Clandestine sweatshops staffed mainly by foreign workers who have no basic labor rights are common in the textile sector of Argentina. About 2.7 million Bolivians have migrated to Argentina lured by promises of a decent job. However, they are employed in precarious working conditions with no health insurance. They work long hours and are often injured at work because of the lack of safety measures. There are thousands of such sweatshops involved in sewing and cutting clothes.

There are campaigns to promote better legislation, campaigns to promote union membership and collective bargaining. In Argentina, a country of 41 million people, including 1.8 million foreign nationals, the law on immigration guarantees the right to work, education and health care for South American immigrants. But many of these modern-day slaves are undocumented. And 90 per cent of them work in agriculture or in the textile industry.

So people are forced to work making clothes for big and small brand names, street fairs, famous designers, fashion boutiques, counterfeit clothing markets, and even government departments. The textile and apparel industry of Argentina is heavily subsidised and there are protectionist measures in place against imports. Additionally, special loans with low interest are available for investments. Anti-dumping measures are mostly directed against Chinese imports which have a share of 44 per cent of all apparel imports. The annual rate of growth for the apparel and textile sector is earmarked at 7.5 per cent up to 2020.