Y9: Rosa is doing Annie's job, but why is she working longer hours and earning less money ?
This mystery is part of a unit of work on 'the Geography of the Global Fashion Business'
It is based on the stories of Rosa and Annie who are written about in 'geog3' p.68 & p.70 (2002) Ed. R. Gallagher and R. Parish
This mystery could be used as part of an introductory lesson or to help reinforce the notion of the globalisation of the fashion business. Like most mysteries students are expected to rise to the challenge. A debrief of how students undertook the exercise also takes place.
Gary Dawson
Fair Oak High School, Rugeley, Staffordshire
1/ Annie, a skilled fabric machinist, is looking for another job, outside of the clothing business / 6/ Annie can no longer afford her Manchester United Season ticket. She might have to go and watch Chester instead2/ Rosa sews clothing for a living. She works for Manila Fabrics Inc., 6 days a week, but during busy periods it can be 7 days. / 7/ Clothesfirst has closed 2 factories recently in Cheshire and Durham.
These factories made jackets, trousers and skirts for Marks and Spencer
3/ Annie lives in Cheshire / 8/ Rosa has to work overtime if asked, otherwise she may be sacked
4/ Rosa earns £4 for a 12 hour day. / 9/ Rosa dreams of visiting England one day to see the Queen and Buckingham Palace
5/ Annie is married to Mike and she has 2 children, Chester and Juliet / 10/ Rosa would have to work for over 100 hours to pay for the garments she is sewing for people living in the UK
11/ The factory where Annie worked belonged to Clothesfirst, a UK clothing manufacturer / 16/ Rosa works in a factory with 500 machinists
12/ Rosa lives in Manila, the capital of the Philippines / 17/ 90% of Clothesfirst business was for Marks and Spencer
13/ Rosa's home village is 310 miles from Manila. There are few jobs / 18/ Rosa is 16, she left her village home 5 months ago
14/ Marks and Spencer is looking to keep the price of the clothes it sells as low as possible / 19/ Marks and Spencer has seen its profits drop.
15/ Rosa works overtime, long into the night / 20/ Rosa's company provides accommodation, but it is small and she shares it with 5 others
21/ Clothesfirst owns a factory called Manila Fabrics Inc. / 23/ Rosa was excited about working for Manila Fabrics Inc. they promised she would earn enough to send money home
22/ Rosa finds it difficult to live on her earnings / 24/ Marks and Spencer now buys more clothes form overseas
25/ Rosa would like to give up working for Manila Fabrics Inc. and go home, but she can't.