Is Cheap Chic going to eat itself?

[gardenpea]

I live in the Philippines, near a big export procesing zone and people who manage to get a job there are considered lucky for landing a job which even pays minimum wage. Jobs are pretty hard to get by nowadays here so while the conditions might not be optimal, they at least have job with a minimum wage and I'm sure they wouldn't call it slavery. I'm not sure about the conditions in China though.
And while I can understand that buyers from the States don't want to promote exploitation, if the boycotts do manage to make a dent in the sales, the most likely thing to happen would not be better labor standards but the end of outsourcing which would mean the loss of jobs for thousands of Filipinos.
I think

It's very interesting to have your point of view regarding this. A few years ago I had decided to boycott those 'sweat shops' brands but I also started to investigate on the net. Only to find out exactly what you say. Boycott would only lead to the loss of jobs for people working in these factories even working in revolting conditions from a 'westerner' point of view. The action that was advised was not to stop buying from Gap and similar but to gather and make pressure on them to make sure workers are working in fair conditions. I guess some organisations did manage to make some brands change their attitudes. I believe in this kind of actions. But this is my opinion of course.

 

[Lena]

i honestly dont want to make anyone upset here but.. there are so many jobs being lost in europe and usa due to western companies outsourcing for cheaper wholesale prices..
what about the recently unemployed workers in the eu/usa manufacturing industry?
who cares about those guys and their loan loaded families ?

 

[tott]

An other point of view is that, in some businesses, companies outsource to other countries because they simply can't find skilled labour domestically... Few people nowadays are interested in studying or training to work on the factory floor... Everyone wants to work in the media business or something it seems.

 

[Lena]

^ true this can also happen tott, but its a vicious circle really.
locally the industry lost 60.000 work places to outsourcing (Balkans/China) during the last 4 years and we are a small country.
this means all those well trained people are without a job plus when the tide starts turning there wont be any 'local' industry knowledge to re-built thee fashion industry on

i'm not against globalisation or cheap products but the socio-economic effects are much more serious than it seems at first glance.
i find it too dangerous depending on cheap labour products manufactured elsewhere.
can we imagine what could happen to western economy if for some reason China suddenly decided to stop exporting to the west? nightmare on the high street (and not only)

 

[caragwapa]

^ That's a good point. Even here, most of our clothes are imported from China. The ones that we manufacture are sold in the U.S.
The backlash against outsourcing due to the loss of potential jobs in the Western countries is understandable. On our side of the globe though, I believe a large part of our economy is dependent on outsourcing (whether manufacturing or customer care). And while it pains me, personally, that we are making clothes that most of us will not be able to afford and that our talents are utilized by other counties before our own, well... With the way our economy is going, we can't exactly be choosy.

 

[mellowdrama]

Okay it’s been 17 years, time to resurrect this thread with this site’s own material
Here's Why To Consider Reducing Waste With Our Fashion Choices - theFashionSpot