I took my time to write about the credible reports describing the exploitation of foreign workers at Leisure Clothing.  Journalist Joe Micallef of Media.link Communications should be commended for his work.

There is a specific reason for my delayed commentary.

News stories have a short shelf life unless new material comes up in the wash from time to time to keep the story alive. This being the case those who have a finger pointed at them generally try to lie low till the story dies. This could be because of waning interest in the subject as all material was exhausted or because something more interesting hit the headlines. This is the nature of the game.

I waited till there was a kind of a lull in the story to write in the hope that interest would be prolonged and possibly some kind of action would be taken.

It does not require rocket science to conclude that something was amiss at Leisure Clothing whose owner is the Chinese government, which is no stranger to the exploitation of Chinese workers.

Read the following extract from the website of War on Want:

“Despite the rapid growth of the Chinese economy in the last decade, more than 482 million people in China – 36% of the population – live on less than $2 a day. In total 85% of China’s poor live in rural areas and extreme poverty forces many of them to leave the countryside in search of employment in urban areas. Often referred to as the factory of the world, China’s industry-oriented economy relies on these migrant workers who make up the majority of the workforce. There are approximately 150 million internal migrant workers in China who, because of their status, do not receive any state benefits or protection. They have to endure poor working conditions such as excessive and forced overtime, denial of social security rights and failure to provide employment contracts, as well as severe health risks.”

Probably the Chinese working in Leisure Clothing are paradoxically better off than millions of  Chinese working in China. But this should be small consolation for us who live in a country which believes that the exploitation of workers is immoral and illegal.

One does not need the wisdom of Salmon to conclude that the Chinese workers have been brought over from China for the simple (though obscene reason) that they get paid less than Maltese workers, toil for longer hours and have less benefits than Maltese workers.

This unjust state of affairs could not have happened for so long had there not been a string of complicit corrupt Maltese at different levels of enforcement and other institutions in Malta responsible for the welfare of workers.

It is also difficult to believe that Maltese workers were not conscious of what has been going on for such a long period of time. This is shameful.

Equally, if not more shameful, is the reaction of those who are now trying to minimise the scandal or are trying to impute bad motives to those who revealed it.

But those who should also have a guilty conscience should include all of us who buy the type of designer clothes produced in such factories. Are we ready to pay more expensive prices so that these exploited workers can receive better wages?