General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Are you going to change your buying practices because of the Bangladesh building collapse? [View all]A Little Weird
(1,754 posts)I don't think the 377 dead factory workers can be considered fortunate by anyone's standards. I agree that we must do what we can to raise the bar for all workers but what we have been doing so far is not working - it is not helping them.
Unfortunately at the point of purchase, a company's compliance record is not readily available. A label of origin usually is, so that is what I go by. I can do more extensive research for online purchases and in that case, I may purchase a product from a company with fair trade practices.
So I will do what I can to not patronize companies that allow this kind of crap to happen. There is only so much any one person can do. And I know that there are some less than stellar job situations in the USA but I think it would be a whole lot harder to have a factory collapse like the one in Bangladesh happen here. Obviously tragedies do happen - like the Texas fertilizer plant - but they are rarer. The Bangladeshi factory was cited recently for unsafe working conditions and yet they forced the employees to continue. A US factory would have been shut down.
I don't have the power to change much of what happens in the world. One of the few things I can control (at least somewhat) is my own spending habits. I will vote with my wallet and hope enough other people do the same to make a difference.