Would you pay more for cotton?
 

I read the story on BBC news today. Would I be willing to pay more for cotton if it meant that parents didn't have to sell their children into labor? Woudl I be willing to pay more for cotton if it meant that children didn't die from exhaustion? Would I be willing to pay more for cotton if it meant that all cotton industry workers were ensured safe working conditions, equitable pay, and freedom from forced child labor?

You betcha.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16639391

I agree. Higher prices does nothing to insure safe working conditions for anyone. It just feeds on the greed of the factory owners who can make more with the same labor. I do not have the answers to the world's problems with child labor. Our own country does not have to go back too far when we had the same issues. How was it changed here? People willing to speak out and band together to stop such practices. And then laws.

Yes, it IS terrible....and it's a bad world out there in some places. There have been many documentaries about diamonds, computer parts that contain dangerous toxins for the people who take them apart for pennies, and on and on. There are also ethical companies that try to make a difference and who should be supported. But until we can devise ways to distinguish the good ones from the bad ones, there's not a lot we can do at the consumer level to effect a change. As atrocious as the wages and working conditions are, sometimes the people are quite happy to get any wage at all as that is the ONLY way to feed their families. Their governments either are unwilling or unable to address the problems.

Such stories are just like the ones that were part of our own country's history. Oppressive governments allow such condtions to exist and only pressure from outside forces like potential customers can bring about changes in labor practices. Unfortuneatley many are more interested in the "humane" treatment of animals and creatures of the sea than they are humans. Note the movements to "humanely slaughter animals for meat and the catching of fish in a way that doesn't injure dolphins etc. When it comes to humans we tend to turn a blind eye.
If someone starts a movement for the proper treatment and compensation of textile workers I am sure quilters would be willing to support their efforts. Letting manufactures know that we expect their products to be produced under healthy conditions could be the stick that gets their attention. In the mean refusing to purchase their products costs the workers much needed jobs.

Well put JaneH

first of all, due to the weather last year, we will ALL be paying more for cotton.... you will have to find other ways to address the problem of child labor, especially as many countries need for every able bodied person in the family to work in order to feed themselves, just food, not luxuries, just daily food. We all want a living wage for every worker, worldwide, but that is not the way things are... now we have to try to do what we can to help... my favorite donor program is the PlanUSA Gift of Hope. Our family has no small children right now so we moved to a 'Christmas Stocking' only program a few years ago. We all just buy something small for everyone else's stocking. And then we get together during Christmas dinner (or whenever our get together is scheduled, and we choose which animals we are going to donate this year. These range from $5 for chicks to milk cows ($200) and a pair of pigs ($290) and are donated to a family to help them support themselves throughout the year. Personally, I always vote for the goats... $75 for an animal that gives you milk, cheese, meat and hide, will literally eat anything available, and are actually wonderful pets as well ...that is a bargain. Personally, our group just chucks money into a big salad bowl when we enter the house and then we all vote on what to buy later. Sometimes, we only can afford one or two animals, and sometimes we have a big group at dinner and we can send several.... it works for us.
http://www.planusa.org/content156580...IzNzA2LA%3D%3D

Pay what you have to pay to support an artistic hobby that we all love. Do what you can for any program that you can to help the world economy.

If we could choose to purchase fabric that had been made from cotton raised by people who made a living wage, would we do it? It would be nice to have that choice, but they don't tell you the origin of the cotton, or whether the mill workers had safe wirking conditions. When fabric was still made here, at least we knew that fair wage standards and working conditions were enforced.

I imagine we will be paying more for everything in the near future with the way things are going now. I shudder to think what the next generation will have to go through. so, that means we all better get to sewing cause our kids probably won't be able to afford the batting much less the fabric when they grow up.