Opinion by Claire Reilly
The ABC’s Four Corners will tonight air an investigative program on Bangladesh’s troubled clothing trade and the issues brought about by overcrowded factories, exploitative working conditions and the unethical production of apparel destined for Australian shores.
Led by journalist Sarah Ferguson, the investigation follows the collapse of an 8-story factory in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka and the ramifications it has had for the rag trade both here and abroad.
As of 8.30pm tonight, we can expect that Australians will be asking a lot more questions about the bargain-priced clothing they buy in retail stores, and just how much they are willing to spend to ensure the ethical production of everyday goods.
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While the ABC has turned the spotlight on the fashion industry, the appliance and electrical industry has largely escaped scrutiny — can it do so for much longer?
These two industries are by no means the only ones to be affected by questions of cheap, third-world labour, but there are strong similarities between what happens every day in Bangladesh and what goes on in the factories that produce many of Australia’s cheap electrical appliances — similarities that the industry should take notice of.
Many appliances and electrical products sold in Australia’s big box and discount retailers are made in cut-price conditions, and it doesn’t take much scratching beneath the surface of Australian RRPs to figure this out.
If a toaster is being sold in Australia for $16, $19 or $24 (RRPs on the house brand models from Target, Kmart and Big W respectively), then moving up the supply chain one sees those prices cut away further and further as everybody gets their slice of the pie. So while a consumer might rationalise the act of buying a $16 toaster, they are more likely to be buying a $10 or $5 appliance when it tracks back to the appliance’s manufacturing origins.
And what kinds of conditions are appliances being produced in to achieve those prices? Certain high-ranking managers in the industry have some idea.
The head of a leading small appliance brand once told me about a buying trip he had taken to China some years before. The conditions were horrendous, he said. No safety procedures, no protective equipment, factory floors filled with workers who were pushed to their limits in terms of poor conditions, minimal resources and back-breaking hours.
Thankfully, this executive made the decision then and there that no discounted price in Australian stores was worth the conditions faced by workers on these foreign shores.
But cheap products continue to make their way to Australia, and a quick glance through the ACCC’s recalls website shows that these appliances are not always of the highest standard.
Most importantly, these products are not simply spirited away from the factory floor and sent to Australian shores by the stork. There are Australians that go overseas on fact-finding missions, buying trips or factory tours and do the research on the appliances that will eventually bear their brand name or come into their store.
It is not possible for every retailer, every shop assistant or every consumer to visit a factory in China, but as consumers or members of the retail industry, we all rely on those near the top of the supply chain to make the right choices for us.
For those people, it sometimes becomes a question of justifying harsh working conditions and cheap production for the final price tag. Some would question this on an ethical level, but even those singularly-minded business types would question what they’re losing by sourcing such products, in addition to a couple of dollars off the selling price.
Ethics aside, if your products are poorly made, you stand to lose brand equity, consumer trust and regulatory approval.
Tonight’s Four Corners program won’t be a warts-and-all exposé of the electrical appliance trade, and for that reason, this industry may have dodged a bullet.
However, it won’t be long before Australian consumers start to question why their products are so cheap, and start looking for answers about how their products are sourced. There will always be consumers for whom the price tag is the most important factor in an appliance purchase but there are others that want to know that their products aren’t brought about by exploitation in a third-world country.
And for all the ad campaigns that appeal to ‘hard working mums’ looking for low prices, maybe it’s worth thinking about the mothers working hard in other countries, under incredibly tough conditions, just to make sure we can have our morning toast.