Last night, HBO aired an episode of John Oliver's show "Last Week Tonight" that featured as its main segment a criticism of major clothing retailers for failing to ensure that their products are not being sourced from groups that behave in ethically problematic way towards their employees (ie sweatshops of those that employ young children). Here is a link to the video:
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdLf4fihP78>
One of the main criticisms that was levied was that companies are paying lip service to attempting to remove products made in sweatshops from their stores but don't seem to exert much effort in determining where exactly their clothing is coming from. I take it that most people think that employers have some moral responsibility to ensure that their products are not being made in a way that violates the rights of or is harmful to the workers that make them (I recognize from our in class discussion of similar cases that some of the class will not agree). The question is, to what extent does that responsibility extend out into complicated supply chains? How much effort must a company make to ensure that it's subcontractors are behaving in an ethical manner?
I think that companies can take more aggressive actions against sweatshops. Many companies like to boast about their actions,when in reality is little change. Profit is a motive for this, producing more for less money. Companies can have strict policies and more control over the process of production, this implies more costs, but it is a moral thing to do.
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