DHAKA: Victims of the Rana Plaza factory collapse died making clothes sold in western high street stores. 28 brands have been linked to the factory complex including Primark, Matalan, Benetton, Bonmarché, El Corte Inglés, and Mango.
Huge numbers of people use shopping as their primary leisure activity, and for some it is an addiction. The fast fashion industry relies on a year-round production flow, low stock levels in stores and a supply chain that responds to rapidly changing demands.
Buying a piece of clothing was once a celebrated occasion – in 1900 15% of household income was spent on clothing, compared to 2.8% in 2010. And it`s not because we`re spending more on a few quality items, in 1997 the average woman bought 19 pieces of clothing, and 10 years later 34.
More than 1,134 people died making clothes sold in western high street stores last April.
The Guardian has published news to take readers opinion whether Rana Plaza tragedy has changed their fashion buying habits.
The English daily has raised some questions to readers like--Do you know where your clothes are made? Did the Rana Plaza Complex change your shopping habits?
Guardian staffs have chosen below comments as those contributes to the debate---
shabs303
“I doubt many consumers will change buying habits as there is such a detachment between the item being bought and the conditions of the workers. If they saw first hand the conditions, that may well change attitudes.
However ideally there would be a global agreement through the ILO or a world trade organisation on ethical production, safety standards and a minimum living wage (reflecting the living wage of the particular countries). Maybe there already is? I really can`t see much changing without something like this as consumers don`t care enough. This would prevent a race for the cheapest and would mean better standards for workers as well as possibly higher prices for consumers. But so what, the conditions in many of these factories are sickening.”
Shannon French
“I personally have stopped shopping in Primark . The place gives me a bad feeling every time I go in there.”
nickronding
“I think it`s excellent piece, but how much would these people be suffering without the jobs? starving, scraping by as subsistence farmers etc. It`s a very tricky situation, take away the custom and these people suffer more. I think the answer is just pay them more, executives taking away millions such as phillip green are responsible. It`s the same problem with every industry in the world. Take away the executive a company can still run smoothly, take away the workers it grinds to a halt yet the executive is payed an extortionate rate. Capitalism is fine, just need to have more equality in wages.”
ClareLondon
“I don`t agree that consumers don`t care enough.
It is this kind of campaign by the Guardian and ongoing publicity that can change public behaviour.
Consumers have enormous power.
Personally, I do not ever buy new clothes. It fills me with horror to think of the mountains of garments that pour into this country. I buy clothes only from charity shops. I feel the need to `use` up some of all the billions of items that are over-produced each year, in a never-ending avalanche.
We don`t need so many clothes. We could choose to have fewer items of clothing, of better quality. And to know that the garment workers were being paid properly.
Those early pictures in this film were gut-wrenching. The squalor, the children running all over the train line, the squashed slums running along the edge of the railway, the blankly unhappy faces on view everywhere.
India is a country I could never visit. I would be weeping all the time.
We, in this country, could bring about change. Of course we could. Of course we can. Of course we should.”
Matthew Mirkin
“I have not shopped at Primark for sometime - mainly due to their notoriety on the matter of ethical quality. I hate the quality of the clothes themselves - when I did shop there, they lasted half as long as other shops such as Gap or even H&M. What I think would be great, is if the Guardian were to use its extensive research capacity to establish a reliable list of retailers and their relative "morality" as it were. I find it hard to be conscientious about my shopping choices, when really I don`t know a thing about where the bastion of equality and fair trading is held the highest.”
Lettergirl
“Definately changed my view of shopping for clothes. I discovered how empty it suddenly sounded to say, "I need a new pair of trousers" as I gazed into my already bulging wardrobe. I`ve changed my shopping philosophy, often buying second hand clothes, and hunting out ethical or national companies. Prefer to buy much less but good quality.”
cliffegde
“I have not changed my shopping habits because of the Rana building collapse. I can argue that we should not buy Chinese made goods because of their poor human rights record. I could argue that we should not buy certain goods from India because of forced child labour. My point being business is no longer about taking the high moral ground because it is up to governments in those countries to educate it’s workforce, ensure decent health and safety measures and provide a decent working environment. If I did change my shopping habits I doubt very much that there will be no further buildings collapsing as a result. Corrupt building practices will not stop overnight in those countries nor will unscrupulous employers taking advantage of venerable employees.”
gentlybenevolent
“I`ve changed my habits, but I recognise that when I buy secondhand, the choice is there because so many people are buying more clothes than they really need. Setting up my business I wanted to help people make better decisions (I`m not going to advertise here!) so I found clothing and cloth manufacturers going the extra mile to make sure workers and growers had some protection.
Two points really - that all the regulation you`d need already exists WRAP combines no notice inspection with independent audit, for example, but the only UK retailer trying to improve (M&S) has stalled for a few years now. Also, if you think that making clothes is better, pay close attention to where your cloth comes from as growing cotton and manufacturing cloth harms a lot of people along the way if you don`t look for an alternative.
Someone suggested recently that we could pass a law in the EU regarding minimum worker standards and the right to organise as a basis for allowing import. We worked hard to get worker rights in this country and big companies have found a way to undermine that. The suffering and the danger is the same wherever workers are living though.”
vicvega
“I went in Primark in Manchester once and hated it, there was a really horrible vibe to the place, never again.
When my grandma died I inherited her kitchen utensils and baking and mixing bowls, all were in good condition if a little tatty, including her prized vegetable peeler and the pot blackbirds she put in pies so they wouldn`t overflow, most of them were wedding presents, she married in 1950 and died in 1990. She hardly ever bought anything new and when she was forced to she was always very disappointed with the quality. She also used to mend things and darn things and saved her pennies to pay the milkman. There is a lot to be said for post-war thriftiness.”
TokyoRose
“After reading about the disaster last April, I strictly banned the purchase of any new clothes for myself. For the past year I have shopped only at local thrift stores. It`s only a partial solution since, clearly, the fact that the clothes I`m buying are secondhand does nothing to erase the reality that many if not most are sweatshop products to begin with. And I have to say, with the clothes I already have, it`s not like I actually NEED any new ones anyway. But it`s a gesture all the same and the main benefit is that it`s really helped me cut out my previous knee-jerk, me-want-me-buy shopping impulses.”
Source: theguardian
BDST: 1124 HRS, APR 17, 2014
