Thank you for reading my blog and participating in the survey along with answering the questions asked in the weekly blog.
After weeks of blogging and looking into sweatshops I have come to the conclusion that avoiding stores that use sweatshops is very difficult and takes a lot of will power to research stores before one shops. After learning about sweatshops and the painful experiences workers go through I am finally okay with not shopping at Walmart. I feel the availability of the clothing is not worth the injustice people have to endure to make the clothing.
After looking at some of the Websites that Grace suggested, I found that after the Bangladesh firer this past fall, GAP Inc. is implementing a better safety plan along with a chief firer safety inspector (http://www.gapinc.com/content/gapinc/html/csr/bangladesh.html). This is a good step towards better work environment
Since this is my final blog, the question is , from what you have learned and videos that have been posted, are you willing to take a sand against sweatshops? Are you going to stop shopping at Walmart and Nike?
Join http://usas.org/ to get emails from students against sweatshops and take a stand on sweatshops
Hi Diane! It's been awhile since we've spoke :) I've read quite a few bits of your blog and thought I'd leave a comment.
ReplyDeleteI am getting my BS in Fashion Merchandising in a month a half, so I am very familiar with sweatshops and retailers that source and manufacture internationally (I have been studying it for 4 years, myself).
I agree and disagree with a lot of your posts, and you did an awesome job at touching the surface layer of sweatshops!
You were right though; the indirect costs are what account for 85% of cost of the manufacturing product; this does NOT include low wages.
However, to counteract with that their is no correlation between labor rates and manufacturing costs. Speed to market is not related to faster productivity and lower prices are not necessarily related to lower wages or reducing cost of manufacturing. Reason why companies are moving to new countries and places is not because of costs, but because they offer something different they can't get somewhere else.
Also things to consider: The other countries and their trade agreements with the US. What are their tariffs? What are their quotas? Just more things to think about... companies don't just choose locations because of labor costs.
If you are looking more into sweatshops and social activists groups, I would recommend the FLA (Fair Labor Association), ILGWU, ACTWU, and many more.
Also, if you're looking at a specific company's regulations on labor, I would investigate their CSR (corporate social responsibility).
Also, this video will be AWESOME for your research, you should watch it!
http://www.ted.com/talks/leslie_t_chang_the_voices_of_china_s_workers.html
Good luck!! If you want any more information or sources, I would LOVE to help!!!
-Grace
Thanks for doing this blog Diane! This has been some great information and I will think twice about where I shop.
ReplyDeleteThanks Grace, the video was very informative and your knowledge on manufacturing showed me a different perspective on the topic
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