 |
| (tees: Fed by Threads, Eat More Kale and Earth Creations. Ladies' shorts: SOS From Texas) |
Sweatshops are in the news again, following a recent tragedy where over a thousand Bangladeshi garment workers (and counting) were killed in a building collapse. Despite the evacuation order by local police, thousands of people clocked in after management threatened to withhold their monthly pay, an average of sixty-three dollars including lots of overtime. How did we get to this point, where a worker has to risk her life for sixty-three dollars?
As consumers, we can choose whether or not to participate in a system where "the lowest price is the law," whatever the cost to other people and to the planet. Most apparel companies have a blanket statement about not knowingly buying the fruits of slavery or unsafe sweatshops; complicated supply chains and subcontracting makes it difficult to tell where their wares actually came from. Retail price is not an indicator, either, since the factory collapse last month involved some pricey labels, as did deadly factory fires in November and September.
Garment by garment, we have been making an effort to cut off our support for exploitation and to support companies that do business honourably. That change was not an easy one, but I can tell you that a shirt made from slavery-free materials and sewn by workers who earned a decent living feels good on. I shop for organic products when possible because pesticides are bad for the earth, the farmworkers, and the factory workers.
