PRESS RELEASE:
T-SHIRT MANUFACTURERS CAN HELP FIGHT CHILD SLAVERY IN THE COTTON INDUSTRY BY BOYCOTTING UZBEKI COTTON
“Uzbek children. sometimes as young as seven, are drafted in as cheap or free labour during the cotton harvest” From White Gold - the True Cost of Cotton (A report by the Environmental Justice Foundation)
“Uzbek cotton is a state monopoly, relying on slave labour and the forced labour of hundreds of thousands of children working in appalling conditions for little, or often no pay.” Craig Murray, Former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan.
For more information on this issue, and a link to the short (8 minute) EFJ movie “White Gold – the True Cost of Cotton), follow the link below. We watched it, and it moved us to change the very way we label our garments.
Continental Clothing Company - WHITE GOLD
The Environmental Justice Foundation suggests apparel manufacturers label their garments with the
country of origin of the cotton in addition to the country of manufacture, as a guarantee to consumers that the cotton has been produced without resulting in environmental catastrophe or enforced child labour.
Continental Clothing is the first company to follow the recommendations of the EJF, and we encourage other apparel companies around the globe to do the same and take a stand. Companies like us, that are large users of cotton, have an opportunity, if not a responsibility, to raise awareness and promote consumer action on issues such as this.
Changing the labels in your garments may cause consumers to question the T-shirts they buy and so switch them on to cotton T-shirts which guarantee that certain positive social and environmental conditions are met. There are many charities and individuals raising awareness of these critical issues, but they are all outside of our industry looking in; it takes the people personally and intimately involved in the cotton industry to make a stand, and it is us who can make the difference.
For further information on what is happening in Uzbekistan, Uzbek child labour, the destruction of the Aral Sea and the scale of these issues, visit our website at:
Continental Clothing Company - BOYCOTT UZBEK COTTON
Thanks,
Phil (President, Continental Clothing Company)
Boycott Uzbek Cotton 
