Comments on: Mind the GAP http://www.engtect.net/9 structural engineering Mon, 21 May 2012 07:52:35 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Rob http://www.engtect.net/9#comment-43 Rob Sun, 21 May 2006 12:37:44 +0000 http://engtect.net/9#comment-43 The child labour issue is not straight forward. It is difficult for the likes of us to understand the benefits of child labour in desperately poor developing economies because the way of life and social economics are so alien. For example if a teenager has a choice to earn money for their family or go hungry or turn to crime then working is the best option. Child labour, per se, is not morally wrong, in my opinion. What is wrong about child labour, and labour more generally, are health and safety problems, breaches of local law, faulty age documentation, excessive hours and unclear wage statements etc etc etc... My whistle stop tour of "child labour" by google teaches me that the benefits of <em>eliminating</em> child labour out weight the costs of doing so. All that is needed is money and belief. To return this (for want of a better word) discussion to GAP they did "terminate business with 136 factories" as mentioned in their 2003 social responsibility report (so I have just read). Also to be fair to GAP these are common occurrences in the garment industry. It is a nasty old world we live in. I was reading this morning an <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/05/green_credit_ca.php">article</a> at <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.treehugger.com/">treehugger</a> about using morally correct credit: "Those of us who depend on e-commerce to shop for much of the eco-hip fashion, gizmos and accessories featured in TreeHugger also depend on credit cards to make the transactions. Unfortunately many credit institutions are known to finance some rather un-TreeHuggeresque activities (like illegal logging and dirty gold mining), so even though the end (product) is good, the means (credit) we use to get there isn't so great." Anyway... Laura I am looking forward to your Bath visit with cheeky bee Han, see you then. x The child labour issue is not straight forward.

It is difficult for the likes of us to understand the benefits of child labour in desperately poor developing economies because the way of life and social economics are so alien. For example if a teenager has a choice to earn money for their family or go hungry or turn to crime then working is the best option. Child labour, per se, is not morally wrong, in my opinion.

What is wrong about child labour, and labour more generally, are health and safety problems, breaches of local law, faulty age documentation, excessive hours and unclear wage statements etc etc etc…

My whistle stop tour of “child labour” by google teaches me that the benefits of eliminating child labour out weight the costs of doing so. All that is needed is money and belief.

To return this (for want of a better word) discussion to GAP they did “terminate business with 136 factories” as mentioned in their 2003 social responsibility report (so I have just read). Also to be fair to GAP these are common occurrences in the garment industry. It is a nasty old world we live in. I was reading this morning an article at treehugger about using morally correct credit:

“Those of us who depend on e-commerce to shop for much of the eco-hip fashion, gizmos and accessories featured in TreeHugger also depend on credit cards to make the transactions. Unfortunately many credit institutions are known to finance some rather un-TreeHuggeresque activities (like illegal logging and dirty gold mining), so even though the end (product) is good, the means (credit) we use to get there isn’t so great.”

Anyway…

Laura I am looking forward to your Bath visit with cheeky bee Han, see you then. x

]]> By: laura day http://www.engtect.net/9#comment-42 laura day Sun, 21 May 2006 11:51:39 +0000 http://engtect.net/9#comment-42 Well...having worked for the Gap over xmas, I can safely say they still run sweat shops. Not only that, but you have the opportunity to donate a percentage of your earnings to the Gap children workers charity (no joke) to improve working conditions and ensure children are not employed when they shouldn't be! My friends famous comment to her line manager after she was told she had the job was 'is that guilt money?'. Needless to say, it didn't go down well! Also...side comment and all, but the clothes all come in boxes and each item is wrapped in a plastic bag. Some are so full and heavy, girls are not supposed to lift them, quite often, however, 6 boxes of about 1m2 and 20cm deep would contain...a single jumper (or varient). So either Gap is a brand name covering a mafia money laundering, or they actually do make enough money on sale items (cos who on earth shops there full price?) by 3rd world child labour! Well…having worked for the Gap over xmas, I can safely say they still run sweat shops. Not only that, but you have the opportunity to donate a percentage of your earnings to the Gap children workers charity (no joke) to improve working conditions and ensure children are not employed when they shouldn’t be! My friends famous comment to her line manager after she was told she had the job was ‘is that guilt money?’. Needless to say, it didn’t go down well!

Also…side comment and all, but the clothes all come in boxes and each item is wrapped in a plastic bag. Some are so full and heavy, girls are not supposed to lift them, quite often, however, 6 boxes of about 1m2 and 20cm deep would contain…a single jumper (or varient). So either Gap is a brand name covering a mafia money laundering, or they actually do make enough money on sale items (cos who on earth shops there full price?) by 3rd world child labour!

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