There’s no denying that everyone loves a good deal. Shopping online or in a major retailer for that $20 fry pan certainly evokes a feeling of monetary satisfaction, especially when shopping on a budget. But what if you knew that $20 fry pan was made by someone forced to work long-hours in unsafe and, quite frankly life-threatening, working conditions with next-to-nothing pay. Would you still buy it?
Articles such as this one by the International Business Times titled: Chinese Cookware Factories Rife With Abuse and Low Pay highlights how Chinese cookware factories that supply major Western retailers are plagued with low pay, labor violations, and poor working conditions. According to the article, “These abusive practices are utilized as cost-cutting measures to maximize profits for factories and, in turn, multinational buyers at the expense of workers” (International Business Times).
Even more, the article highlighted how these factories compromise the safety of workers by failing to provide adequate ventilation systems and proper safety equipment. Not only does this pose respiratory risks, which has serious implications for the long-term health of these workers, but it also is a fire hazard. In fact, in 2014 the aluminum dust accumulation of a factory in Kunshan City, near Shanghai, sparked an explosion that killed roughly 150 people.
The bottom line: The discounted price you pay for cookware is not worth the discounted working conditions in international factories that compromise the safety of people for corporate profits.
