Really Expensive Clothes

http://michaelbiach.wordpress.com/2012/05/15/made-in-bangladesh/

I read the story this morning of a textile factory fire in Bangladesh in which more than 100 workers died in a factory with no emergency exits. According to the article, Bangladesh has 4000 garment factories, many without proper safety measures in place. This event recalls the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911 in New York City in which 146 people died. Most were children and young adults. Most were female. In a building with no emergency exits.

The Triangle Shirtwaist fire was instrumental in forwarding the establishment of the powerful garment industry unions; the very same organizations that, 100 years later, have been so instrumental in motivating the export of garment factory jobs to countries like Bangladesh.

I have no problem with an evolving world economy. I have no problem with my pants or shirts or shoes or car being made outside the U.S.  Unless, I hasten to add, the formula is to move jobs into a location where worker's rights, safety, and honest pay are easily discarded. And that's why I tend to buy American. I don't think the products are necessarily better made. I know my decision limits selection. But I also know my shoes and clothing are made in a country which has already done the hard work of learning about employee safety, fair wages, environmental safeguards, and that my income is staying home where unemployment is high and manufacturing jobs are at risk.

Next time you slip on a pair of jeans, underwear, or a shirt, check the label. Kinda creepy today if it reads "Made in Bangladesh." There is no global economy worth growing if it is fertilized with labor conditions we felt proper disposing of a hundred years ago. Perhaps this weekend's fire in Bangladesh will bring proper focus and change within the industry-- and among consumers.