Throughout modern fashion history, unfair labor conditions for those in manufacturing have received much publicity, with multiple complaints of sweatshop conditions and gruesome child labor situations. These allegations and subsequent investigations have had major implications for involved labels and brands, tarnishing the international reputations of Wal-Mart, Nike, Disney, and even coffee giant Starbucks.
These companies, among others, have a history of violating the basic human rights of their employees, perhaps in attempts to cut costs associating with manufacturing and productions. And since much of these operations are done internationally, it is hard to identify, monitor, and advocate for victims of such abuses.
In recent news, tragedy befell employees at a factory in Bangladesh, as a fire broke out this past Sunday, Nov. 25th. The employees, making clothes for Wal-Mart and other brands to meet holiday demand, fell victim to the blaze, which consumed the ground floor, causing many employees, now trapped, to have to jump to their deaths.
The nine-floor building, unequipped to handle an emergency of this magnitude, offered little to the trapped workers, with many staircases leading straight into the flames and minimal other escape routes.
The company that owns the factory offered $1,200 to families of each of the victims.
Sadly, this ill is one that continues to plague the fashion industry. Consumers internationally are generally uniformed about the existence and dangers of sweatshops, and the lives that must be risked daily for the items we buy. It is tragedy that brings these things to the forefront, brings them to our collective periphery, though briefly. We as responsible citizens must be more critical, more aware of our relationship to our brothers and sisters worldwide, and demand more responsibility from the companies that employ them.
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/1200-life-clothing-company-pays-peanuts-families-factory/story?id=17814618#.ULQGaIfAeSo
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