The collapse of a garment factory in Bangladesh where hundreds of people worked in appalling conditions, highlights the cruelties which are at the heart of our current economic system. When we buy clothes in a store on the High Street, we seldom reflect on the fact that, the only reason we can buy good quality clothes cheaply, is that the workers who make the clothes are often paid only pittance and work in very unsafe surroundings.
There has been a phenomenal growth in the garment industry in Bangladesh in recent years. Successive governments have promoted the industry because it is a major source of foreign exchange even though the wages for workers can be as low as $38 per month. Today, Bangladesh is the third largest exporter of clothes in the world after China and Italy.
However, the industry has been plagued with building collapses, fires and other accidents, despite promises from the government to improve safety standards. Just in November 2012, a fire in a clothes factory in a suburb of Dhaka killed more than 112 workers.
Some of the businesses which were located in the collapsed building included Phantom Apparels Ltd, New Wave Style Ltd and New Wave Bottoms Ltd. All of these brands are part of the New Wave group which sells clothes to retail stores in 27 countries, including Ireland, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Spain and the United States.
The factories produced clothes for JC Penny, Cato Fashions, Benetton and Primark. On Saturday, April 27th 2013, a group of protestors gathered outside Primark's shop on Oxford Street in London and demanded that Primark pay compensation to those who died and those who were injured. Murry Worthy from the campaign War on Want said that: "If Primark had taken its responsibility seriously, no one would have died."
Sam Maher, a spokesperson for Labour Behind the Label, said: "It's unbelievable that brands still refuse to sign a binding agreement with unions and labour groups to stop these unsafe working conditions from existing. Tragedy after tragedy shows that corporate-controlled monitoring has failed to protect workers' lives."
The ordinary consumer can also help bring about much needed changes in how goods are produced in economically poor countries. We should always check the brand we are wearing. Find out where the garment has been made and support groups such as Labour Behind the Label, who are challenging governments to take responsibility by forcing corporations to pay both decent wages and create safe working conditions for their workers.
Pope Francis has made concern for the poor a central focus of his papacy. Serving the poor means, not just giving them help for today, but asking why are they poor? This tragedy in Dhaka is surely a call to young Catholics to join justice, peace and ecology groups in their parishes and dioceses and educate themselves about the unjust way some clothes makers treat humans and the earth. It might embolden young Catholics to challenge clothes shops on the High Street to enter into binding agreements with workers in the garment industry in poorer countries, to ensure human rights are being protected and that we never again see another factory collapse.
Fr Sean McDonagh SSC is a researcher on Justice, Peace & Integrity of Creation (JPIC) priorities.