Why I never shop at Wal-mart: think before you shop

I've written about the Bangladesh deaths before: Outsourcing - at what cost? Lives. Fair wages for Canadian workers.

What do you
believe?

The costs are dear: Bangladeshi garment factory death tolls passed 620, but it is an old lesson, as  yet unlearned, as profits trump humanity.

Amazingly, there was a terrible factory fire in the US in 1911. Working 14-hour days, with a 1/2-hour break, this states the case for paying fair wages, and demanding fair working conditions. The doors were locked to prevent workers from stealing materials, and to keep out labour organizers. The fire escape collapsed. The fire began 15 minutes before shift's end, lasted 30 minutes. The ladders were 4 stories too short to rescue those at the top.

For those who visit stores like Cheap-mart, I ask you to reconsider.
For those who complain about unions, I ask you to consider the value of employing our citizens and lives lost over buying a $9 t-shirt. 

The video is gruesome, with footage of those who jumped to their deaths in order for their loved ones to have bodies to bury, and remains easily identified. The working conditions are terrible.

Gap and Old Navy in Bangladesh: cheating the poorest workers in the world

Thousands of garment workers at Next Collections factory in Bangladesh work well past 10 p.m. every day -- sometimes until 5 a.m. -- making children's skinny jeans and leggings for Gap Inc.'s Old Navy stores.

From Trapped in a Whirlpool:

t-shirts

First a little history on the Shirtwaist fire: ....Triangle Shirtwaist fire that claimed the lives of 129 women and 17 men,some as young as 14. When fire broke out that fateful day, 1911, it spread quickly from one pile of fabric to another.

• Owners of the factory paid the families of each of the victims $75
• The insurance company paid the owners, Blanck and Harris about $60,000 more than the reported losses (about $400 per casualty)
• In 1913, Blanck was once again arrested for locking the doors in his factory during working hours. He was fined $20.

This is an excellent video. 



From Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights
GAP kid's jeans sell for $26, while workers in Bangledesh live in abject poverty and earn 28 cents/hour.