earsucker

-This is simple: “Have them (K-Dash) -as owners and manufacturers of such goods and products- prove it.  (Prove that their product is made without the use of abusive conditions or child racketeering, so to speak.)

   They have need to actual show either the conditions or someone send in a documentary team. [Others people's children do not have the right (sic) to make a few 'family flock' in America rich, otherwise this would be liken to before the French Revolution.] Simple: have them prove there is no abuse.__________________________________________________”K-Dash sweatshirts – now made with real sweat.”
From correspondents in New York
December 22, 2011 8:09AM

Family made $65m last year 
Factory pays workers $1 an hour 
Some workers “as young as 16″ 

THE Kardashian family is allegedly profiting from sweatshop labour.
According to human rights investigators, several items sold under the K-Dash by Kardashian label, the Kris Jenner Kollection and Kim Kardashian’s ShoeDazzle line are made in regions of China where factory workers are subjected to horrifying conditions, Star magazine reported.
Investigators who went undercover at several factories linked to Kardashian products found that while the reality TV family reeled in $65 million last year, workers at some factories making their products are paid as little as $1 an hour.
Furthermore, some factory workers were found to be as young as 16 years old, according to the report.
Charles Kernaghan, the executive director of the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, which conducted the investigation, told Star he was very displeased to see where several Kardashian products are made.

COMMENTS ON THIS STORY [From Australia]

dexxter of melbourne

Posted at 8:29 AM December 22, 2011

This is not restricted to these people alone. Look at how wealthy many in the clothing industry are – cheap products made in overseas sweatshops with huge margins when they hit our stores. Look at the amount of fabric in some dresses, kids clothes, etc. and look at the crazy prices paid because of a label. I was astounded recently to see baby clothes, tiny bits of fabric, all made in cheap Chinese factories selling at prices higher than adult clothes. The public need to be more discerning in what they buy and from where.

Comment 1 of 35

Mick of Sydney

Posted at 8:30 AM December 22, 2011

Good for nothing celebs with only $$$$ on their mind. Show some respect and start thinking about others for once. These people have no talent yet people seem to still give them attention. I think its time to boycott the K-dash and families. 

Comment 2 of 35

Nick of Newcastle

Posted at 8:38 AM December 22, 2011

I was paid $4 an hour here at Maccas when I was 14…

Comment 3 of 35

Gary Barber of Australia

Posted at 8:44 AM December 22, 2011

To the owners of the labels, could they care if they were being paid half this, nope not a chance because all it would do is make there 65 Million turn into 75 million, Importing from Asian countries that have this type of thing should be banned from importing until it is cleaned up!!!

Comment 4 of 35

Yeewww! of Queensland

Posted at 8:49 AM December 22, 2011

This talentless family disgust me!

Comment 5 of 35

retired of bayside

Posted at 9:04 AM December 22, 2011

The humane thing is not to deny the poor Chinese the opportunity to work, however brutal, by taking the work to the US. It is to find suppliers in China who will meet minimum labour conditions. If all the brands take a stand, then conditions for workers in China (and India and Indonesia) will get better.

Comment 6 of 35

Frank of Adelaide

Posted at 9:22 AM December 22, 2011

Have these people ever contributed anything to the world? I really must say I greatly dislike the majority of you all for bringing this ridiculous group of people into my life. Society is clearly falling down. There are some very large challenges looming on the horizon and to be honest, I hope the majority of you don’t make it. You don’t deserve your place in this world.

Comment 7 of 35

JPK of Sydney

Posted at 9:26 AM December 22, 2011

I completely disagree with having the ‘Krapadashian’ products being made in chicago or LA. that will just add to the extra tackiness, if the ‘Krapadashians’ care, they should personally visit the factories they enslave to put their branding on & maybe they will feel compelled to be something worthwhile to the human race & use a lot of their money to improve the working conditions of these workers, I have seen many documentaries on the work conditions of worker in the Guangdong region and it’s absolutely appalling. Maybe they will finally be famous for something else other that just being famous & tacky.

Comment 8 of 35

Jim Stewart of Vic

Posted at 9:31 AM December 22, 2011

Another way to look at this issue. If these Chinese did not have this work and income – they would starve and die. Is Mr Kernaghan really as naive as he sounds.

Comment 9 of 35

allan of Australia

Posted at 9:36 AM December 22, 2011

Elaborate on what else an who else use products made in these sweat shops ! you cant buy anything these days without the MADE IN CHINA LABEL . You think by running a story bagging the Kardashians will change this , I think not, further more governments should be in the firing line after all they allow these products to be sold in our stores. find the REAL bad guys an bag them. Find out who owns these companies an feed em to the dogs world wide.

Comment 10 of 35

di of melbourne

Posted at 9:43 AM December 22, 2011

GREED!! & ALL THE BIG NAME BRANDS ARE THE SAME!! GREED! CONSUMERS ARE ALSO TO BLAME AS EVERYONE WANTS A BARGAIN!! WELL HELLO!! THIS IS WHAT YOU GET!! BRING MANUFACTURING BACK TO AUSTRALIA AND SEE HOW OUR COUNTRY PROSPERS!! SO WHAT IF WE PAY A LITTLE MORE?? THINK OF THE BIG PICTURE PEOPLE!!

Comment 11 of 35

Nieree of Canberra

Posted at 9:43 AM December 22, 2011

And we are the fools who keep giving these people of no substance so much attention. Truly…we should never have even known about them. They’re probably chuffed to be making a headline again albeit all the wrong reasons.

Comment 12 of 35

bob of Brisbane

Posted at 9:45 AM December 22, 2011

I am no fan of the family but a $1 an hour is about the average wage in China. As for the age, 16 year olds are allowed to work in Australia so why not China?

Comment 13 of 35

Zopo

Posted at 9:46 AM December 22, 2011

The issue should be with China and how they treat their workers. As long as the resources are cheap, there will always be someone willing to exploit and make a dollar. Which doesn’t put the competition on an even playing field. Wrong.

Comment 14 of 35

John in Alice

Posted at 9:55 AM December 22, 2011

Why do these idiots keep appearing in the media?

Comment 15 of 35

RB of gb

Posted at 9:55 AM December 22, 2011

$1an hour is a lot to some of these people. It’s subjective.

Comment 16 of 35

Its all about profits of Qld

Posted at 10:17 AM December 22, 2011

Um that’s how the rich make million dollar profits, by having their products made as cheaply as possible. personally I have stopped buying brand names because they are no longer made by the companies in their home country, instead they search the globe for the cheapest slave labour and have their products made their. These rich celebs care for one thing MONEY and how much they can make, they do not care where or how their products are made.

Comment 17 of 35

Tao of Qld

Posted at 10:18 AM December 22, 2011

“Workers at some factories making their products are paid as little as $1 an hour.” Its all relative as $1 per hour is a decent wage in some regions of China. Its the conditions that are the problem !

Comment 18 of 35

Ignorant Maybe

Posted at 10:18 AM December 22, 2011

So you’d put the Chinese people out of a job so they must starve also? And pay people in the USA? Sure it would be better to demand they were paid better, but to say, “don’t employ Chinese unless they are fortunate enough to live in the USA” is racist.

Comment 19 of 35

SugarCup of Redville

Posted at 10:23 AM December 22, 2011

The issue should be with all parties involved. 1. People should be a little more aware of what conditions their product is being made under and be forced to sign contract to acknowledge theyre aware of it. So that slippery little worms like this family cant shake their bimbo little heads and claim they had “no idea” what was going on. 2. Govts should be looking to their people to ensure the workers are protected. 3. People need to know exactly what they are buying. And take it upon themselves to ensure they are informed. So no, the issue isnt with just China. Wake up. The issue lies with everyone.

Comment 20 of 35

David Curtis

Posted at 10:24 AM December 22, 2011

If you take away these $1 an hour jobs the people will either be unemployed or have to turn to prositituion or theft. Wages are determined by the marginal productivity of the worker, the only way for these workers to improve their lot is to work hard and continue to accumulate capital in order to raise their marginal productivity. Once upon a time in Australias history we had young kids working for almost nothing, it’s not because they were being exploited, it’s because on average we had very little capital invested per worker, we were poor! If the Australian government had imposed it’s current wage/workplace regulations on it’s economy 100 years ago we would still be a poor third world country. A poorer economy needs to be free more than any other! We were all poor once, give these people the same chance our ancestors had of working hard to accumulate capital to raise their standards of living! People will tend to take the best paying work they can get that suits their conditions.. don’t act like you know whats best for these people! Note: None of this applies if the workers were being held against their will, at gunpoint for instance, but I somehow doubt that is the case.

Comment 21 of 35

Terri of Brisbane, Australia

Posted at 10:26 AM December 22, 2011

AND…WHY….IS ….EVERYONE…SURPRISED? How do you think they get richer and richer every year? They have ALWAYS been about the dollar sign and they have made that perfectly clear. I would never sell anything of theirs, I would never buy anything of theirs. Because you might as well go to the top crime organizations in the world to get what you want!

Comment 22 of 35

Waz of Adelaide

Posted at 10:30 AM December 22, 2011

You’re all nothing but a bunch of opinionated hypocrites, if the shirts were made in either the US or Australia you’d all we whining because they’re too expensive to buy and would or could be purchased cheaper online. However the truth of the matter is with your 8 weeks of paid leave and superannuation contributions and penalty rates this pushes the price of everything through the roof, so it appears to me that the only people who seem to deserve to make good money or a healthy saving is your greedy selves.

Comment 23 of 35

Alex of Sydney of Sydney

Posted at 10:44 AM December 22, 2011

This article tries to portray that celebrities like the Kardashians are the only one’s outsourcing cheap chinese labour. Fact is almost every global manufacturing corporation outsources to China to some degree. So blame the Political Trade Sanctions not the Kardashians.

Comment 24 of 35

Jaya Nair of Brisbane

Posted at 10:49 AM December 22, 2011

I don’t think the stupids K’s have the brains even to understand what this article is about !!!!

Comment 25 of 35

Ozetwo of Brisbane

Posted at 10:57 AM December 22, 2011

I can see the reality series now. The Kardashians travel to China to visit their suppliers factories .Camera pans from child labourers to the well made up faces of the Kardashians expressing shock horror and sympathy. After many tears and hugs work is removed immediately from that source and Kim Kardashian gives the factory manager a good piece of her mind. A surefire hit ,Emmy award nominated and sales of their brands soar on the back of the publicity. Behind the scenes, child female workers are sold into prostitution and the work they used to undertake is transferred to a factory in Bangladesh in a secret location run by the experienced factory manager from China. The cold hard facts are that the workers need these jobs even if lowly paid. But those profiting handsomely from their work should display some humanity and insist in some minimum standards of workplace conditions and safety. Yeah, I am probably expecting a bit too much. I can’t even help by not buying their products as I wouldn’t anyway.

Comment 26 of 35

Dennis

Posted at 10:57 AM December 22, 2011

Everything you buy from China is produced under sweat shop conditions. Why the hypocrisy? It is up to the Chinese government to allow unions to fight for better conditions for their workers, but they won’t. If these goods were produced in the USA, nobody would buy them as they would be too expensive. As much as I despise the Kardashians, this story is a beat up.

Comment 27 of 35

Nathan L

Posted at 11:10 AM December 22, 2011

Better they are being paid $1 and hour than not having a job at all ? and I travel to China a lot, that is average wage over there for someone their age….

Comment 28 of 35

Shanghai Lad of Shanghai

Posted at 11:13 AM December 22, 2011

Waz of Adelaide has hit it on the head, being an Aussie working in China for over 10 years in amongst these factories not only would the retail market in Australia crumble in they were in fact made in Oz again given the government and the cost to produce anything on home soil, but lively hoods in China would also suffer, now some of the conditions are questionable i do agree, but they are a far sight better than 10 years ago and they are changing on a weekly basis, for Mr Kernaghan to be shocked, i suggest he have a good look in his own wardrobe and see where his clothes are made, (that would be interesting if his wardrobe was audited) then share publicly…….It the nature of the beast and the society that has to be accountable on home soil instead of pointing the finger at just one brand as it’s with my experience and the factories that i have been at people would be shocked at some of the BIG NAME brands and where they are made, its reality people like a bargain and when was the last time anyone seen “Australian Made” products discounted to SALE PRICE? wake up and smell the roses as this is the system built on wants and needs of governments!!! Reality Sucks!

Comment 29 of 35

Tango

Posted at 11:32 AM December 22, 2011

This article is trying to shock people into believing that $1 in China is the same as $1 in the US or Australia. The average annual wage/salary for unqualified factory workers in China is $3,000 – $4,000, depending on whose data you believe and the region. And what’s with the “as young as 16″ business. My first job was in a factory when I was 16 and Maccas throughout the world employs 14 and 15 year olds. Go to any retailer in any western country and you will find garments made in China and other Asian countries with cheap labour.

Comment 30 of 35

kgrey of Perth

Posted at 11:32 AM December 22, 2011

Their company would not have consciously decided to out souce to such conditions. It is likely the companies they entered into business with would have contracted and sub-contracted etc to make their own profit which traces it back to these appalling conditions. More importantly now will be how they respond to such findings and review their business arrangements to ensure ethical and environmental purchasing.

Comment 31 of 35

Bob of QLD

Posted at 11:57 AM December 22, 2011

Come on, as if they actually sell much from their so called stores. That would be a tiny % of the $$ they’re making. Also most of the stuff we buy these days comes from China, probably manufactured under similar conditions.

Comment 32 of 35

Coaster of Sunshine Coast

Posted at 12:12 PM December 22, 2011

There is no excuse for sweat shops or the Kardashians.

Comment 33 of 35

Lei of Brisbane

Posted at 12:24 PM December 22, 2011

TMZ has just come out saying that the guy who makes this claim hasn’t ever actually been to their factory, he just “assumes” it is this way because that’s how they normally are! Im sorry, since when can you make claims like this on assumptions? I’m not a Kardashian fan. But seriously if you’re gonna make accusations get your facts straight first!

Comment 34 of 35

K J Choi of Brisbane

Posted at 12:25 PM December 22, 2011

It can only happen in the US – no brains no substance no nothing can make big money

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Comment 35 of 35))