Uniqlo heattech: not so responsible?

Last year, when I was walking to and from work every day, I did a lot of research into warm tights. Uniqlo Heattech kept rising to the top of recommended brands, but by the time I got to the stores they were sold out of everything but size Small. I shook my fist at their close-minded stocking practices and figured I'd just buy some early next year.

Well, next year has arrived, but now I'm trying to Shop Responsibly. Since Uniqlo has a similar price point to H&M and Old Navy I assumed they were out of the question. But their website talks a big game about corporate responsibility: donating clothes to refugees and disaster victims, employing and supporting people with disabilities and special needs, creating scholarships for disadvantaged kids, planting trees, and more.

And as for their manufacturing processes, they assure us that "Through responsible manufacturing, we maintain the highest safety standards in our partner factories, and ensure comfortable working conditions."

But... is that true? Seems like maybe not: See The reality behind Uniqlo's corporate responsibility promises and SACOM's follow-up report in August. The TL;DR is that investigations  by SACOM in February and August revealed hazardous and oppressive working conditions in two of their key suppliers.

I've reached out to Uniqlo to see what they say. In the meantime I'm going to see what other warm legging options are out there.

This article from 2013 is a bit outdated (Uniqlo's parent company Fast Retail has since joined the Fair Labor Association, for example) but still an interesting discussion of their pros/cons: Behind the Label: Investigating The Social Responsibility Claims Of Uniqlo.