We all know were being ripped off senseless in the UK when we purchase children's clothes. A lot of parents in Kirkby struggle to keep up with the high prices charged for many clothes items, and training shoes are one of the biggest sellers. 'Trainees' as we call them took off in the 70's with the likes of 'Adidas' and 'Puma' etc. Many of us would sooner wear trainers and they are usually more comfortable than shoes. Not if you bought the useless trainer below.......

Pictured below, Adidas Trainers - 1 month old -ready for the bin already!............

Are designer labels really so 'cool'?

The photos on this page show a pair of Adidas Trainers purchased from a catalog company. The trainers are approx a moth old and are already wrecked as we can see. The price charged for these trainers was a staggering £50. If you looked at the trainers you would see immediately that they are poorly made and have likely cost the catalog company very little to purchase in bulk from Vietnam or some distributor - it's hard to imagine them using a middle man to bulk purchase. Catalog companies and every other high street sportswear outlet may also not take too much interest in the conditions endured by workers in Vietnam and other Asian Countries which pay workers a pittance to make the cheap goods for the Western Market. All the labels - Adidas, Nike, Puma, Mitre and Umbro - all of them are involved in exploitation and profiteering of the highest order. They make people lives a misery and that takes away a little of the 'cool' image these companies try to brainwash us into believing and spend Millions advertising.

Mc Donald's in Vietnam - unhappy meal

The conditions for workers in Vietnam are pretty appalling. As a film promotion, Disney toys are given away free with McDonald's Happy Meals. The toys are manufactured in Vietnam by Keyhinge Toys. Workers earn less than 8 cents an hour (subsistence wage is 32 cents an hour) for 9 to 10 hour shifts (overtime is mandatory), 7 days a week, in a highly toxic environment with poor ventilation. Now you know why you get some plastic toy for 'free', they pay the workers next to nothing to make them. Do we really need these free toys which are useless and break easily anyway? Do we also need to feed our kids a diet of U$A crap?

Nike Rip Off

Nike employs 35,000 mostly female workers in Vietnam. For an eight-hour day they are paid on average $1-60. The shoes they make can retail for up to $165 in the States and over £100 in the UK.

Vietnamese Fight Back!

In Vietnam at least, exploited workers are starting to fight back. Daewoo (one of the biggest exploiters in Vietnam) planned a £93 million golf course near Hanoi. Displaced villages were to be offered a paltry £125 per family. Barricades were set up and the villagers refused to budge. A Taiwanese subcontractor as punishment for wearing the wrong shoes forced women to run round in the hot midday sun. Several women collapsed and had to be taken to hospital. The next day local people attacked the factory. Rightly so. Lets hope they hung the boss.

We sell 600,000 shirts a year. Every shirt costs £50, but the shirts cost only £5 to make in Asia. -- Doug Hall, chairman Newcastle United FC

The price others pay.

Adidas-Salomon footballs have been sewn by dissidents in Chinese prisons. Adidas shoes are produced in a Chinese factory by workers paid 19 cents/hour (living wage for a small family around 87 cents), 60-84 hour week, fined if overtime refused, overtime rate not paid, noise pollution and fumes in factories, workers not heard of code of conduct. Adidas, Puma, Reebok and Umbro source garments from a Bulgarian factory that pays 50% of subsistence wage and requires workers to work excessive overtime. Shoes for Reebok are made in a Chinese factory where code of conduct is not honoured, pregnant workers are dismissed, health problems from poor working conditions. At an Indonesian factory producing shoes for Reebok, 23 toilets for 4,5000 workers, workers fined for using toilets more than twice a day, no protective equipment. In North India, children hand stitching footballs for Mitre receive 14 pence/ball (retail £14.99). Children in Pakistan working 12-14 hours/day, receive 30 cents per hand-stitched ball destined for Nike, Reebok, Adidas, Mitre and Umbro.

It's about time we moved away from the false economy of mass produced crap which falls apart after a few weeks. We also need to recognise that exploiting other workers is wrong, and realise that the media is covering up the Globalisation which allows companied like Adidas to use the cheapest non union labour markets they can find. Union leaders in these dangerous Countries are being assassinated due to them challenging the scum who exploit their communities. Next time you're in the catalog or any other major retailer of fashion, ask yourself - how much are they paying for those trainers marked up for £50. Look at the label which states the Country of origin and ask yourself is there another hidden cost included.

A lot of this article has been taken from the following website