This essay was written in the Fall of 2014, for an Expository and Argumentative Writing course at the University of Florida. In this essay, I evaluate the practices of oversees production by global apparel corporations with a concentration on the Bangladesh apparel industry.
Evaluation Essay
Corporate Responsibility
Concentration on Bangladesh Apparel Industry
Due to the poor infrastructure and lack of continual maintenance, the eight-story Rana Plaza building (garment factory located in Dhaka, Bangladesh) collapsed on April 24, 2013, killing approximately 1,100 employees. The Rana Plaza building was poorly constructed and as a result led to the catastrophe in late April. Factories in most third-world countries are infamous for poor working conditions because their main objective is to produce products in the cheapest and most effective manner. However, employee worker rights of fair wages, safe working conditions, and humane treatment should not be guided by the economic market; providing safe working conditions should be instilled through the corporation's social and ethical conduct, which is clearly stated within the guidelines of CSR(Corporate Social Responsibility).
In view of the fact that the clothing industry makes up 80% of Bangladesh’s exports, the success of the country’s apparel factories is imperative for the Bangladesh economy. Due to the homogenous type of work within the country, job variety within Bangladesh is very slim. As a result, most job seekers find work in apparel factories where they receive minimum pay for their time of work: 20 to 24 cents per hour, October 2013 census. The low hourly wages attract large western apparel corporations, such as Gap and Old Navy, to utilize Bangladesh as a channel of production because they can produce cheaply to keep retail prices low.(Campbell)
Gap, the largest specialty apparel chain in the U.S., allocates more than half of its apparel production to the Indian subcontinent; in particular, Bangladesh’s New Collections factory located in Ashulia has a prominent role in the creation of children's clothing.. Although Gap is receiving the greatest marginal revenue by employing some 3,700 of the cheapest workers at this location, the company is exploiting the Bangladeshi civilians in the process. Employees on average work fourteen to seventeen hour shifts, seven days a week, which results in work weeks of over a hundred hours. Additionally, management for Gap at Next Collections has been accused of defrauding employees out of their legal wages and benefits by distributing fraudulent pay stubs. In spite of the fact that employees work immoderate hours, the hourly pay is so substantially low that they cannot escape poverty. More often than not, workers and their families are starving because their paychecks cannot afford to buy enough food for an entire four week period; as a result, a large percentage of employees and their family members are undergoing a decline in their health statuses.
After the collapse of the Rana Plaza building, international safety inspectors arrived at the scene of the incident to decode the cause of the tragedy. While inspecting, official found “overloaded ceilings, exposed cables, too few fire alarms and sprinklers, and locked emergency exists” (Bhowmick). However, the catastrophe could have been avoided all together if the possible collapse warnings made by engineer Abdur Razzak were taken more seriously. The Tuesday prior to the accident, structural experts from BUET (Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology) performed a thorough risk assessment. The building was deemed unsafe after further complaints about cracks in the walls. Less than forty-eight hours later, the building started to concave. (80 Dead)
As stated by the ILO (International Labor Organization), global apparel corporations that outsource their production to Bangladesh assume the responsibility of ensuring a safe working environment for those who produce their clothes. Furthermore, under ILO, unsafe working conditions may include but are not limited to: improperly maintained equipment, failure to maintain working warning systems (e.g. fire alarms), lack of factory inspections, and poorly documented work injuries. (LaMance) Gap is contributing to the epidemic of modern-day slavery by not using their influence on the apparel industry to create a higher precedence for workers rights. Gap’s prominence on the economic society has the ability to ignite a revolutionary change to increase workers pay, create safer working environments, and eradicate the dehumanization of factory workers. By doing so, Gap will become the quintessential role model for the industrial market.
Ideally, an increase in working conditions would benefit not only the Bangladeshi people but all factory employees world-wide. However, some may argue that by allocated funds to increase the standards for workers, large corporations will not be able to employ as many civilians as they currently do. With a decrease in employment, the percentage of poverty will increase in most third-world countries because instead of receiving minimum monthly wages, more civilians will not collect a paycheck altogether. Economist, Salman Zaidi, of the World Bank’s Dhaka office agreed with the fact that the Bangladeshi workers “…need better safety [and] better treatment” but for most, especially women, “…these are still better jobs than most of the other possibilities.” (Fairclough) For women the garment factories are their best opportunity to contribute to the family’s income as well as escaping adolescent marriage because they are able to provide for themselves. Conclusively, the epidemic to reevaluate the current means of oversees production by large apparel corporation is evident within today’s society. Western corporations have a responsibility as employers to ensure the welfare and safety of their employees, both foreign and domestic.
Work Cited:
- Kennedy, B. (2014, April 23). The Bangladesh factory collapse one year later. Retrieved November 7, 2014, from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-bangladesh-factory-collapse-one-year-later/
- The Need for Social Justice. (n.d.). Retrieved November 7, 2014, from http://www.ilo.org/global/standards/introduction-to-international-labour-standards/need-for-social-justice/lang--en/index.htm
- LaMance, K. (2014, October 10). Unsafe Working Conditions and Imminent Danger. Retrieved November 7, 2014, from http://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/unsafe-working-conditions-and-imminent-danger.html
- Bhowmick, N. (2014, March 12). Bangladesh’s Garment Factories Still Unsafe for Workers, Says Report. Retrieved November 7, 2014, from Bangladesh’s Garment Factories Still Unsafe for Workers, Says Report
- 80 dead, 800 hurt in Savar high-rise collapse. (2013, April 24). Retrieved November 7, 2014, from http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2013/04/24/rana-plaza-collapse-32-dead
- Campbell, C. (2013, April 26). Dying for Some New Clothes: Bangladesh’s Rana Plaza Tragedy | TIME.com. Retrieved November 7, 2014, from http://world.time.com/2013/04/26/dying-for-some-new-clothes-the-tragedy-of-rana-plaza/
- Corporate Social Responsibility | As You Sow. (n.d.). Retrieved November 7, 2014, from http://www.asyousow.org/about-us/theory-of-change/corporate-social-responsibility/
- Minimum Wage Laws in the States - Wage and Hour Division (WHD) - U.S. Department of Labor. (n.d.). Retrieved November 7, 2014, from http://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/america.htm
- Fairclough, G. (2013, June 22). Factory Paychecks Trump Danger, Long Days for Bangladesh Women. Retrieved December 10, 2014, from http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324049504578543391644877374
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