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Would you buy cheap child-sweatshop made clothes? Poll results/discussion
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olddogbreath wrote: »Whether you work in India or in this country you are exploited by your employer. I drive a bus for £7.45 all shifts in Plymouth. People will get on a cheaper bus if they can and argue with the driver about the price. If you buy clothes, food or any other commodity you look for value, especially at times like these. We would all like to think ethically etc, but we live in ignorance and reality.
I couldnt agree more..thats how the "obesely" rich became rich..by greed and exploitation of the masses where ever they are. Slavery is not JUST the trading of a fellow human for cash !
How about the very little girls as young as 6 and even younger that endlessly weave the most expensive rugs..did any one ever wonder why the knots of the rugs are so small and tight.. and thats what makes them expensive...because they can ONLY be done by very tiny fingers...much younger than 12. The rugs are not sold for £3 in primark...are they?..no one every makes a program on them...because they will be bought by the producers of programmes...programmes that
play on the guilt of the masses.. the masses they exploit whether they are in India, Europe or Africa. And no..I am not saying this because I am jealous of rich people...Sadly 99% of the time being "Obesely" rich is not about being successful..but more about exploitation of labour and pure old fashioned greed.
Which rugs, exactly? My parents have tightly-woven rugs shipped from family overseas. They're made by local merchants (not by their children).
~ R.I.P Heath Ledger, George Carlin, Stan Winston ~ 0 -
The Kyoto Protocol is a piece of paper too - Clinton signed it, Bush tore it up.JuliaJolie wrote: »No, in 2007 GAP signed a pledge with the US Dept of Labour (they're a US-based brand) which applies to all of its international trading and labour practices, and they developed a Vendor Code of Conduct. Of all of the similarly shamed companies (Victoria's Secret, Guess, Donna Karan etc), only ONE company refused to sign - DISNEY, who have the most exorbitant prices of clothing and merchandise known to man!
What's to stop the next CEO of GAP from going back to the DoL and telling them to fnck off?
How can the US enforce these things abroad? Oh, wait, I forgot: the Yanks think they're the world's police force, but they helped create al Qaeda, and now the whole world is paying for their huge mistake.0 -
Did you see that doco made by Mark Thomas about the Coca Cola Company? From what he said, their responsible corporate citizen image is about as much use as a chocolate fireguard against a flamethrower.weegie.geek wrote: »As was seen in the documentary, there's also an environmental impact because of the waste byproduct of the industry, which the company should be held responsible for. It's bad enough that Primark were (indirectly) employing children, but they (indirectly) ruined the water supply for the entire area. It's not too much to ask that companies show responsibility for the wellbeing of its employees, especially vulnerable ones, and it's definitely not too much to ask that it ensure it doesn't adversely affect the lives and health of people who don't benefit from its presence in and around its bases of operation.
They are accused of having bottling plants that take a lot of the water from local streams, depriving the people of their supply, and/or polluting it with their waste products.0 -
MothballsWallet wrote: »So who certifies companies as being fair? Isn't it yet another private sector company with profit-making as its core principle who let you buy a "certificate of fairness" from them with little effort required, for a price?
Wow. Um....no. Try Clean Clothes Campaign. Stop searching for a conspiracy theory where there isn't one. The justification on this board is truly nauseating. And all in the name of so-called "moneysaving".
If this is what moneysaving means to the people on these boards then I don't want to be any part of it.
*unsubscribes from MSE newsletter* ~ R.I.P Heath Ledger, George Carlin, Stan Winston ~ 0 -
actually there are many non-profit fair trade organisations who do a lot of good work! I am happy to name some of them if you like ??MothballsWallet wrote: »So who certifies companies as being fair? Isn't it yet another private sector company with profit-making as its core principle who let you buy a "certificate of fairness" from them with little effort required, for a price?
I have taken the following from the IFAT website
On organizations: the IFAT FTO Mark
Over the years, IFAT has developed a monitoring process for Fair Trade organizations. Once an IFAT member has successfully met IFAT's Standards and Monitoring requirements, they are eligible to carry the Fair Trade Organization (FTO) Mark.
Launched in 2004 at the World Social Forum in Mumbai, India, The FTO Mark is an organization label that identifies and gives global recognition to Fair Trade Organizations. These organizations are mission driven organisations whose core activity is Fair Trade. This means that standards are being met regarding working conditions, wages, child labour and the environment. These standards are verified by self-assessment, mutual reviews and external verification.
On products: the Fair Trade Label
In the 1980s, a priest working with smallholder coffee farmers in Mexico and a collaborator of a Dutch church-based NGO (Non-Governmental Organisation) conceived the idea of a Fair Trade label. Products bought, traded and sold respecting Fair Trade conditions would qualify for a label that would make them stand out among ordinary products on store shelves, and would allow any company to get involved in Fair Trade. Thus, in 1988, the 'Max Havelaar' label was established in the Netherlands. The concept caught on: within a year, coffee with the label had a market share of almost 2%!
In the following years, similar non-profit Fair Trade labelling organisations were set up in other European countries and in North America (such as the Fair Trade Foundation in the UK and TransFair in the US and Canada).
In 1997, the creation of the Fairtrade Labelling Organisation International (FLO-I) united many of labelling initiatives. FLO-I is now responsible for setting international Fair Trade standards for certifying production, trade and labelling of a certain number of products (not handcrafts). The label that these products carry is called the Fairtrade Label and usually looks like the logo on the right (although the label can vary from country to country). 0 -
"Clean Clothes Campaign" (CCC from now on), huh? Will it do any good? To be honest, I hope so.
I wasn't "searching for a conspiracy theory where there isn't one." I can often see where a well-intentioned idea can fall flat on its face (for example, HIPs and EPCs for selling/renting your house/flat).
Who else other than the CCC would do the same work with manufacturers in other countries? Has the CCC got UN backing so they can go to any country to carry out their work without local official interference? If not, then they could run into problems trying to get things done...
I can see private sector companies springing up in some parts of the world claiming to be local partners of the CCC (when they are not) and offering to provide the same quality of advice and help: some will be good, some will be bad.0 -
MothballsWallet wrote: »The Kyoto Protocol is a piece of paper too - Clinton signed it, Bush tore it up.
What's to stop the next CEO of GAP from going back to the DoL and telling them to fnck off?
In a word - nothing will stand in his/her way. But how bad is the publicity going to be for them if they do? Gillette have imposed a moratorium on animal testing (specifically, testing on beagles) after controversy a few years back. They're hardly going to go back on this. A company's livelihood is based on its consumers and stockholders, and that is directly linked to their reputation. Nobody with the slightest whiff of a conscience wants to be associated with a company that knowingly allows the kind of horrors to go on in their factories. The companies can claim ignorance at first, but it's their response is what matters.How can the US enforce these things abroad? Oh, wait, I forgot: the Yanks think they're the world's police force, but they helped create al Qaeda, and now the whole world is paying for their huge mistake.
*sigh* FYI the company GAP is US-based. The reason that, say, Primark didn't sign that and Victoria's Secret and Donna Karan did is because their companies are US-based. GAP's Vendor Code of Conduct now comforms to internationally-accepted labour standards (i.e. not sweatshops). If they violate their pledge with the DoL they will be investigated by the Federal Trade Commission and face massive fines and, quite, frankly, public shame.
Somehow I don't think that's what GAP wants. Stop conspiracy-theorising. It may be fashionable (particularly for USA-hating xenophobes), but it's completely irrelevant to this discussion. ~ R.I.P Heath Ledger, George Carlin, Stan Winston ~ 0 -
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MothballsWallet wrote: »Thanks, but I'm good.
So, what does IFAT actually stand for?
Why are you being like this?0
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