Failure to Respect International Labour Rights Gets a Country Suspended Trade Benefits

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Shame on Bangladesh.  Due to their alleged failure to respect international labour rights, U.S. President Barack Obama suspended Bangladesh's trade (export) benefits under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP).

This came about after the collapse of a building in Bangladesh that killed more than 1,200 textile and garment workers.

Read more:  Obama Suspends Bangladesh's Trade Benefits Over Labour Rights (the picture in the article says it all)

What Exactly Is Globalization?

We had The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy where an economist, Pietra Rivoli, examined the markets, power and the politics of world trade - sorting through and encouraging us to understand how free trade and protection have most certainly changed our world.

In the commentary recently published in The Wall Street Journal, The Economics of a $6.75 Shirt, Rubana Huq (managing director of the Mohammadi Group, a garment manufacturer and exporter in Dhaka, Bangladesh.), provides a detailed analysis of the economics of a $6.75 shirt made in Bangladesh and as it relates to Bangladesh's minimum wage.

The recent tragedies at several Bangladeshi garment factories have claimed hundreds of lives—and focused international attention on this important but often overlooked industry. Yet greater scrutiny has not led to greater understanding, raising the prospect that any proposed solutions will have serious unintended consequences for this industry and the four million people it employs. 

Read the entire commentary here (be sure to read the comments - very telling).

Photo courtesy:  ©2013 Laurel Delaney.  All rights reserved.  (Go global t-shirt - made in USA).

Got An Overseas Plant? Scrutinize Working Conditions.

Photo courtesy:  ©Laurel Delaney 2012, "Hat Made Anywhere, World"

It's 3:00 a.m. local time.  Do you know where your products are made?  What about the conditions in the factory -- have you visited it lately to witness firsthand?

If you are uncomfortable addressing these questions, you better read:

Factory fire in Bangladesh ignites scrutiny over working conditions, overseas practices.

Here's the drift:

The garment factory in Bangladesh where 112 people were killed in a fire had been making clothes for Wal-Mart, Disney, Sears and other major global retailers — some of whom say they thought they had stopped doing business with the place.

The apparent confusion underscored what some industry experts say is a major obstacle to improving factory safety in developing nations ...

Bottom line:  Monitor your supply chain!  If you don't know who is making your product and under what conditions, who does?