Children making clothing

[Gully]

then these families would starve to death, these children work because their parents can't and obviously can't get income support like we do in Britain. The inputuse has to be from the clothing companies to improve wages and working conditions from the factories they source their clothing from. Obviously this would mean a price rise to the customer which is why it won't happen ...

Not sure about that, we buy things like fairtrade tea and coffee in the knowledge that the farmer gets a significant cut, why not fairtrade clothing?

 

[coventrygull]

then these families would starve to death, these children work because their parents can't and obviously can't get income support like we do in Britain. The inputuse has to be from the clothing companies to improve wages and working conditions from the factories they source their clothing from. Obviously this would mean a price rise to the customer which is why it won't happen ...

What did these families do before the clothing companies came along then? They probably lived on small holdings growing food to feed themselves with the surplus to sell. Then the west comes along wanting cheap food. So the families not being able to get a decent price for their surplus food end up being forced into the cities to find work with the dream of western materialism.

 

[coventrygull]

Not sure about that, we buy things like fairtrade tea and coffee in the knowledge that the farmer gets a significant cut, why not fairtrade clothing?

Time to tell these multinational companies to f*** off. The revolution starts here.

 

[REDLAND]

Not sure about that, we buy things like fairtrade tea and coffee in the knowledge that the farmer gets a significant cut, why not fairtrade clothing?

I entirely agree, I personally just never think peoples buying habits will change in such demand where as companies like Nike, Reebok (anything you buy in Sports Soccer) etc etc will sit up and change their policies ..

 

[coventrygull]

I entirely agree, I personally just never think peoples buying habits will change in such demand where as companies like Nike, Reebok (anything you buy in Sports Soccer) etc etc will sit up and change their policies ..

I think that depends on the pressure put on them. Macdonalds profits have slumped because of the publicity about their products and they have attempted to implement a healtheir diet.

 

[Gully]

What we would rely is on the conscience of people, I don't object to paying a little more for my coffee (if at all) just to know where it came from and that the grower was treated fairly for fulfilling his part of the bargain. If it came to a choice between say two fairly similar tee-shirts, one of which was fairtrade and its source could be guaranteed (no slave or child labour), then I know which I would go for...even if it cost a little more.

 

[Alex Alex Dawson oo! oo!]

Not sure about that, we buy things like fairtrade tea and coffee in the knowledge that the farmer gets a significant cut, why not fairtrade clothing?

Sure the grower gets more, but the margin a supermarket etc gets on fairtrade products is also bigger than for the 'normal' range.
There's loads on fairtrade coffee etc in "The Undercover Economist" by Tim Harford if you need a book for the beach this summer.

 

[Gully]

Didn't know that, so what you are saying is that the supermarkets are taking advantage of our good nature...why should that surprise me?

 

[REDLAND]

I think that depends on the pressure put on them. Macdonalds profits have slumped because of the publicity about their products and they have attempted to implement a healtheir diet.

and what better pressure can you put on these clothing companies by boycotting their products and reducing their profit margins ..

 

[Alex Alex Dawson oo! oo!]

Didn't know that, so what you are saying is that the supermarkets are taking advantage of our good nature...why should that surprise me?

Certainly.
If you buy fairtrade coffee then the producer is guaranteed to receive a fair price NOT the consumer.
An example from Harford's book (chapter2; p33) relating to pricing (prior to 2004) at the Costa Coffee shop on the South Bank near to the London Eye:
"Cafedirect (a leading fair trade brand) paid farmers a premium of 40-55p/pound of coffee and that premium was reflected in the price they (Cafedirect) charged Costa Coffee for the beans. This small premium nearly doubles the income of a farmer in Guatemala, where the average income is less than $2000 a year. However, the typical cappucino is made with just less than a quarter-ounce of coffee beans so the premium paid to the farmer should translate into a cost increase for Costa of less than a penny a cup. Costa charged 10p extra for a fairtrade cappucino so more than 90 per cent did not reach the farmer. Cafedirect got nothing more so 9p went straight to Costa's bottom line".