By Anthony Biondi (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: May 8, 2013
The state of our economy and the ever-present demands of the consumer market have driven us to buy products at the lowest possible price. This includes clothing, food, toiletries or anything, really. Since so much of our money is tied up now in what we want, what we need becomes a quest for the cheapest acquisition.
Some time ago, Nike was accused of using sweatshop labour to manufacture their shoes. Despite the cheap labour costs, they still charged more than some lower-end shoe companies. Because their brand is well known, many people paid for and wore the label. Consumers of Nike, in an attempt to wear the latest in the brand’s line, were unknowingly supporting this sweatshop labour. When this scandal came to light, it made people more conscious of exactly where their products come from.
Even now we have to ask ourselves the question: where are our products coming from? If a t-shirt can be sold for $5, how much did it cost to produce?
Recently, a fire in a Bangladesh factory raised these questions, again. After the deaths of several employees, it came to the public’s attention that the products we buy are being produced in less than savoury work conditions. Several major retailers were buyers from this factory, including Wal-Mart. According to an article by Jessica Wohl in The Globe and Mail, the major retailer had no idea they were even buying from this factory. This statement could have been said for many different reasons (whether it is true, or they are covering up something), but the reality of it is, we don’t know where our products truly come from.
This idea frightens me a little.
Since the Bangladesh fire, we once again look to these sweatshop conditions. I think back to all the shirts that I have bought over the years that carry the label Made in Bangladesh. In a way, by buying that product, I helped support that working community of abused labourers. Every penny I put into the foreign market can be a gamble, either supporting a decent factory supplier or one that maintains poor working conditions. And the only reason I support this gamble is because it is so affordable for me. It is easy enough to blame the economy and the high living costs we face, but who is really at fault?
If it had not been for the fire, many of us would continue buying our products entirely unaware of their origins. It seems that only when disaster strikes or some breakthrough discovery is made, that we ever think about the working conditions of those who produce our conveniences. There are groups that make an effort to constantly bring awareness, but this is only on a limited scale. The majority of the public will still continue on buying what they want and need regardless. Even when Apple factories were shown to be negligent in the safety of their production employees we still went on buying the latest iPhone and iPad. In this way, we show our implicit approval of these practices.
That being said, it is not entirely our problem either. We buy because much of the time there aren’t other options. It can be costly to buy quality or local goods, and being college students, this would put us over the deep end financially. However, companies like Wal-Mart have taken the initiative to put large sums of money into training programs and schools to further the education of their production employees. After the fire in Bangladesh, according to The Globe and Mail, the factory owner offered over $1.5 billion to open training facilities to improve the safety of their factory employees. This is quite a responsible step forward by the company. In fact, others have joined them in this cause.
But is this really enough? Companies could always consider putting money back into local goods rather than overseas imports. This takes a lot of pressure off of the sweatshops, since they would no longer be in as high demand. I look to countries like Italy that have put forward initiatives to support local farmers. Is it so impossible for us to follow in those bold footsteps? International companies, such as Wal-Mart, do put some consideration into supporting local goods, but I think there should be a greater emphasis on it.
A sweater sewn in Canada would feel that much warmer.
The truth of it is this: we are both responsible for these sweatshop factories. The large companies that buy from them, and the consumers for purchasing those products. In the end, we as consumers should always be cautious of what we buy, paying attention to who supplies it and at what cost. Be wary of products that cost less than they should, or items that are poorly manufactured. They may be the result of such working factories. Only with knowledge can we choose to support those that deserve it.
