Ethical Threads

{{Short description|British clothing manufacturer}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Notability|Companies|date=November 2020}}

Ethical Threads is a clothing manufacturer based in the United Kingdom. The company is wholly owned by the Battersea and Wandsworth Trades Union Council and the London Region GMB Union. The company was created as a source of ethical non-sweatshop clothing, and all producers follow international conventions of workers rights and will not employ child labour. Ethical Threads' organically grown cotton is supplied by the Vasudha Cotton Project in India to the Oeko-tex standard.{{cite web |url=http://www.ethicalthreads.co.uk/about.aspx |title=About Us |publisher=Ethical Threads |accessdate=28 January 2012 |archive-date=4 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204100543/http://www.ethicalthreads.co.uk/about.aspx |url-status=live }}

The company was boosted in 2002 when the Glastonbury Festival sourced official merchandise from Ethical Threads, who used disabled workers at Remploy for manufacturing.{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2001-02/1115 |title=Ethical Threads and Remploy Production of Glastonbury T-Shirts |date=11 April 2002 |work=Early day motion 1115 (2001-02) |publisher=House of Commons |accessdate=28 January 2012 |archive-date=17 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130717024316/http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2001-02/1115 |url-status=live }} That year, Ethical Threads hosted The Left Field area of the festival.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/2026893.stm |title=Tony Benn 'plays' Glastonbury |publisher=BBC |date=5 June 2002 |accessdate=28 January 2012 |archive-date=9 July 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030709233116/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/2026893.stm |url-status=live }} The Glastonbury Festival subsequently banned sweatshop sourced clothing following a campaign by Billy Bragg.

A report by the Maquila Solidarity Network highlighted the difficulty small organisations like Ethical Threads have in ethical sourcing, because they often lack clear labour standards and certification criteria, and monitoring programmes, that advocates demand of larger brands.{{cite news |url=http://www.newint.org/features/2006/11/01/sweatshops/ |title=Sweating over sweatshops |publisher=New Internationalist |author=Mark Engler |date=1 November 2006 |accessdate=28 January 2012 |archive-date=27 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111127213133/http://www.newint.org/features/2006/11/01/sweatshops/ |url-status=live }}