<p>“Walmart notified its suppliers in January of its tightened ‘zero tolerance’ standard for unauthorized subcontracting related to worker safety in Bangladesh and surrounding region factories.”</p>
<p>You do know that WalMart claims not to know who the subcontractors are - either authorized or unauthorized. </p>
<p>I have been to a clothing factory and, worse, a “shrimp-cleaning” factory (employing child labor) in Tamil Nadu. All of the children (all women) there came from families who had been landless laborers working the rice fields in Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur Distircts who had lost their employment when multinational corporations built thousands of prawn farms, which ended up polluting the estuaries, destroying the fish harvests, destroying the land. They have now all gone belly-up, leaving being a gray, moonlike wasteland. The girls go for what is called “taschli” labor - they are promised that if they work 14 hours a day after six years (they are bonded labor, and housed in horrible conditions), the company will give them enough money for a dowry to be married. To be fair, I should note have never met any children who have aged out. The hostels that I help support help rescue children who would otherwise be sold into bondage.</p>
<p>Wow, mini. I once wrote an article for a magazine on child labor in rug and match factories in India, but I have never read about the prawn farms. Very sad.</p>
<p>“Wow, mini. I once wrote an article for a magazine on child labor in rug and match factories in India, but I have never read about the prawn farms. Very sad.”</p>
<p>I edited and wrote an introduction to a book that is half about that - “The Color of Freedom”. This is a part of India I have been working in for 35 years.</p>
<p>Walmart knows who was involved in the November Bangladesh fire…unauthorized subcontractors. Walmart will not accept products made by the company.</p>
<p>Who claimed that they are? We all make purchasing decisions based on our individual and limited knowledge. No one is naive enough to think that Walmart is the only player in the cheap imports market. They are just the biggest. And because they are the biggest, their purchasing policies have a huge effect on retailing as a whole. Some people like it and others do not.</p>
<p>Living in the South we thankfully have Publix. If you have never stepped inside a Publix before you are missing a great experience. I live about a mile away for two locations. </p>
<p>We don’t do Wal- Mart because of location. Living on a barrier island means that we would have to cross the ditch (the Intercostal) to get to one. Publix is so much nicer and we also have a Target out at the beach.</p>
<p>Want to create real problems in China, India, etc–close the plants. Send the workers back to do what exactly? I’m sure their governments would thank you.</p>
<p>I still like New Balance shoes and buy them because they have a large toe box and that’s good for my feet. I make an effort to try and buy clothing/shoes made in the US, but it’s really difficult. A few years ago, I was at the LLBean store in Freeport, Maine. I noticed that every single piece of clothing I picked up was made overseas. I bought socks and as I was checking out, I mentioned to the cashier that I hadn’t seen any clothing made in the US. She told me the only items in the store from the US were a few food items, chino pants, and the canvas LL Bean bags.</p>
<p>Yes, not all of their shoes are made in the US. Just look for the ones with the US Flag on the box. I think that about half are made here. In the Brighton, MA store, the factory outlet was actually attached to the factory! The store moved down the road a bit and I haven’t been to the building where the factory is/was. I assume that the store in Lawrence was adjacent to a New Balance factory too. I should go and look this up. At least you have a choice with New Balance. I don’t know of any other athletic shoe companies that make their products in the US.</p>
<p>Here’s a video of their Lawrence, MA factory operations:</p>
<p>Employees make $10/hour with health benefits (not sure what that entails). They employ 475 in Lawrence and 314 in Brighton. The employees with automation can produce five shoes in the time that it takes an Asian worker to make one.</p>
<p>No! Those employees are all ADULTS, get one or two days a week off; an OSHA certified/inspected/approved working environment, mandatory breaks and a subsistence living wage. </p>
<p>Not even remotely like a 3rd world sweatshop.</p>
<p>“Take the example of Wal-Mart WMT +0.77% . In just the past two years, the company reports that it has cut the costs to its consumers of fruits and vegetables by $2.3 billion and reduced the amount of sugar in its products by 10%. Wal-Mart has also opened 86 new stores in underserved communities and launched a labeling program that helps customers spot healthy items on the shelf. And today, the company is not only seeing increased sales of fresh produce, but also building better relationships with its customers and stronger connections to the communities it serves.”</p>