For Bangladeshi Women, Factory Work Is Worth the Risks – Businessweek

For Bangladeshi Women, Factory Work Is Worth the Risks – Businessweek.  The following article is a Pro-Free Trade Article, which is trying to defend why its okay for Americans to buy from Bangladesh. I will not interfere with the article but I will put in my [ editor’s brackets] where it is appropriate.

From Businessweek May 21, 2014

For Bangladeshi Women, Factory Work is Worth the Risks

Akhter with her daughter, Riza, next to the shed they call home

To give her daughter opportunities neither she nor her mother had, Nazma Akhter made the only choices possible for a poor, illiterate woman in Bangladesh [the only choice? She had children]. She fled her village, bolting the door behind her so her mother couldn’t chase her down. She moved to Dhaka, the capital, and began living in a shed the size of a parking space. She worked 12-hour days making jeans, T-shirts, and dresses, earning no more than $98 a month.

The income was just enough to allow Akhter to bring her family to Dhaka and put her daughter, Riza, in school. Then, on Nov. 24, 2012, a fire broke out in the Tazreen Fashions factory where Akhter worked. The blaze killed 112 of her co-workers. A worse disaster followed. On April 24 last year, 1,129 perished when the Rana Plaza factory complex collapsed.

For Akhter, who guesses she’s in her early thirties, the fallout from Tazreen has been severe. She unravels her sari to show the scar on her back from hours of surgery after she jumped out of the building, falling two stories, to escape the fire. She still can’t work. But she says she’d do it all again if it meant that Riza, now 10 and an excellent student, could get a good education and a shot at an office job—the girl’s dream. Nothing could be further from the life lived by Akhter’s mother, who still pulls stalks of rice in paddy fields. “God, she worked so hard,” says Akhter, whispering in the shed as her three children sleep in the afternoon heat. “My mother couldn’t stand straight anymore. I couldn’t live like that. I couldn’t make my daughter live like that.”

Story: Correlations: Perilous Arithmetic for Bangladesh’s Factories

The paradox of Bangladesh’s $20 billion garment industry, where substandard practices have resulted in the deaths of at least 2,000 people since 2005, is that it’s virtually the only way for the nation’s women and girls to claw their way out of poverty and illiteracy. For some 3.5 million Bangladeshis, mostly women, the 10-hour shifts [it usually more like 12 to 15 hour shifts] spent hunched over a sewing machine offer a once-in-a-generation chance to better their lives.

“My mother couldn’t stand straight anymore. I couldn’t live like that. I couldn’t make my daughter live like that.” —Nazma Akhter

In 2011 about 12 percent of Bangladeshi women ages 15 to 30 [did you note the ages of what they call women? I wouldn’t call age 15 a woman] worked in the garment industry, according to a study by Rachel Heath of the University of Washington and Ahmed Mushfiq Mobarak of Yale University’s School of Management. Pay was 13 percent greater than in other industries that rely on manual labor. Perhaps most important, the researchers found, 27 percent more young girls were attending school than before the garment industry existed. [Are you saying that there is an increase of just young girls (not boys) because the factory workers can pay for schooling out of their own pockets now or are you saying it is because there are many more city-dwellers than in agriculture due to this massive shift in population due to the influx of factories?]

Young as she is, Riza, a poetry-obsessed math whiz, understands that her mother’s job was an essential step in her family’s quest for security and prosperity. “Tell me something,” she asks. “Do offices catch fire like factories do? Because I want to work in an office someday.” [Yes, offices can just as easily catch fire in Bangladesh due to substandard building codes and enforcement, too.]

Story: A Bangladesh Factory Inspector’s Grueling Day in the Life

For Bangladesh, a nation dismissed by Henry Kissinger as a “basket case” after its violent birth in 1971, and which has since endured several political coups and uprisings, garment making has been a godsend. It now accounts for 6 percent of gross domestic product and last year made up almost 80 percent of exports. “Don’t forget that this industry has allowed Bangladesh to cut poverty by a third. Don’t forget that it has created milions of jobs. [That used to be American jobs].  Don’t forget that it has helped put more young girls in school than ever before,” says Gilbert Houngbo, deputy director general of the International Labour Organization, which has funneled millions of dollars in the past year into inspections of Bangladeshi factories. [I find the word “funneled” to be a strange choice of words to do inspections] “On the other hand, you can’t do that at the expense of women’s basic rights—the right to feel safe, to be safe, to have decent work environments.”

On a steamy afternoon, Akhter relives the day she almost died. She waves with her hands as she describes the smoke filling the air on her floor of the factory. She feigns a limp to demonstrate how her leg was stuck in a pile of bodies. Suddenly she starts howling, the memories still sharp. The cries awaken Riza as neighbors crowd into the shed to hear the story. The girl slips off of a thin sheet on the floor and starts putting things in her school bag, even though classes are over for the day. Three notebooks, a small box with a pencil, a sharpener and half an eraser, a book of Bengali grammar, and an empty lunchbox barely fit into her used Hannah Montana backpack.

Conclusion from the Editor

Yes, it is certainly a feel-good story that should warm the heart of any major industrialist. But before we start patting ourselves on the back for improving poverty in Bangladesh, just remember that the original reason why American jobs were moved to Bangladesh had nothing to do with improving the poverty level of Bangladesh, it was about making money. If the corporations had the welfare of the people in mind, they would have funded all their schools and radically improved their infrastructure – none of this has been done.

So, in reality, we are left with a 30 year old previously healthy woman, who is now permanently and totally physically disabled and with a bad case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to boot. Plus, she has  three children that depend on her support. The problem is obvious, Akhter is without a job, and gets no disability pay and probably has some enormous hospital bills (unless she sues, which is highly unlikely). She has no visible means of support, and is unlikely to find work or a man that will support her, ever. Yes, happy endings. This story makes me so happy that we shipped our American jobs to Bangladesh. Long live “Free Trade” and the World Trade Organization.

 

The Photojournalist Who Happened Upon The Worst Disaster In The History Of The Clothing Industry

The Photojournalist Who Happened Upon The Worst Disaster In The History Of The Clothing Industry. This is one year anniversary of the largest disaster in garment manufacturing history. On April 24, 2013, 1138 garment workers died when the Rana Building in Bangladesh collapsed due to shoddy construction and incompetent management which kept people working in known dangerous conditions.  This is a 5 minute and 10 second video from photographer, Ismail Ferdous,  who was there at the time. The video is called “The Deadly Cost of Fashion.” (From Upworthy).

Don’t forget to see my original posts about the Bangladesh disasters under “Categories” – Bangladesh. See especially the two posts: “Second Massive Disaster to Bangladesh Clothing Factory Within 5 Months.” and  “Reform Follows Bangladesh Tragedies except Wal-Mart Refuses to Sign Up.” Wal-Mart has pretty much blocked any reforms that should have followed this disaster, while initially promising to change.

Bangladesh Factory collapse

The Pope Speaks Out

On May 1, 2013, Pope Francis spoke out against the working conditions in the factory:

A Headline that really struck me on the day of the tragedy in Bangladesh was ‘Living on 38 Euros a month’. That is what the people who died were being paid. This is called slave labor. Today in the world this slavery is being committed against something beautiful that God has given us – the capacity to create, to work, to have dignity. How many brothers and sisters find themselves in this situation?! Not paying fairly, not giving a job because you are only looking at balance sheets, only looking at how to make a profit. That goes against God!

Petition

There is a petition out to have Wal-Mart and Children’s Palace help with compensation for the 1,138 garment workers who perished in the Rana Building collapse. The link has the story of one employee who survived this disaster. His name is Aklima Khanam, who is 20 years old and has been working in garment factories since the age of 14 (Childhood Labor is legal in Bangladesh). Mr Khanam describes the working conditions at the Rana Building factory. People hear these stories all the time here in America, but, they, either, don’t believe them (denial) or they don’t care (apathy). I think it is a lot of both. (As long as it’s cheap). Petition to Fairly Compensate the Bangladesh factory Workers

CBS Money Watch Video

Here is another 2 minute 50 second video from CBS Money Watch called “The Bangladesh Factory Collapse One Year Later.” This interview basically says that nothing has changed and that something like this could happen again.

Conclusion

Do not buy from slave labor. It’s not worth it. I leave you with a quote from a Bangladeshi women after a factory fire that also killed 112 garment workers who were trapped inside due to chained up windows in November 29 2012, “They died for your clothes.”

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The True Cost by Andrew — Kickstarter

The True Cost by Andrew — Kickstarter. There is a new Kickstarter project with only 4 days to go to fund. It is a movie called “The True Cost” by Andrew Morgan of Los Angeles. The movie is about the outsourcing of our garment industry to the very poor Asian countries and its devastating effects not just to the US economy but also to the people who make the garments. See the 4:36 minute video. It looks like one great film, very professional. Just because something happens overseas does not mean it doesn’t impact your own life.

The True Cost

A quote from the Huffington Post on this project: The eyes of the world are opening and I believe history is giving us this moment to choose a better path forward. Now is the time for a new narrative, as fashion pioneer Safia Minney recently said, a world were “creativity, compassion, and consumption learn to go hand in hand.”

From a personal viewpoint, I do know that this outsourcing and slave labor movements as wrong, but I have never  tried to place this (present time) into an historical perspective. This past year there have been movies about civil rights (Lee Hamilton’s The Butler) and slavery (12 years a Slave and Lincoln), and I know, and history has proven, what horrendous policies they were. But, what if I had been living in that exact time period? Would I just go along like everybody else? The answer is I hope not, but, the real answer is probably. What we Americans are doing is just plain wrong. We have made slaves out of the extremely dirt poor people in Bangladesh, Vietnam, China, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and the Phillipines, just so we can have our nice fancy clothes that may be a couple of dollars cheaper so we can buy some more fancy cheap disposable clothes. Ah! what it is to be an American in 2013, so rich (compared to the rest of the world), so entitled. What did you say? Let them eat Cake?! Oh, Muffy, you are so drool.

I leave you with one quote from a person who lost a loved one in the (Tarzeen factory) Bangladesh fire last year that killed 112: “They die for your clothing”. My message to the GAP, Wal-Mart, and the other multi-national corporations that profit by slave labor: You can keep your “Blood Clothing.”

Update November 10, 2013: Congratulations to Andrew Morgan who just reached his Kickstarter funding goal for The True Cost.

I got hired at a Bangladesh sweatshop. Meet my 9-year-old boss | Toronto Star

I got hired at a Bangladesh sweatshop. Meet my 9-year-old boss | Toronto Star. This is a must see video from a Toronto Star reporter working undercover in a Bangladesh garment factory for four days. Her boss was a nine year old. Thanks to Amy from American-Made Guide to Life for featuring this on her Facebook page.

For more information, you can see several of my other Bangladesh blog entries under subject: Bangladesh.

If you support childhood labor, continue to buy your garments from Bangladesh. If you think this practice should be banned, boycott Bangladesh made clothing.

Bangladesh garment factory fire kills 10 – CBS News

Bangladesh garment factory fire kills 10 – CBS News. Another factory fire in a clothing garment factory in Bangladesh on October 8, 2013.  Just six months after factory building collapse that killed 1127 factory workers and less than one year ago when a factory fire killed 112, a fire in the Aswad Garment Factory in Gazipur, outside Dhaka, Bangladesh, killed 10 people. The Bangladesh government, which has been under considerable pressure to make their factory environment safer since the last two devastating tragedies, has been in negotiations to improving their safety standards. These negotiations have been hamstrung by companies like Wal-Mart and the GAP who do not want extensive improvements, well, at least, they do not want those improvements to occur upon their backs, even though they are the major contractors that employ these small companies to make their clothes.

One great thing about this CBS News link is a separate story where a reporter (Holly Williams) goes undercover, acting as a buyer, at a Bangladesh garment factory. Ms. Williams finds under-aged clothing workers toiling in terrible working conditions within a fire trap. She also finds teenage kids spraying jeans with Potassium Permanganate to “age” jeans using minimal safety precautions.

Avoid cheap, disposable clothing under hazardous conditions. Buy American.

Admit it. You love cheap clothes. And you don’t care about child slave labour – The Observer

Admit it. You love cheap clothes. And you don’t care about child slave labour | World news | The Observer. This is an excerpt from the article published by the Observer on July 27, 2013 written by Gethin Chamberlain: ” …(Western/American) consumers want to feel that they are being ethical. But they don’t want to pay more. They are prepared to believe in the brands they love. Companies know this. They know if they make the right noises about behaving ethically, their customers will turn a blind eye.

Rescued children from trafficking, waiting for parents, in Bihar, India

So they come down on suppliers highlighted by the media. They sign up to the certification scheme… Look, they say, we are good guys now. We audit our factories. We have rules, codes of conduct, mission statements. We are ethical. BUT THEY ARE NOT. What they have done is purchase an ethical fig leaf.

In the last few years, companies have gotten smarter. It is rare now to find children in the top level of the supply chain, because brands know this is PR suicide. But the children are still there, stitching away in the backstreets of the slums.”

Editorial Conclusion

Companies could act truly ethical if it really had to. But, at this time, it is much easier to say false reassurances and blow smoke over the media after each disaster in Bangladesh or elsewhere than make real reforms. The companies realize that their is a lot of child labor going on, it is a very well-known and well-documented fact, yet they don’t want you to know that they know all this – they believe that the American public is so gullible. Until the consumer actually stops buying their products will companies change their behavior.

In July, Walmart, the GAP, Kohl’s and other US retailers signed an agreement as an alternative to the European agreement (according to the New York Times) to make Bangladesh factories safer. It is much less comprehensive, and doesn’t promise any definitive monetary commitments to Bangladesh. Plus, the onus is on Bangladeshi factory owners to improve their workplaces. Look, this American plan is pure smoke and mirrors. The American companies are again trying to say it is not their problem, even though they are directly employing these factories and factory workers.

Maybe we are seeing inroads with ethical spending. It could be that Walmart, one of the worst offenders of ethical behavior, which has recently posted disappointing sales, may be the victim of boycotts of consumers that feel ethically compromised by shopping there. It is just possible. Maybe, or it could just be wishful thinking. I, also, like to think that China’s disappointing export numbers are due to more people buying American.

Buy ethically made products, avoid products that are made unethically and the stores that promote them. Buy American.

U.S. to Suspend Trade Privileges With Bangladesh – NYTimes.com

Obama to Suspend Trade Privileges With Bangladesh – NYTimes.com. From the New York Times, written by Steven Greenhouse, June 27, 2013.

The Obama administration on Thursday announced plans to suspend trade privileges for Bangladesh over concerns about safety problems and labor rights violations in that country’s garment industry.

The administration has come under intense pressure to suspend Bangladesh’s trade privileges after a factory building there collapsed in April, killing 1,129 workers, and after a factory fire killed 112 workers in November.

In a letter to Congress on Thursday, President Barack Obama said the United States would withdraw trade privileges to Bangladesh because it was “not taking steps to afford internationally recognized workers rights.”

Labor unions and Democrats on Capitol Hill have been pressing the Obama administration to take this step. Bangladesh is allowed to export nearly 5,000 products duty-free to the United States, which purchases about 25% of the country’s $18 Billion in annual apparel exports.

Bangladesh is among more than 125 countries that receives such breaks on U.S. tariffs under a Generalized System of Preferences, a World Trade Organization program that is intended to promote economic growth around the globe.

In recent weeks, officials in the Labor Department have called for revoking Bangladesh’s special trade status, saying the United States needs to take strong action. Labor officials have asserted that the garment industry has been dragging its feet in improving safety and ending violations of workers’ right to form labor unions. At the same time, some State Department officials have pushed against suspending the trade privileges, saying it would damage diplomatic relations and undermine the economy of an already poor country.

At a hearing in March held by the trade representative’s office, a top official in Bangladesh’s Commerce Ministry said, “Compliance with rights, including labor rights, will necessarily be gradual,” in poor countries like Bangladesh.

The administration’s move comes in response to an official complaint that the AFL-CIO filed in 2007. The labor federation was upset about factory fires and a 2005 factory collapse in Bangladesh, as well as the extensive efforts by that country’s garment manufacturers to suppress labor unions.

Administration officials took that complaint with new seriousness after the Tazreen factory fire November and after the Rana Plaza factory building collapse two months ago in what was the most deadly accident in the history of the world’s apparel industry.

Editor’s Note

These articles are sometimes very interesting in that they lift the veil off the secrets that dwell in all of our outsourcing. The one thing I learned is that the garments made in Bangladesh are not given a preferred tax rate, they actually are not taxed at all. And then there are 124 other countries that don’t pay import taxes at all.  No wonder American companies are leaving all the time. The U.S. actually is packing their bags and making them move.

Another item, which I find entirely hilarious is that there are people in the State Department who do not want to take action after two of the worst factory disasters in history. If you suspend Bangladesh, you can always “unsuspend” them when they make the recommended changes, right? But, I find their excuses so funny. They are afraid that it will undermine an already poor economy. These people at the State Department could give a rat’s ass about the economy in Bangladesh, they are worried that some of their Fat Cat friends and CEO’s might have to make other arrangements to produce their cheaply manufactured garments. And worried about diplomatic relations with the U.S? The people in Bangladesh blame the United States for running these labor camps. They feel that their own Bangladeshi people die, just so Americans can have cheap clothes. Bangladesh would have more respect for the United States if they make these garment companies do the right thing (that had been agreed to many years ago).

The World Trade Organization is sometimes a villain when it comes to outsourcing from the United States to other countries. The WTO is also another reason why the U.S. doesn’t do anything about the outsourcing, plus the fact that we don’t have any political movement within Washington, DC.  But here are some of the major objections to the WTO: 1) WTO is run by the rich for the rich; 2) WTO is indifferent to the impact of free trade to workers’ rights, child labor, the environment and health; and 3) WTO lacks democratic accountability in that its hearing on trade disputes are closed to the public and the media.

Conclusion

It is absolutely the right decision to suspend Bangladesh’s preferred trade privilege status. The American companies, especially WalMart and the GAP, who were not making changes even after these terrible disasters. This is the only course of action that will change the constant state of neglect within Bangladesh. Also, maybe the United States should re-think being within the World Trade Organization. The U.S. needs to stop outsourcing and the hemorrhaging of  jobs. The U.S. lost 2,053,000 jobs overseas in 2012.

What is the effect if we stop buying from Bangladesh?

I received a great comment on my blog entry: “Reforms Follow Bangladesh tragedies“, from Rebekah. She said: “I have been working to be more conscious of where I spend my money when I buy clothes, for this very reason. I got to thinking, does anyone know if we also hurt these very poor people when we stop buying from the countries that do use child labor? Are these kids working so their families have money to survive? How are we helping them by not buying from those countries? Any information on this?”

These are great questions and it brings up issues that I have heard before, but have never formally addressed, such as: Is globalization truly lifting people up out of poverty in these far-away poor countries? Well, China, for certain, has benefited, as for the others, the jury is still out.

How are we helping them by not buying from those countries?

First off, I will answer the last question: How are we helping them by not buying from those countries (that use child labor)?

Before we get started, just a little primer. Specifically, regarding Child Labor, The United States government behind Senator Tom Harkin and the United Nations have been trying to eliminate child labor since 1992, and have had a great impact. As far as Bangladesh, which has a high precedence of child labor, has still not signed the UN amendment on The National Child Labor Elimination Policy of 2010. Bangladesh did pass a lesser  “Labor Act” in 2006 which prohibits employment for children under 14 and hazardous work for children under 18 years of age. However, this legislation is easily bypassed, allowing children to work in subcontracted or “informal”  factories.

So, what happens when we stop buying clothing from a certain “bad reputation” country is reform. By seeing a drop in orders and income, owners will try to find out why – and if they find out that is is because of child labor, they will support and pass laws prohibiting child labor. The United States has led the crusade against child labor, but it is up to the citizens of the United States to see that these laws and ideas are enforced. The United States has prohibited child labor since 1880, it is time for the rest of the world to catch up. If this child can no longer work in the garment factories, I would actually feel better for the Bengladeshi child that he/she could no longer work an average works six days a week at a minimum of 10.5 hours a day. See, also, the article from The Daily Beast 10/21/09 called Born To Work.

Born To Work
10/21/09 Daily Beast

Other reforms from boycotting products would be implementing safety precautions and upgrading factories with investment from the multi-national companies that employ them.

For more information about child labor and child labor laws in Bangladesh, plus a study of the children’s work hours, see “Child Labor in the informal Garment Production in Bangladesh.”

Is Outsourcing or Globalization helping poverty?

This is an extension of the first question. If we are no longer employing the child, what about the rest of the garment factory and Bangladesh as an entire nation? Wouldn’t they suffer without the jobs?

Another way to look at this would be to ask the question: Is outsourcing a social good?

1) The Real Reason For Outsourcing

First, one must understand that corporations have absolutely no interest in producing social benefits. They only move their companies to poor countries simply is to maximize profits. The Heads of these multi-national corporations never argue this point. Only the apologists for the multi-national corporations try to make this weak point.

2) World Poverty – Mostly Rural

One fifth of the world’s population is affected by poverty – people who live on less than $1 a day. Of these 63% of the people live in rural areas (90% in Bangladesh are also rural). Globalization/outsourcing jobs are in urban environment, therefore at least 63% of these people are excluded. Globalization may help a small community of people, in part of one city, of an entire nation.  I think that selling the idea that globalization is a cure for for poverty and a social good is over-hyping and downright misleading. Now, if you came from another direction, and said that we are starting globalization to improve poverty as a social good, then some people might say, “Well, there is some potential, but the organization needs to be majorly reorganized with addition of education and infrastructure (roads, plumbing, electricity, etc.)”.

3) The Location of the outsourced factory

And if you think corporations pick out a certain location to bring their American jobs to Bangladesh, so that this one particular area of Bangladesh can be lifted out of poverty, then you are simply living in a fantasy world. Corporations look at a location by studying their access to and from the factories, plus if there is an overabundance of very poor but willing workers (other factors include tax breaks, government cooperation, etc). In essence, the corporations are looking for a “captive” audience, like starting a business in a prison. By employing this strategy, they can exploit these workers with wages deathly low (but normal for the area), without worrying about: safety concerns; health concerns; or environmental concerns. These workers will endure abuses not tolerated by many other civilizations. So, I wouldn’t thump my chest about improving poverty in far-away places.

4) Outsourcing of American jobs to other nations is severely detrimental to the US economy.

One important factor that people fail to realize is that the United States is drowning under an ever-expanding trade deficit. That means the country is losing money exponentially. The downturn in the U.S. economy and the start of outsourcing started in earnest in 1980. It is impossible for a debtor nation to continue to fund the finances of all the other countries in the world. The United States needs to strengthen its own economy by: adding jobs; improving education, both, vocational and secondary schools; and increasing manufacturing jobs to provide at least 20 – 25% of our needs. We are currently down to 5%, down from 80% in 1975. By improving our economy, we can improve the economy of other countries. The doctor needs to heal himself, so he can heal others.

Conclusion

I believe that child labor is wrong, period. I don’t think you should feel bad if the child can no longer work full-time at a factory, he should be in school, and he will live like the rest of the children in his area. Poor, but not exploited. Outsourcing to countries like Bangladesh are simply a way to maximize profits for the CEO’s in New York City. They didn’t intend to improve the working conditions in those far-away countries and they haven’t, except for maybe a rare case. Thanks, Rebekah, for the great comment.

Reform follows Bangladesh tragedies except Wal-Mart refuses to sign up

Walmart refuses to join worker safety deal | Business | The Guardian. There have been three tragedies in the last six months in garment factories in Bangladesh. First, 112 garment workers perished when a fire erupted and the doors and windows were locked closed at the Tazreen factory on November 29, 2012, then in January, 2013 another fire at Smart Export garments killed seven women, several of them teenagers, and then the Rana Building collapse on April 24, 2013, which killed 1,127 garment workers. Since these tragedies (and the subsequent riots that they evoked), the Bangladesh government is now allowing unions to form without first getting the consent of the owner. Plus, there has been a contract with retailers and Bangladesh (this has been in the works for years, undercut by Wal-Mart two years ago [see my link Wal-Mart tightens up on suppliers/Profits Over Safety], but it has finally come into fruition) with a number of the biggest retailers signing, including H & M, which is Bangladesh’s largest import buyer.

The Contract

What is the contract? The contract is a legally binding agreement that will require rigorous and independent safety inspections of factories with public reports and mandatory repairs. Also, the costs of the repairs and improvements will be made by the Western retailers up to $500,000  a year. Plus, these businesses must stop doing business with any factory that refuses to make safety improvements. The retailers that have signed the agreement: H & M, Inditex (owner of Zara’s), Primarc, Tesco, C & A, Abercrobie & Fitch, PVH (Calvin Klein), Tommy Hilfiger, IZOD, Tchibo Saitsbury, Topshop, Benetton, Carrefour, and Mango. See the top link for names of more of the U.K. retailers that have signed the agreement.

The Holdouts

The following retailers have not committed to the contract for improved safety conditions: (U.S.) Wal-Mart, Gap, Target, J.C. Penny, Sears, Children’s Place, Toys R Us, Babies R Us, (U.K.) Matalan, Peacocks, River Island. The Gap has not signed because it wants more protection from being sued. (I don’t think Bangladesh will relent on this, the Gap can always use the old Walmart ploy – it’s called the blind eye ploy – we don’t really follow our subcontractors, so we are not liable). The Gap has 78 factories in Bangladesh, but Wal-Mart has 279 factories, and says they already have their own rules to conduct safety inspections – but it only requires inspection of 60% of the factories. Wal-Mart, also, has a large team of experienced lawyers that fight off these types of lawsuits all the time, see link: Walmart’s legal disputes from Hastings Law.

Should We Care if Companies sign the Agreement and Should we Buy Clothing From Bangladesh

“Consumers could help pressure retailers to switch orders from Bangladesh, which would bring about change”, says Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director for Human Rights Watch. “We have seen it in the case of ‘blood diamonds’, how when consumers become aware and avoid purchasing diamonds that are not sourced properly then the industry is forced to change.” (Maybe they should call it ‘Blood clothing’?)

Blood clothing

Babul Akhter, head of Bangladesh Garments and Industrial Federation said “Garment entrepreneurs are above the law here. There is hardly an example of an owner being prosecuted for this kind of outright murder.” He added: “The Western retailers are also complicit because they give a blind eye to the manufacturers shoddy practices.” I think the answer to the question of buying from Bangladesh is no.

Childhood Labor

This subject (of childhood labor) has been ignored in all of the reporting on the Bangladesh disasters. And in this most recent collapse, there is no mention of how many underage children were killed in the collapse. That is because it is a touchy subject. In the “formal garment factories”, there are not supposed to be any underage workers. The Bangladesh Factory Act sets a minimum age of 14 years of age and hazardous work must be 18 years of age. The interpretation of hazardous is quite varied, some think it means continual hazards. Then the “formal garment factory” are very few – they are kind of like the Manhattan executive buildings. Many formal, if not all, subcontract and this is where the informal garment workers labor. (Probably like within the Rana building). Based on 2012 statistics, there are 42.4 million Bangladesh children (between ages 5 and 17 years of age).  Of these 42.4 Million children, 5 million are working full time (most working 6 days a week and 56.2% working more than 40 hours per week), and a half million children work and go to school (they average 5 – 19 hours per week). Children work in the following disciplines: 52.7% in Agriculture, 14.6% in manufacturing, 14.2% in trading and 18.5% others. In the garment manufacturing, children under 14 do jobs like thread cutting, machine cleaning, hand stitching and dyeing, older children – weaving and button stitching, sometimes embroidery and printing. Based on the data, it would seem that about 20 -25% of informal garment workers are underage. That would mean approximately 250 underage workers perished in the Rana building collapse. If you don’t like buying clothing made by children, then stop buying from certain countries, especially from East Asian countries like: India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and China.  We have turned a blind eye for too long. And the media continues to bury the truth. Maybe some day we will awaken. Say No to Blood Clothing. Buy American.

Reference

Child Labor in the Informal Garment Production in Bangladesh

Socially responsible shopping poses challenge

Bangladesh disaster: Socially responsible shopping poses challenge – Boulder Daily Camera. As a follow up on the fall down of the Rana Building In Bangladesh, the second disaster in Bangladesh garment factories in five months, comes the follow up question: How do you buy “ethically made” clothing? The article was published on April 30, 2013 in the Boulder Daily Camera and on May 5, 2013 in the Mercury News.

‘Ethically made’ Clothing poses challenge

Few Options for consumers after Bangladesh disaster by Anne D’Innocenzio (Associated Press)

New York – You can recycle your waste, grow your own food and drive a fuel-efficient car. But being socially responsible isn’t so easy when it comes to the clothes on your back.

Take Jason and Alexandra Lawrence, of Lyons, Colo. They eat locally grown food that doesn’t have to be transported from far-flung states. They fill up their diesel-powered Volkswagen and Dodge pickup with vegetable-based oil. They even bring silverware to a nearby coffeehouse to avoid plastic utensils.

But when it comes to making sure that their clothes are made in factories that are safe for workers, the couples fall short.

“Clothing is one of our more challenging practices,” says Jason Lawrence, 35, who mostly buys secondhand. “I don’t want to travel around the world to see where my pants come from.” (Cop out – Blog Editor’s note, he just refuses to see.)

Last month’s building collapse in Bangladesh that killed hundreds of clothing factory workers (over 1100) put a spotlight on the fact that people in poor countries often risk their lives working in unsafe factories to make the inexpensive garments Westerners covet.

The disaster, which comes after a fire in another Bangladesh factory killed 112 people in November, also highlights something just as troubling for socially conscious shoppers: It’s nearly impossible to make sure the clothes you buy come from factories with safe working conditions. (I disagree with that last statement. -Ed.)

Few companies sell clothing that’s “ethically made,” or marketed as being made in factories that maintain safe working conditions. In fact, ethically made clothes make up just 1% of the overall $3 trillion global fashion industry.

It’s even more difficult to figure out if your clothes are made in safe factories if you’re buying from retailers that don’t specifically market their clothes as ethically made. Major chains typically use a complex web of suppliers in countries such as Bangladesh, which often contract business to other factories. That means the retailers don’t always know the origin of clothes made overseas. (And they don’t want to know. -Ed.)

And even a “Made in USA” label only provides a small amount of  assurance for a socially conscious shopper. For instance, maybe the tailors who assembled the skirt may have had good working conditions. But the fabric might have been woven overseas by people who do not work in a safe environment. (For this type of garment, the label should read, “Made or assembled in the U.S.A from imported fabric. -Ed.)

Most global retailers have standards for workplace safety in the factories that make their clothes. And companies typically require contractors and subcontractors to follow these guidelines. But policing factories around the world is a costly, time-consuming process. (So? In essence, you are saying that the companies that were so cheap in the first place that they outsourced the U.S. jobs to Bangladesh  are, also,  too cheap to check and see if their minimum standards are adhered to. -Ed.)

In fact, there were five factories in the building that collapsed in Bangladesh last month. The produced clothing for such big-name retailers as Children’s Place.

Some experts say that retailers have little incentive to do more because the public isn’t pushing them to do so. (Bold print was my idea. -Ed.)

America’s Research Group, which interviews 10,000 to 15,000 consumers a week on behalf of retailers, says that even in the aftermath of two deadly tragedies in Bangladesh, shoppers seem more concerned with fit and price than whether their clothes were made in factories where workers are safe and make reasonable wages. (Such a sad commentary on Americans. -Ed.)

In the light of the recent disasters, though, some exports and retailers say things are slowly changing. They say more shoppers are starting to pay attention to labels and where their clothes are made. (Yeah! – Ed.)

Fair Trade USA, a non-profit that was founded in 1998 to audit products to make sure workers overseas are paid fair wages and work in safe conditions, is hoping to appeal to shoppers who care about where their clothing is made. In 2010, it expanded the list of products that it certifies to include clothing. (Their website is fairtradeusa.org)

The organization says it’s working with small businesses that sell items to big merchants. It also says it’s in discussions with other big-name brands.

Fair Indigo is an online retailer that sells clothes and accessories that are certified by Fair Trade USA, including $59.90 pima organic cotton dresses, $45.90 faux wrap skirts and $100 floral ballet flats. (Here is the link to Fair Indigo and the “Made in USA” for women).

Daisy Organic Made in USA t-shirt

Rob Behnke, Fair Indigo’s co-founder and president, says some shoppers are calling and citing the latest fatalities in Bangladesh. End of article.

Blog Editor’s Comments

It is not that difficult to purchase ‘ethically made’ clothing. First, you have to be aware and care. You don’t have to travel to Bangladesh to know that it probably isn’t safe working conditions or fair pay. One must realize that clothing coming “”modern, civilized countries” like: the United States, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, Australia, Israel, Norway and The Western part of the European Union, including the Scandanavian countries. Purchasing a “Made in USA” garment is an ethically safe choice. There is a question if the fabric may come from another country, but then it will be identified on the label. So read the label. If you must be 100% sure, purchase a “Made in USA” garment where the material and the manufacturing is made in the USA.

The European Union (the second choice after the United States)

These are the European Union nations: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden. The European Union usually will have safe working conditions and fair wages ( definitely the countries of Western Europe are ethically safe, the Eastern Bloc countries are not as solid).

The Other Countries

So, we have identified the ethically safe countries, but what about the rest. I will divide these into two groups, the first group is highly probably not ethically safe (greater than 90% not ethically safe) and the second group which is indeterminate – possibly safe, maybe not.

The Ethically unsafe countries

These are the countries that are usually very poor countries overall, that have a very low wages and poor or non-existent safety standards for workers and a poor track record of making things under fair wage and fair/safe conditions.

In an overall view, the Ethically unsafe countries would include: China ( the biggest violator), the east Asian countries and islands, Central America, South America (except Argentina), the Middle East (except Israel), Russia and its previous territories, and all of the African nations. Listing of some more of the countries: Sri Lanka, Vietnam, the Philippines, Singapore, Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, Peru, Columbia, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Panama, Brazil, Russia Mexico and all of the African nations – 95% of the factories will have unsatisfactory working conditions. So, avoid them at all costs.

The Undetermined Countries

This list of countries is for countries that have the potential of decent wages and decent working conditions, but does not necessarily mean they are a safe choice. These countries include Taiwan, S. Korea, The Bahamas, Turkey, Chile, Argentina, Venezuela, Poland, the American Pacific Island Territories, and the Baltic Countries. One of the ways to see if a country pays a decent wage is to click this link to Wikipedia on minimum wage per country.

Buy Ethically and Buy American and always avoid the unethically made garments from Bangladesh, China and other poor countries. As of May 17, 2013, the death toll of the Bangladesh building collapse is over 1,100 people.