Cambodia Has Trouble With Their Cash Cow

The fashion industry is one of the largest industries in the world.  Our choices about what we like to wear effect millions of people and drive the economy.  That choice about what shirt you like seems slightly less insignificant, yes?

Currently in Cambodia the garment workers are on strike for a doubling of their pay to $160 a month.  That means they currently make $80 a month, about the UN's standard for poverty.  Do you know that virtually all of the garment workers in Cambodia are women?  And, only about 5% of the factories they work in are owned by Cambodians?  Sure, Cambodia is far away and not seen by the West as anything to think about other than a possible cheap vacation destination.  So, why should it matter to you that there is a country far away that makes 80% of its exports from women working in factories owned by foreign investors?  And that their government is now shooting them in the streets for asking to live in less abject poverty?

This matters.  You are part of the swirling system in this world that gets your shirt to you that also thinks that women need not be paid enough to be able to buy adequate food.  Think about it, the government there values the opinions of the foreign companies over the well-being of their citizens to the point that they are literally willing to simply kill them.  Treating those who work in legitimate trades in this manner does not bode well for economic progress, stability and development.  And, if the workers aren't in the factories, how do you think you will get your new shirt?

References:  http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2014/01/cambodia-garment-workers-strike-turns-deadly-2014134464180721.html

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Cambodia

Photo from
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/05/world/asia/cambodia.html?_r=0

Pound of Flesh

There are somethings about the fashion industry that bother me deeply.  One is the issue of worker safety.  It has been over 100 years since the Triangle Shirtwaist Company disaster--seamstresses burned to death in their NYC factory with no escape route.  The sad part is that it still happens.  We like to think that whoever made our clothes got to go home from work and hug their kids.  Reality says likely not.

Just because you bought something with a "Made in Italy" stamp does not mean that whoever made it was exempt from exploitation.  Reuters reports that on Dec 1, 2013, 7 workers burned to death during a nightime fire in their factory/dorm.  They slept in an area made of cardboard walls.  No wonder they never had a chance.  The factory had illegal building occurring that was not up to standards.  The article hints at that fact that the workers were working in near "slave-like" conditions and were probably illegal.  Too bad it doesn't elaborate on what life was like for those workers or what company they were producing garments for.  No dress is worth such suffering.

The worst fact is that this is not an isolated incident.  Tragedies of this nature seem to be regular occurances world-wide, like in Bangladesh, by WalMart suppliers, in Pakistan, and even factories in the US burn down.  Workplace safety is important, no worker should burn to death in a garment fatory.  What should you and I as consumers do about this?  Quite farnkly, I don't know.  Post comments of any ideas!