled workers at Remploy for manufacturing.[2] That year, Ethical Threads hosted The Left Field area of the festival.[3] The Glastonbury Festival subsequently banned sweatshop sourced clothing following a campaign by Billy Bragg.

A report by the Maquila Solidarity Network highlighted the difficulty small organisations like Ethical Threads have in ethical sourcing, because they often lack clear labour standards and certification criteria, and monitoring programmes, that advocates demand of larger brands.[4]

References

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  1. ^ "About Us". Ethical Threads. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  2. ^ "Ethical Threads and Remploy Production of Glastonbury T-Shirts". Early day motion 1115 (2001-02). House of Commons. 11 April 2002. Archived from the original on 17 July 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  3. ^ "Tony Benn 'plays' Glastonbury". BBC. 5 June 2002. Archived from the original on 9 July 2003. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  4. ^ Mark Engler (1 November 2006). "Sweating over sweatshops". New Internationalist. Archived from the original on 27 November 2011. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
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