A lot has come out in recent years about the conditions of factory workers in developing countries who make the cheap stuff we buy. It should really make us think of the true cost of our cheap consumer products -- the human and environmental costs that we do not often see.
The problem is that our demand for cheap stuff has made it impossible for factory workers to be paid livable wages, or for factory owners to afford improving conditions for their workers. And then there is corporate greed.
Even though many consumer products are sold for many times what it costs to produce them, the extra money is never spent on improving wages and conditions -- the bottom line is always the shareholders and the profits the company can report. Thriving companies like Apple, Disney and Walmart are reporting billions in profits every year and working conditions in the factories that make their merchandise are still not good enough. It costs just $0.22 to make a t-shirt in Bangladesh, versus $7.00 for the same t-shirt made in the US -- where do you think corporations choose to go?
It's a conundrum. Disney's announcement that it would no longer produce it's merchandise in Bangladesh could lead to a loss of jobs and income for the overwhelmingly poor, female workers who work in garment factories. Their work in factories has led to improved social status, increased educational opportunities and delayed marriages for women and girls.
Where do we fit in as consumers? Demanding change and refusing to buy from brands that source from factories with poor working conditions is difficult when we have incomplete information. It is only when such tragedies occur that we even stop to consider where the stuff we buy comes from.
This NYTimes article offers some food for thought on the issue, but I am not sure I agree that regulation is the solution. Just as improved safety standards in countries like the US have led to higher prices and the outsourcing of dangerous work to the poor and desperate in places like Bangladesh, increased regulation in Bangladesh will just lead to the dangerous work moving elsewhere once again.
Our insatiable thirst for cheap products, corporate greed and the endless race to the bottom, through which opportunities are handed to whoever will get the job done for less, ultimately means that worker safety will always suffer. As consumers we have to realize that it is our responsibility to pay for worker safety, or just not consume at all.
Thoughts on this, anyone?
The problem is that our demand for cheap stuff has made it impossible for factory workers to be paid livable wages, or for factory owners to afford improving conditions for their workers. And then there is corporate greed.
Even though many consumer products are sold for many times what it costs to produce them, the extra money is never spent on improving wages and conditions -- the bottom line is always the shareholders and the profits the company can report. Thriving companies like Apple, Disney and Walmart are reporting billions in profits every year and working conditions in the factories that make their merchandise are still not good enough. It costs just $0.22 to make a t-shirt in Bangladesh, versus $7.00 for the same t-shirt made in the US -- where do you think corporations choose to go?
It's a conundrum. Disney's announcement that it would no longer produce it's merchandise in Bangladesh could lead to a loss of jobs and income for the overwhelmingly poor, female workers who work in garment factories. Their work in factories has led to improved social status, increased educational opportunities and delayed marriages for women and girls.
Where do we fit in as consumers? Demanding change and refusing to buy from brands that source from factories with poor working conditions is difficult when we have incomplete information. It is only when such tragedies occur that we even stop to consider where the stuff we buy comes from.
This NYTimes article offers some food for thought on the issue, but I am not sure I agree that regulation is the solution. Just as improved safety standards in countries like the US have led to higher prices and the outsourcing of dangerous work to the poor and desperate in places like Bangladesh, increased regulation in Bangladesh will just lead to the dangerous work moving elsewhere once again.
Our insatiable thirst for cheap products, corporate greed and the endless race to the bottom, through which opportunities are handed to whoever will get the job done for less, ultimately means that worker safety will always suffer. As consumers we have to realize that it is our responsibility to pay for worker safety, or just not consume at all.
Thoughts on this, anyone?
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