Would you KNOWINGLY buy sweatshop-made cheap clothes?

tgroom57

Could always make our own ...

Does raise the question of why the Albanian dressmakers don't go into business on their own.

Print_Screen

Probably due to a lack of designs and market presence to get people to buy it.
They could may great high quality close but it will be expensive and difficult to initially get a foot in the market.

Just like there are many artists and musicians who never make it but a very good.

LimeLight

It's no secret about the "sweatshops" companies like Primark use, and it hasn't changed the fact i still shop there!

Miss_Mollie

Hezzawithkids wrote: »

Seeing as just about every high street chain store - and even some high end fashion labels - all use sweatshop labour it would leave us with very little choice.

Too right - stores pressure suppliers to meet prices they know are unachievable by any decent factory.......

If they would forgo some of their 'gross' margin, they could pay a fair price and money could be spent turning sweatshops into factories of an acceptable standard.

MakeitgoRIGHT

The thing is, we do not run that other country. If their way of life and politics mean that is how their population runs, then leave it alone. If you have a gripe, write to their PM and tell him/her to change their political structure. Why we have any right to boss them about by buying or not buying their products is quite rich.

We have enough trouble getting our own PM to do the right thing (in our eyes), let alone bossing other countries about. If you like the product at the price offered, and have cash to buy it, and want to..... then buy it. Otherwise buy some other thing.

Stop all this moaning and complaining about how other countries run themselves. Not our business unless we have moved out there and pay their taxes etc.

Wywth

Whatever the outcome of the poll, does anyone really think we'll be seeing Primark going the way of Comet or JJB anytime soon?

I'm not so sure about Matalan, but whatever their future, I doubt it will be as a reflection of the outcome of this poll.

Leeds_Lad

This issue has the same roots as the horsemeat scandal. Stores - whether they are supermarkets, fashion chains, or whatever - chase each other down on price so that they can claim to be (or garner a reputation for being) the cheapest.

It all has to be paid for somehow - they are not about to take a hit on their margins! - so the result is that they squeeze suppliers on cost. They have very little compunction about moving contracts if the incumbent supplier cannot meet the new cost aspirations, and there is always someone who can do it cheaper.

The upshot is that corners are cut to enable suppliers to meet the new target costs. Whether that's using sweatshops which are unsafe and exploit cheap labour, or substituting horsemeat for beef.

Think about what has to happen for you to buy your 'bargain' t-shirt for £1 (I've bought them myself in Primark - kids t-shirts for £1). The cotton has to be picked (by hand!) and processed - woven into cloth that can be used for garments. The cloth has to be cut and finished into a garment (usually in the far east somewhere) packed into boxes and transported from the factory to a port, whereupon it is shipped half way across the world in a container, distributed to stores in the UK, merchandised on the shelves and sold through through the tills, VAT paid, overheads covered and profit generated for the chain.

All for £1.

Anyone who thinks that can happen without there being exploitation almost all the way along the chain is deluded. Or hasn't actually thought about it. Which is part of the problem - people try not to think about it so that they don't feel guilty, but unless we all start to change our buying habits, nothing will change.

All the high street chains will tell anyone who listens that they have robust inspection procedures in place to ensure minimum standards are upheld in all of their factories. Which is true. What they won't tell you about is the double book-keeping that goes on so that factories can get away with paying less than the prescribed minimum wages; the sub-contracting to the most appalling sweatshops (the factories inspected are often 'showrooms' which will pass an inspection - with most of the real work done elsewhere); and all the other shady practices. All of which means that although on the face of it everything is above board, you only have to scratch the surface to bring the façade crashing down and expose the truth.


Its not an easy issue to resolve. What happens - for instance - if all the big stores stop sourcing products in these countries? Thousands - millions - of people plunged back into crushing poverty. Exploitative or not, the reality is that this type of work brings an income (however small) to those who would otherwise have no income at all. In fact, the issue is probably unresolvable - too much would have to change in too many store chains and factories, in too many countries for anything meaningful to happen. Not to mention that we would all have to be prepared to forgo the ultra-cheap bargains we currently enjoy...

Here endeth the sermon!

itch_for_a_glitch

When we have sorted out the exploitation of people in the UK I'll start worrying about another countries modus operandi.(I dont expect to start soon).

MissAT

Whilst I think the building collapse in Bangladesh was terrible, I do not think this was the direct result of cheap mass produced garments.

The factory/building owners have a level of responsibility to ensure the building is structurally sound - and the factory owners make lots of money and are able to do so.

I don't feel that a tirade against cheap clothes is the answer to this problem, so no I will continue buying clothes as I did before.

Cornucopia

I find some of these arguments about globalised trade a little naive.

The retail price is not related to the conditions of the workers in any way whatsoever. It is simply not realistic to assume that an expensive product is made in a way that does not have the potential to exploit in exactly the same way - all that happens is that more money is available as profit and to cover advertising, expensive packaging, promotions, more exclusive retail outlets, etc. etc. etc.

The bottom line is that you cannot compare the (very high) cost of living in the UK with countries in other parts of the World.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/12/nike-1m-indonesian-workers-overtime