Exploited labor

[simonm]

A sad reality.

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015 ... ited-labor

[GPSGuided]

I think there are realities out there us first world people don't fully appreciate. There are ideals and what's practical. What's important is that there are economic improvements, leading to fundamental changes there, similar to what 1st world nations have gone through in the century/decades past.

[Gadgetgeek]

I think that the more this sort of stuff is brought out into the open, the more companies can do to get the money into the hands of the actual labor and not into the parasites sucking from them. Its not going to be a fast process, but I think its important for companies to keep trying to make a difference, its just one step in a larger picture. At I feel better about companies that try, over companies like walmart and target who repeatedly just throw it into the "too-hard" basket or try to buy their way back into consumer good will.

[north-north-west]

Good on Patagonia for all the hard work they're doing on this issue. Sure, changing things will be slow, but it won't happen at all without companies like them pushing.

[GPSGuided]

I think the worst are the extreme activists who make it a show to force companies out of those areas. Without the work opportunities, those people (typically peasants from the countryside) have zero economic options to pull the region out of poverty, often extreme poverty. The issue of parasitic agents is a difficult one as the labourers are typically from the countryside and without the necessary resources to 'find' those factory jobs. Question is how those agents can be regulated. Otherwise, it's common to find a factory to be staffed by workers from the same village or locality. The introductions are often carried through word of mouth and often with relations.

[Nuts]

Agreed, the bigger picture of these issues can be beyond the comprehension of activists (for the issue or sometimes or moreso their role). Passion can be as limiting as ignorance. By the same vein, unionists and first world versions of exploitation, on behalf of workers, demanding unrealistic work conditions and rates of pay, shoppers who'll wait a month to save a buck.. for some POS delivered direct from the sweatshop. Then again, it is happening in AU, in construction, in 'sweatshops', most recently on farms: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-04/s ... rs/6441496 A dilemma? obviously one most choose to ignore, it does irk me a bit that this includes discretionary purchases by bushwalkers. Educated, aware, comparatively wealthy.

I tried to follow the fair trading policies/practices before purchase for some bulk items, it's always a consideration, but it only goes so far. Just to say, I find it hard to believe that any company (especially one marketing the good feeling) geared towards fair trade would not have had thought bubbles re: where the raw or component materials themselves actually come from.