Workers’ rights

Large corporations operate in an industry model designed to work only for those at the top. Clothing brands rarely employ garment workers directly, the factory owner does that. This conveniently allows these companies to get away with exploitation on such a scale that the Kanlayanee workers are now forced to pick morning glory (water spinach) from the roadside just to have something to eat each day. They are living in abject poverty because some of the biggest global companies refuse to take responsibility.

Companies fear a ‘dangerous precedent’ being set: they do not want to be held responsible for how their profits and products are made and by whom. They insist that they are trying their best but their hands are tied, that they simply have no idea how exploitation got into their supply chain. The hole in this narrative is that the business model is built on exploitation.

The purchasing practices of brands pit factories against each other and make paying a living wage near impossible for factory owners.

The prices brands pay mean corners are cut on safety; their failure in due diligence means union-busting – undermining or destroying union presence within a factory – is common. The large companies’ irresponsible exits, such as Starbucks pulling out of the Kanlayanee factory after the abuse became public, often bring factories to bankruptcy in their wake.

Their shock when abuse is uncovered can be nothing more than an act because not only are they complicit in it, they cause it. The power is fully on the side of multibillion-dollar brands.

This is a tired old tale. It follows the same exploitative path well-trodden by countless multibillion-dollar brands before. There is, however, an extra twist of bitterness to this case because it involves two of the biggest names in children’s films, Disney and NBC Universal, companies whose reputations have been built on creating timeless films that have, at their core, a message with heart, showcasing triumph over adversity.

Why are the companies our children love so much, the ones who create the soundtracks to their childhoods, on the wrong side in this sordid tale of subjugation?

Excerpted: ‘Global brands, global exploitation’

Aljazeera.com