Musings on buying clothing & the factory collapse in Bangladesh

Yesterday, as I was listening to the radio and heard that there was  a factory that collapsed with many people trapped inside.. possibly killed in the collapse.

Collapsed factory  image from Fox news article here

This morning fox news reports that more than 200 factory workers were killed in the collapse.  According to the news police had given instructions to evacuate the factory the day prior however the order was ignored and employees were kept working.

Relatives morning a victim.. Image from Fox news article

A BBC news article states that "Bangladesh has one of the largest garment industries in the world, providing competitively priced clothes for major Western retailers which benefit from its widespread low-cost labour." 

This sad event is only 5 months after another factory in Bangaldesh's garment industry caught on fire killing 112 people.

The Tazreen Fashions factory after the fire image from NY times article here
-

These 2 events are deeply saddening and bring to attention the unsafe working conditions that garment workers must face in many parts of the world. The clothing produced in these garment factories are often for large western and European retailers looking to produce their ready to wear clothing at a very low cost. One  news 7 article states that Wal-Mart was one retailer who was having clothing produced in the collapsed factory

-

So what can we do about this as an average citizen living in the US? We can tell the clothing companies what we want through what we buy... we can vote with our dollars. We should not buy the clothes produced in factories with unsafe working conditions and instead buy clothing that is fair trade or produced in a location we know adheres to good working standards.
-

By doing this we tell the companies what we want, what values we support... and the companies can put pressure on factories to raise their safety standards & improve working conditions making a positive impact on the lives of workers... and this can be done. For example Apple has been putting pressure on Foxconn in China to improve their working conditions...
-

Apple & Foxconn working to improve conditions. Image from Reuters

 

So please when shopping  take a moment to  look at the tag.. look for words such as fair trade, made in the US, handmade, organic,  or even buy vintage... pull out your phone and google the company what does the brand website say their practices are??

www.CleanClothesCampaign.org

To read more about ethically buying clothes visit the Clean Clothes Campaign website.