Worker Safety

Recently we discussed some political and economical challenges involving the balance between safe working conditions and affordable products.  Below is an alert giving an example of what can go wrong when worker safety is undervalued. 

I don't believe it's right to have unsafe working conditions, mistreating both workers and customers, just to make a handful of people extra wealthy.  I believe that workers should have safe conditions, and that people should have jobs paying them enough that they can afford to buy products from factories that practice good worker safety.  I believe that employers and investors should make a fair profit, not skim their company's money so much that it has insufficient funds to operate safely.  I don't want to be stuck wondering if the clothes I wear cost someone their fingers, or their life.  I believe that this goal is attainable, because there have been good times in the past and there are still companies that manage the balance.  We need to study the successes so we can spread them -- and we need to inform companies that we will not tolerate  reckless homicide in pursuit of profit.

Workers Burned Alive

Last week, a massive blaze in a multi-story factory in Bangladesh killed
more than two dozen people. The workers were burned alive when an easily
preventable fire broke out in an unsafe sweatshop. Several of the exits
were locked.

Most of the victims were young women who earned less than $2 per day
making clothes for the well-known American brands that many in the
developed world will soon see under a Christmas tree: Abercrombie & Fitch,
Osh Kosh B'Gosh, GAP Inc., Wrangler jeans, JC Penney, and Target.

This isn't an isolated incident, so a coalition of Bangladeshi labor
rights groups are organizing around the disaster, demanding that these
companies launch thorough, independent safety inspections of all
multi-story factories and provide just compensation to the victims and
their families.

They've asked for our help, saying that a huge outcry from American and
European consumers will be a big boost to their call. Please add your name
to the growing list of Change.org members standing with these
organizers.

Labor rights activists have long called on U.S. brands to pressure their
Asian manufacturers to improve safety conditions.

This past April, groups like the Maquila Solidarity Network and the Clean
Clothes Campaign specifically called on major clothing brands to
thoroughly review safety standards in multi-story factories, just like the
location of this recent fire.

But they’ve asked for your help because they know that consumers will
play a huge role in getting multinationals like Gap and Target to change
their behavior. It's moments like this when the growing Change.org
community can play a critical role in tipping the balance.

Please sign the petition now.

Every time a new person signs the petition, senior officials responsible
for each company's Global Supply Chain will automatically get a direct,
personal email. So once you join, will you forward this to friends and
family, and post on Facebook, so that they hear a global outcry?

Thank you for taking action,

- The Change.org Team