Why you Should Think about Bangladesh when Shopping.
So I'm sure we have all heard the stories of little children working in factories in China under dire working conditions, long hours and low wages. This was especially disturbing when we realized that these children were tirelessly working in Western owned factories to produce Western goods at dirt cheap prices. "Made in china" labels now summon images of Asian ten year olds, raggedly dressed in factories with poor lighting, little to no fire escapes, and long working hours. Luckily, this Western consciousness has sparked activism and a lot of companies have steered away from using child employees and have updated many of the factories in Chinese cities. Unfortunately, these Western companies haven't completely solved the problem and these policies haven't spreadeverywhere.
The media attention has now turned to the second largest garment exporter behind China, Bangladesh. Even though I am sure that this will result in positive change, I am saddened by the way this attention came about. On Wednesday, April 24th, 300 (and still counting) factory workers were found dead after a Bangladeshi factory building collapsed. 3,000 workers had complained of wall cracks to police and government officials, but now the police is looking for the building owner and factory owners, claiming that they assured these officials that the building had went under inspection and was safe to operate.
The big question that has evolved out of this debacle is who to blame. The blame is most harshly being felt on the building owner, Sohel Rana, which might explain his decision to go into hiding. Others claim that it is the police's fault, observing that upon notifications of cracks in the walls, police officers appeared unconcerned and told the public that it was inspected and thus, safe to return back to work. The district commander disagrees, stating that they issued the building operator to close the building. Similarly, some Western companies that are found to be tied to these factories have denied responsibility even though labels and documents have been found that link European, American, and Canadian brands like Children's Place, Benetton, Cato Fashions, Mango, and Joe Fresh (claimed that factory made small amounts of clothing on their behalf) to the building. They pay exceptionally low wages to make a profit and institute tight deadlines that make it almost impossible for building and factory owners to shut down the factories on working days.
Luckily, there seems to already be efforts to regulate safety in Bangladesh, even though I'm not sure how successful they will be. A German retailer, PVH, has decided to create a plan for Western retailers to support fire safety and structural support efforts and Walmart has issued a statement stating that they would set aside almost 2 million dollars to train factory managers about fire safety. But, don't bring out the champagne yet. A lot of times things are said, but not really put in action. This can also be seen in the November 2012 Tazreen Fashions factory fire that killed over a 100 people and sent others to the hospital. This event initiated promises of better safety standards and practices by Western companies, which obviously wasn't carried out effectively if at all.
So who is to blame? Do Western companies have a responsibiltiy to factories that supply their governments in other countries? Do consumers have a responsibility to know where their clothes are coming from? Are you going to change your shopping habits?
The media attention has now turned to the second largest garment exporter behind China, Bangladesh. Even though I am sure that this will result in positive change, I am saddened by the way this attention came about. On Wednesday, April 24th, 300 (and still counting) factory workers were found dead after a Bangladeshi factory building collapsed. 3,000 workers had complained of wall cracks to police and government officials, but now the police is looking for the building owner and factory owners, claiming that they assured these officials that the building had went under inspection and was safe to operate.
The big question that has evolved out of this debacle is who to blame. The blame is most harshly being felt on the building owner, Sohel Rana, which might explain his decision to go into hiding. Others claim that it is the police's fault, observing that upon notifications of cracks in the walls, police officers appeared unconcerned and told the public that it was inspected and thus, safe to return back to work. The district commander disagrees, stating that they issued the building operator to close the building. Similarly, some Western companies that are found to be tied to these factories have denied responsibility even though labels and documents have been found that link European, American, and Canadian brands like Children's Place, Benetton, Cato Fashions, Mango, and Joe Fresh (claimed that factory made small amounts of clothing on their behalf) to the building. They pay exceptionally low wages to make a profit and institute tight deadlines that make it almost impossible for building and factory owners to shut down the factories on working days.
Luckily, there seems to already be efforts to regulate safety in Bangladesh, even though I'm not sure how successful they will be. A German retailer, PVH, has decided to create a plan for Western retailers to support fire safety and structural support efforts and Walmart has issued a statement stating that they would set aside almost 2 million dollars to train factory managers about fire safety. But, don't bring out the champagne yet. A lot of times things are said, but not really put in action. This can also be seen in the November 2012 Tazreen Fashions factory fire that killed over a 100 people and sent others to the hospital. This event initiated promises of better safety standards and practices by Western companies, which obviously wasn't carried out effectively if at all.
So who is to blame? Do Western companies have a responsibiltiy to factories that supply their governments in other countries? Do consumers have a responsibility to know where their clothes are coming from? Are you going to change your shopping habits?
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