I was shopping at Zehrs a couple of years ago and spotted a nice bright green sweater for $6. Two good a deal to pass up and it fit nicely too boot. Read this article and think;1) Where do your clothes come from?
2) What conditions do you think the factory workers are facing everyday at work?
3) How does it make you feel to wear clothes made in a sweatshop?
4) What can be done about this situation?
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/joe-fresh-doubles-garment-business-in-bangladesh-in-year-after-tragedy-1.2606120
This is my post for the week:
ReplyDeleteAfter reading about the Canadian garment company Joe Fresh, and their production factories in Bangladesh, it really got me thinking about the conditions of all clothing factories in asia and the middle east. It is obvious that companies utilize the cheap land and wages of countries on the other side of the world in order to save them money and get the job done quickly. Knowing how cheap running a sweatshop really is, I wonder if many companies follow and enforce the regulation working environment protocol in these factories. It makes me sad to think that people like you and I are working their tails off in extremely warm temperatures, very poor working conditions and making little to no money in order to supply us with T-shirts and jeans, something that we don't particularly take care of.
As for my clothes, i know a large amount of them are either made in China, India or the United States. This bugs me because i know when a Country from the middle east/asia make a product, it is usually in a crowded sweatshop where thousands of people work shoulder to shoulder on a daily basis.When I picture these production factories in my own mind, I picture mass amounts of people and very little space, very dirty/dusty, no air conditioning and unsafe or unregulated work stations and tools. I'm sure there are many of these factories that are maintained well and treat all of its workers fairly, but there are many more that come alot closer to my vision of these sweatshops.
In order to better this situation, mandatory health and safety check ups and test must be completed and enforced much more strictly to ensure that working conditions are up to standard and more importantly that all of the workers are safe. Although, it may just be best to stick to clothes that are manufactured in North America. (made in china = bad)
Here is an article from about a year ago that links directly into this article that Mr. Lahaie posted. It speaks about what to look for and how to tell if you're about to buy clothing that was made in a sweatshop.
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/04/26/sweatshop-clothes-bangladesh_n_3161067.html
Great post Ryerson,
DeleteI agree with you about the sweatshops. It's terrible to think that we buy clothes made by kids who make a fraction of what we would make working the cash at a McDonalds or something. These kids are doing hard work. Yet, As bad as it is, I still buy clothing from those parts of the world. That's something I'll have to be more conscious of when I make the big bucks when I'm older!
I agree Ryerson! As Canadians, we have so many health and safety regulations that make our jobs so much easier and enjoyable for our employees. It's disgusting to think how we demand these rights while enforce others to work in unsuitable conditions. It might decrease productivity but it would ensure that we as Canadians are known for our high moral values.
ReplyDeleteThis is my weekly post:
ReplyDeleteSweat shops are one of those issues that everyone is aware of and yet no one takes action against. "The working conditions are terrible in places like Bangladesh and Indonesia," we say as we load our armfuls of cheaply manufactured clothing onto the checkout counter. It's essential that we, as consumers, do our research when we're buying things like clothes where the sources are so mysterious. I'm glad to hear that Joe Fresh is taking the tragedy of Rana Plaza to heart and establishing safety regulations in their factories--now all we need is for everyone to make the same commitments, and to follow through with it. Half a world away from these factories, it's easy for us North Americans--even the ones in charge of the companies running the factories--to forget about the human rights being neglected over there. Only in the past year has Loblaw hired someone to oversee the company's operations in Bangladesh. It sounds an awful lot like many of these "fast fashion" companies only remember their duties to their employees overseas when there's a tragedy the size of that of Rana Plaza and the blame can be placed on them. Those in charge of these globalized corporations always seem to be publicly shocked when incidents like this occur... but isn't it their job to know about poor working conditions, to know what poses safety hazards and to prevent that from happening?
The episode of the fifth estate that relates to the incident at Rana Plaza: http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/episodes/2013-2014/made-in-bangladesh
I agree, Maggie! As North Americans we often blame everyone except ourselves on the topic of sweatshops. As consumers, we have the power to either perpetuate or stop what's happening overseas.
DeleteI agree with both of you! I can't tell you how many times I've experienced people ranting about the manufacture of clothes because they're from sweat shops yet nobody seems to be taking any course of action. Like anything, we should definitely use critical thinking or at the very least look into what we're buying instead of just purchasing it out of convenience or other superficial reasons.
DeleteI like how you approached the topic, I really agree with your points, we are more than ready to talk about how bad it is but we don't want it to change
DeleteThis is my post:
ReplyDeleteThe majority of my clothing was made in either Bangladesh, China, or India. For a long while now its seemed to be hard to find clothing that was made in the same country it's being distributed. I've seen a fair amount of documentaries that follow the lives of some factory workers. All of them have shown that the workers work long, tedious hours for next to nothing. They wouldn't even be able to buy back the clothes they made! It's hard not to get fired in these situations. If you make too many mistakes, you're fired. If you leak information about the conditions the work place, you're fired as well. Knowing that most of my clothes were made in a sweatshop makes me feel angry and helpless. I know that even if I stopped wearing clothes that came from sweatshops, they would still be manufactured anyway. Plus, there would be less jobs for the people who turn to sweatshops for work. It's sort of a double-edged sword. I believe that - like Ryerson said - there should be mandatory health and safety checkups done regularly. The very least they can do is bring forth these inspections so that less incidents, injuries, or health problems occur.
These are my sources:
http://www.salon.com/2014/03/16/amazons_near_sweatshops_and_awful_conditions_it_doesnt_have_to_be_this_way/
http://www.dailycampus.com/news/bangladeshi-workers-speak-out-1.3160077