Justice versus Conscience

I can’t believe some people complain about how expensive fair trade clothing is. No shit, it should be 3x more expensive than the average clothing we have now, just like it used to be generations ago. The developed societies should begin to get used to buying less clothes for a more expensive price so tens of millions of people can have a fair standard of living for the work they do to make the clothing. No one deserves to work half the day at 30¢ an hour.

I remember learning about this in geography last year, focusing on Rana plaza in Bangladesh. It was a real eye opener and made me think more about the clothing purchases I was making. Please think more carefully the next time you go out to buy new clothes!Blood, sweat, and potential loss of lives may have gone into a garment

Great film. Great story. Glad to see a company like Patagonia leading the change.

This is overwhelmingly uncomfortable to the deepest inner part of my self, As an American i see how we consume and consume continuously with little to no awareness of where all our stuff comes from with no intentions on giving back to the people who live to die making all of the things we use and consume in our daily routine of life. Half of the stuff gets thrown to rubbish that these people work so hard everyday for us to have and only for pennies… For us here in the US we barely have a tbought of these hard working people. We Must Do Better.

Great initiative, I think. Although, it’s interesting to consider Fair Trade (the concept and the company) as a neoliberal concept– solving a problem with individuals rather than by pushing governments and other legal bodies to outlaw atrocious business practices. And the result of that is that you and I, the consumer, must pay more money for workers to not suffer, rather than the State rejecting garment industry lobbying money and making it illegal for American companies to do business with shady supply chains.

Seriously eye opening. I really hadnt thought about where all these clothes come from

“social responsibility” should be the first thing all we need to understand and keep practicing.

Omg I see my lovely mother in all the womens in the video coz my mom worked 18 years of her life in the textile factory in india and trust me the conditions are worst than the video but at last it’s pay her today we have a small two room house in delhi and little money also I m going to college coz of my only lovely mother maa I love u 😢😢😢😊😊

YouTube’s most inspirational channel, keep up this amazing work and content! This channel can change the mindset to many individuals all around the globe in a positive way!

Hello, I really like this channel, the videos are very informative. I wanted to ask: Can you allow the option for viewers to add subtitles in their respective language? I’d like to translate some of your videos to Russian.

“It’s all about hope…” More power to those who strive for a more just society.

I am Sri Lankan , living in Qatar and.. I didn’t understand much about this problem till today.. most of the clothes say where they are made in and things so.. yeah & this video was amazing.. this channel deserves way more subscribers!

Thank you so much Great Big Story for making such an eye-opening documentary. I am ready to pay more and will surely buy Fair Trade Products. More and more companies need to get onboard, if money is what is takes for people to have a better life, I am ready to pay more.

I would love to work for Patagonia. I have been in the supply chain field for a few years and the practices of the clothing retailers that I have worked for have really turned me off.

This is excellent. My grandmother is generous when it comes to purchasing Fair Trade goods and chocolates; I’m glad she is because Fair Trade goes a lot further than just it’s label. I was in Vietnam back in May for a course project with the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation. While in Hanoi, I came across a Fair Trade store, Chie Design. There are three stores in close proximity in Hanoi. I seen it while walking down the street and I’m glad I made a stop and a purchase. I decided on two cotton elephant toys, which the young woman running the store said they were made in northwest Vietnam, and even showed me the tag indicating the location and the name of the person who crafted the toy. Each elephant was 340,000 Dong, or ~$15.18 (USD) at the time. Yes, these were clearly more expensive than similar cotton elephants being sold across the street, although I knew this was more than worth it. If you’re ever in Hanoi check it out. I believe our next step to help encourage Fair Trade could be with YouTubers since they all want to have their own clothing line.

Thank you so much for speaking out about such an important issue. Together we can create change! Well done.

They’ve heard us, we finally have longer videos!

We should pay them based on what cost of living is in their respective countries. Cost of living is less in countries where many clothing manufacturers have been going to manufacture their stuff. 15 dollars an hour (the living wage people seem to argue for in the US) would make someone extremely rich in, say, Bangladesh where cost of living is literally multiple times cheaper than in the US (housing for example is around 1000% cheaper, literally). It would be like suddenly paying garment workers in the US enough to buy a Ferrari and mansion. A lot of people in the US would be like, screw working and getting an education as a doctor or engineer, I’m going to work at the garment factory. You would totally F with the local economies and incentives to work in high education/high skilled jobs.

Tbh these garment factories have created so much employment opportunities here in Sri Lanka and gotta say the conditions have also significantly improved. But the wages are pretty low specially when compared to the rising inflation and pandemic.

GREAT ART, thanks Patagonia… I wish others feel the responsibility for their fellow human beings

I feel ashamed of myself. I’ve never really considered the people behind the products, only purchasing the cheapest even though I have money i’m able to spend. I’ll definitely be looking more into the products I buy, and wholeheartedly supporting fair trade from today onwards!

my family has been running a garment factory for a very long time, almost 20 plus years in main land china, we are actually struggling trying to sustain our factory due to higher labor cost. Our factory in china are now under very heavy law to ensure the quality of the workers are up to standards, nothing like the one in the video. But to be honest, from the buyer perspective, no one really cares about “Fair trade”, hopefully this “fair trade” deal can help out. hopefully …

Patagonia makes quality gear, often fair trade. prAna is another fantastic brand that has a number of fair trade products. They aren’t super cheap but I am a big fan of their clothes and that their labor practices and company philosophy are supportive of fair trade.

I am from Sri Lanka and I have seen a lot of people working in the Garment field but for me 70% of them look happy because the admins treat them right in here.

I find it crazy how many average americans dont know what goes on. Sweat shops are horrible some are raped, abused, and they work 12 hours for a few dollars. Walmart, Aeropostale, and all those companies do this. We need to protect these people as well for where they live this is one of thr best jobs they can get. Something needs to happen

inspirational.. i hope many more companies follow this path..

It’s ironic how the most glamorous industry have the darkest secrets. The fashion industries frequently have teen models being pressured into having sexual relations which authorities higher and more powerful. The garment industry have workers on as low as two dollars a day.

Totally support this I hope more companies will sign with care trade I don’t want dear or have things while others paid so little there reason I stay as way from them like ZARA

Wow! A 13 minute long Great big story vid! I’m in for a treat!

I used to live near marikina city(philippines) in the 60’s quality shoes were made there and was imported around the world. When china started their sweat shops the orders for our shoes decllined. Until now, the small industries making shoes there are trying to lower their price to compete with china made products….

There’s something about the words of the interviewees sort of feel hollow. This video does a lot to evoke pathos by showing the clean perspective of fair trade. But I can’t help but feel there’s a lot left unsaid. In the case of other clothing brands that claim fair trade I find it troubling how difficult it is to actually research the conditions of factories. I also find it troubling that American companies would source work from outside of the us. Of course some money is better than none of countries in the global south if their economy is stunted for whatever reasons. However, these American companies have trouble having factories in the states because then they would have to pay a fair wage and reduce profits. The fact remains that the global north, US Europe benefit from outsourcing labor. Capitalism thrives off of cheap labor. I love this push for something better but I am weary of accepting it as a solution and forgoing a critical eye on how clothes are made even in some of the most conscious companies.

I’ve heard once how clothes made, but never the effect on the people who makes the clothes. I wish that I could give, but all that I can do is spread the word and hope for the best.

I’ve learned more on this channel than school 😂😨

WHAT WOULD I DO WITHOUT YOU BIG STORY! EVERYDAY WHEN IM ON THE TOILET YOU ALWAYS HAVE VIDEOS FOR ME TO WATCH. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

Really touching, hope our generation will incorporate these beliefs in their work-life

Hey I remember when y’all only had 200k subs. Good for you guys

Amazing! Everyone deserves dignity…

WoW 😍 😍 Cool it’s My Country 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka happy 😊 to see it… I miss my Country .. 😔

I gladly wear hand me downs and if I want new clothes, only buy fair trade. But you gotta triple check to know for a fact it isnt some “gluten free” or “free roam” gimmick but real. If you don’t, its not different in ordering 5 big macs and a diet coke because your on a diet.

Correct me if i am wrong, but i think it all comes down again to us that actually busy the product. The companies are just making what we want, and that is high quality product with the cheapest price possible

INo doubt that these workers should be payed more, but how do we guarantee that fair trade actually benefits the workers? Couldn’t employers just pocket the extra cash? I don’t have any ready evidence for this, but I’ve read that the outcome for fair trade workers is identical to non-fair trade (could be wrong, I’m willing to consider other options).

Making clothing more expensive and guilt-triping people into buying it is not an effective solution to the problem of fair trade.

Here in Bangladesh the textile industry is ranked 2nd coming after china there is a high chance that the clothing you are wearing might just be Bangladeshi the only reason thats a fact is because of widespread poverty and thats kinda sad to think about but we need to improve and make a better life for these people

I want to establish a brand that supports my workers

Does anyone have a list of fair trade factories, manufacturer, wholesalers for clothing and accessories?

Who else cried or is it just me? It’s cause I have been there. I know what it feels like. Inshallah these 2 billion people have a better life.

A lot of people say don’t buy cheap clothing but sometimes we have no choice? We don’t all have the money to do this and we’re basically forced to contribute to this.

just to be clear, this is about a company, looking for recognition from western customers, for providing 1st world conditions at work, at their 3rd world factories. why are the factories in 3rd world countries to begin with? this is like paying slaves back pay, & looking for a pat on the back from the world. im forced to ask, why are you so proud youre now paying slaves??? because once not long ago, you didnt. this is no different, its good NOW theyre doing better, but this isnt sustainable, profits win out.

OH MY GOD. WHAT A BEAUTIFUL STORY.

The moment you dont need any subtitles to understand what she say 😊😊😊😊 im from sri lanka

I don’t care about the extra cost for free trade, as long as the workers are treated up and above standard

805 putting in work proud of Patagonia 🙏💯✊🏽✊🏽🇲🇽✊🏽💯💯🙏🙏

Fair trade.. really fair enough. Bravo.

This is crazy, and eye opening to me

Ever time is the same , high taxes, very regulamentations, prices control, the state is the problem!

Free Trade is Fair trade. These people working in other countries aren’t victims, they are working the highest paying job they can get. They take the risk of a factory collapsing in exchange for higher wages.

It’s a supply and demand labour market. It’s sad, but improvement takes time as wages slowly rise. Europe was just as bad in its early industrialization. Moreover, the safety standards in industry lies with the sovereign state, not the white man.

Spin. Garment workers in this video surrender their opportunity for advancement in exchange for whatever the factory decides is the most wage they’ll pay. No union, no collective bargaining, no leverage to avail themselves of health care, education and time off.

This is as dumb as the minimum wage argument. While I agree that these people were born into unfortunate circumstance with very few opportunities, especially relative to westerners, calling non-fair-trade factories anything more than an opportunity is misleading. They pop up in these environments and offer people a job, which to many is better than their opportunity cost. Working is a consensual negotiation and not exploitative. These people are victims of circumstance, not the factories. Fair trade practices would make labor more expensive, and lessen the labor supply, therefore putting many of these factory workers out of a job. While we can agree that from our western perspective that what they currently have is a terrible job, it’s better than no job. Raising labor costs would put these people on the streets, which is worse than having a terrible opportunity.

I don’t get it why people turn blind eye to these people who are still in this day and age suffering to make their living.

Beautiful video 🙂

I wonder how fairly one’s paid for making a 130$ Patagonia sweater.

Spin. Garment workers in this video surrender their opportunity for advancement in exchange for whatever the factory decides is the most wage they’ll pay. No union, no collective bargaining, no leverage to avail themselves of health care, education and time off.

Beautiful film!

heart touching…

The fact that this doesn’t reach millions of views is unfortunate.

This is what capitalism has done. Fair trade is a part of socialism, where it takes care of the people who works instead of abusing the people at the bottom.

Fair trade everything please. Thank you Patagonia.

It’s not that we’re so selfish we don’t care about the workers, but that the average person only has a limited budget to spend. I’ll pay a little more for fair trade but I still have a limited budget. I buy fair trade and sustainable dog treats. They are made with crickets which do not need a lot of water, or space, and they are high in protein. A bag this size is typically $8, I pay $10 for them to be sustainable but I don’t have $15 to spend on a bag of dog treats.

Brilliant God bless all these fine people in Jesus name..

Main problem is unemployment around cheap labour factories. Everyone will work even for smallest amount of money, becuse they haven’t got any alternative. If someone break a leg boss can kick him out and get new worker. Just like Europe in our grandfathers days.

Outsourcing clothing production to another country isn’t a Noble thing, even if it is fair trade.

thanks so much for sharing very good video!

All America Brand clothing – 100% US made of US materials, no need to worry about fair trade. Their jeans you can see the field the cotton was picked and meet the farmer. You can see what dye factory it went to Go Athletic Appearal – technical fabrics all 100% made in the USA

If you don’t want to work in a sweatshop, then quit. Simple as that. And for those parents that promise their child’s labor away at a young age, these lower-society countries should start cracking down on this behavior if they think it’s unacceptable.

i will only buy fair trade certified. the greed of the few, at the expense of so many, will end someday. change is inevitable, and Love is the only constant.

That’s why I own 20 articles of clothing.

The sad truth is that so much work has been done to better the pay and condition in Bangladesh, but those evil company just moves to a different country to do the same things.

Companies are making huge profit. They make clothes nd all at very low wage of 3-4 $. Nd sell them at 15-20$. Nd if these organisations help to increase the wage then companies will increase their prices nd then how comes there a fair trade. I don’t know if i m telling right but to me the wages need to be fixed in every country nd hope so every one will be benefited…

Corporate greed and cheap labor is sad in it’s self but something that makes me sick to my stomach are people’s outlook on life. The intro of this video says it all. Some would kill their own dog for some jordan’s and an instagram like. Are these materialistic things the most important thing in Life? Absolutely not. People now put materialistic things and their pride before God. These are not the important things people. Repent now for the Lord is returning. Live for him as he died for you. Turn away from sin and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. This is what’s important. Your ultimate goal should be getting into heaven, not having earthly treasures and flexing on instagram.

Spin. Garment workers in this video surrender their opportunity for advancement in exchange for whatever the factory decides is the most wage they’ll pay. No union, no collective bargaining, no leverage to avail themselves of health care, education and time off.

Just buy your clothing used… I mean clothes last for ever my god, theres no difference… but no!! you HAVE to buy “in season” clothing that is made from unicorn butts…

Well I don’t buy new clothes period…everything I get is used from thrift stores…so I suppose I’m not supporting sweat shops…

I hope it gets better for them

eye opening.

we need to face reality and learn how to make better

Goosebumps

Fair trade only for the business men

I mean how much more would it take for a big name brand company to give more back than they do? They make millions if not billions on these brands and are very greedy. Its sad cause they can actually afforrd to pay damn near $10 an hour to these people, it may sound extreme but believe me i know they can.

I’m quite young and am scared of my future. Will I be rich, or die out in the streets.

If they really wanted to be fair then they should have started off with where they got all that material to make those fleece? Yes Taiwan but who and how? Were they got all the equipment too.. where was it made ? Where did all come from? From the very beginning please.

How can I help the fair trade industry?

Way to go!

Shovel some misery at it, you can do great things. Iphones, Pyramids, rail tunnels. And cheap shirts. God damn, I love a good cheap shirt.

Amazing film

Everyone is talking about “willing to pay”…. bitch I CAN’T pay. I am POOR. I can’t AFFORD those higher prices. I buy cheap clothes not because I want to, but because I HAVE to. If I had any sort of economic choice I wouldn’t shop at Wal-mart for anything!! But I’m so poor that I can’t afford to shop anywhere else – well other than the fucking dollar store.

why would you dislike something like this

Time is coming for a global change. No longer will brands exploits third world countries without accountability. Customers and everyone in the supply chain and the country which manufactured goods are made to the country where goods are sold need the have polices in to encourage sustainable trade.

Don’t worry. In a few years a robot will be doing this job. 🙂

amazing video..

Spin. Garment workers in this video surrender their opportunity for advancement in exchange for whatever the factory decides is the most wage they’ll pay. No union, no collective bargaining, no leverage to avail themselves of health care, education and time off.

Thank you.

Epic!!

And then their jobs are replaced by automation….

What would these people be doing if they werent in the textile industry? Right, nothing. Some pay is better then none

Innocent women. My mother and my aunt used to work in a cashew nut factory. The women in this video look like them.

I understand these working conditions are terrible but just think of it what did these people have before this? Did they just have nothing and lived in more poverty but now they’re actually able to make money?

This is literally a patagonia ad lol

Im just know my life ia 50x so lucky thank you so much

People in USA and Europe will never work in these factory.they promote these kind of business you are customers

“About 70% are women and 22% are guys”. Wait…70+22=92…where’s the other 8%?

This is nonsense! People have a choice to not work in a factory, they can work in the field and even more difficult situations. These sweat shops lifted millions of people out of poverty in China. Think about it. It may seem to be harsh conditions to you but to many these are better than others options. A hundred years ago these same sweat shops existed in America and England.

I want better deals – fair price

People are giving Patagonia so much credit that they do not deserve. If they really cared about fair trade all their styles would be fair trade. Only 30% are. Their prices have always been ridiculous, but now they are just trying to make an excuse as to why. They are just as much part of this corporate greed like any other company. I have been to poor countries just like the one in the video. Giving people a low paying job is not immoral, why? Because the people are just glad to have a job. All fair trade does is adds American working rules to other countries. All other local jobs that do not have American influence will still be doing those “bad” things fair trade stops. It is a good thing these nicer factories are being made, but do not fall into Patagonia’s marketing trap.

Wait, so in other words, you are purposely spending on foreign labour as much as hiring domestic workers, to make it fair to foreign labour…. lol

Watcing this in a tech lesson, pog

sweatshops are terrible but so are the prices at patagucci, all you are paying for is the label and their big long ads like this one. HEY! dont you know about second hand thrift stores? they sell good clothes for cheap and you are not directly supporting consumption either. wow what a smart idea why didnt i think of that its so obvious thank you. no problem they have many names like savers, value village, goodwill, st. vincent. salvation army, etc. oh wow there is one right in my town i will check it out. you are welcome.

And that’s why I hate MNCs.

what will They eat if we fire all of them by not buying those cloths?

130.00 for a sweater is stupid we can make our products in America Better and cheaper and bring our jobs back to our own country

Alright, Patagonia, I will buy your product. You got me.

Did anyone else feel that they still live a horrible life even with fair trade?

this is an ad “bad factories” lmao

70 percent women and 22 percent men ?

Wow

GREED

Was watching one of ur vids when this came out

Except …it doesnt

Watch “free to choose “

Anyone else wonder why she has to sweep the garden?

This is such a BS. I am from Bangladesh. And the only reason my country is not poor anymore is because of the garments industry. Garments industry is not underpaid. People is leaving middle east jobs to work in bangladeshi garments factories. There are some bad industries. But most of them are very good. And we can buy hell of a lot stuff for $100 then what americans/westerns/middle easterns can afford due to cheap products in our market.

how come they don’t use forks

$ = ☠

school brought me here 🙄

Sri lanka produces lowest quality of garment goods.

Cool advertisement.

someone tell me why I had to do a school assignment on this?

oh wow very early

One of the first

10th like

First.

An early person

yee

It’s impossible to make it fair this is the life

why banana leaves to store food? how practical is it to use that daily? and why do they all eat with their hands?

Poor people. They even can’t purchase spoons and forks.

dislike because im a rightist and i dont like fair trade