Good morning, dear reader,
it’s just a few mouse clicks away from the next bargain. A branded T-shirt from Benetton costs just 19.90 euros. 29.99 a knit sweater from the German Adler fashion stores. A pair of women’s jeans from C&A is available for EUR 39.99. You can throw away jogging pants from KiK for EUR 7.99 and children’s shorts for EUR 19.99.
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Yes, we live in shopping paradise. Even those who have to watch out for money can help themselves in this country in the fashionable land of plenty. So many beautiful items of clothing in the online shops and in the shop windows of the inner cities are spectacularly cheap. Is not that great?
No it is not. Not at all. Only those who leave not only their jackets but also their brains in the cloakroom can be happy about cheap prices for everyday clothes. Because what goes easy on our wallets exploits an army of workers on the other side of the globe, who sew together mass-produced textile goods in factories and “sweatshops” for starvation wages. We can only shop so cheaply because they get so little for their work.
This is not new, but today is a day to be aware of it. It is exactly ten years to the day since the factory complex frog square collapsed in Bangladesh. Afterwards it looked like a bomb had hit. But it wasn’t an explosion. The building was just dilapidated. 1,127 people died under the rubble, including many hundreds of textile workers. The images of the catastrophe went around the world. They became a symbol for the miserable conditions under which poor people in the Third World sew the pretty cheap clothes for us Westerners.
At that time, 32 fashion companies had textiles sewn in Rana Plaza or were associated with the production site. These include the brands mentioned above, whose clothes may also hang in your closet. Startled by public outrage, many companies agreed to pay compensation. But as so often in such cases, the money was only a brief consolation for most of the victims’ families. 200 companies also signed an agreement on fire and building protection. Inspectors examined hundreds of production sites and initiated some improvements. Since then, there have been fewer accidents in Bangladesh’s textile factories. A German default with the typical German name Supply Chain Due Diligence Act now requires companies to carry out regular checks. That also made a difference.
Still the problem is not solved. The factories may be safer now, but many fashion companies still pay low prices to local factory owners. Therefore, the exploitation of workers continues. Working conditions for many women have even deteriorated recently, reports Gisela Burckhardt from the women’s rights organization Femnet of the German Press Agency: “The work pressure has increased enormously. You have to produce more in less time.” Textile exports from Bangladesh have picked up after the factory collapsed ten years ago more than $42 billion doubled per year.
The equivalent of 69 euros per month is the minimum wage in Bangladesh. Too much to die, too little to live with dignity. More than four million textile workers struggle through life with this pittance; many have to go into debt. Human rights activists say: For a decent life would be 200 Euro necessary. But then all the pretty shirts, jeans and sweaters in the shops in this country would be up to ten percent more cost.
What do you mean: Would you rather buy a t-shirt if it cost 21.90 euros instead of 19.90, but you could be sure that those who sewed it together on the other side of the world could live comfortably? I guess your answer. Then all that’s missing is action.
It’s also fair
What’s next?
Chancellor Scholz, on the other hand, travels to the North Sea summit in Ostend. Together with the heads of government from Belgium, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Ireland, Great Britain, Luxembourg and Norway as well as the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, he is planning the expansion of wind farms in the North Sea.
Transport Minister Volker Wissing presents the results of the bicycle climate test. More than 245,000 cyclists from all over Germany voted on the bike-friendliness of their places of residence.
The railway workers have hardly reached an agreement with the railways when the next union comes around the corner with a strike: Verdi is calling on its members to go on a day-long warning strike at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport.
The Federal President is in Canada and is meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. The country is considered a role model when it comes to recruiting skilled workers and expanding renewable energies, and is a well-established democracy. Many German politicians would prefer a closer partnership with Canada to risky dependence on China.
