Social Action Post 2

The article “The High Price of Cheap Fashion” by Patricia Smith reveals where cheap clothes sold in America come from. Most of isn’t made here at all, but in foreign countries like Bangladesh, China, and Vietnam. The author shows how those countries produce clothing with such cheap prices. The conditions in Bangladesh, for example, are terrible for workers. Wages are very low, there are few regulations in factories, and workers are required to work long, hard hours. Recently, a factory in Bangladesh collapsed because of illegally added floors and machinery, killing 1,127 workers. It is unjust that people in America can buy cheap and trendy clothing at the expense and even death of workers in other counties. The economy in America and the other counties that is based on low wages and mass production is an injustice, especially because they keep down public awareness of the way the clothing is made.

Workers in Bangladesh and other big clothing-producing countries are living in a world of injustice, because their working conditions are so inhumane. According to the article, “Bangladesh has seen some of the worst practices in global garment history.” The wages are as low as $37 a month, which is approximately $2 a day. Countries like Cambodia and Indonesia also have low wages, about 50 cents an hour. Employees are required to work many hours in the unsafe conditions of sweatshops. A building owner in Bangladesh “illegally added extra floors and allowed the factories inside to install heavy equipment that the building wasn’t strong enough to support.” As a result, on April 24, 2013, the building collapsed and killed 1,127 people. For workers to work so hard for so little in unsafe conditions is not fair.

The big clothing brands that make huge profits off mistreated workers and the many consumers who buy their products are the ones who create injustice. Companies know cheap labor leads to cheap prices on clothing and higher profits. In China, workers’ paychecks have been steadily rising and major retailers are taking notice. Companies including Gap, Benetton, and Sears have shifted their production to Thailand, Indonesia, and Bangladesh. This motivates governments of other countries to keep wages low and invest less care in their workers. Consumers also play a role in the injustice suffered by workers. Americans have been gradually buying more clothing per year since the early 1900s. “By 1991, Americans were buying about 34 pieces of clothing a year,” Smith writes. “Today Americans buy on average 68 garments and eight pairs of shoes a year.” Clothing has changed from a long-term investment to a quick fashion that is discarded quickly. Companies that need to keep up are demanding more from their suppliers and probably worsening conditions of labor.

To provide some justice to those laboring dangerously every day, public awareness should be spread. If more people knew what’s behind the low price tags on their sweaters, they would buy fewer of them. If many people bought less from the stores, the retailers will surely notice and try to change. Perhaps the clothes here should be more expensive and the wages in other countries higher. Many people are already aware, such as Grace Donnelly, a college sophomore who now buys more “fair-trade” clothes. “At least you know the clothes you’re buying were made sustainably and the people that made your clothes were paid fairly,” she said. Even if no major changes have been made, everyone should know what went into their clothes and how hard it has been for those who made them. Although nothing can bring back the lives of workers who perished in Bangladesh, spreading awareness would bring justice one step closer for the people just like them still working for low pay in an unsafe factories somewhere out there.

Of all the clothing Americans buy, only two percent is actually made here. The majority of our clothing comes from countries like Bangladesh and Indonesia where workers endure unjust treatment, low wages and unsafe conditions. But it is all the customers who go through so much clothing who are pushing retailers to make more than ever. This brings injustice to workers because now they are being forced to work longer and harder for little pay. As a community, we need to spread awareness of this issue to strive for the rights and justice or laborers living the tough life. “The era of the $4.99 dress is not going to last forever,” said Cline, an optimist for reform. “Things are going to change.”