Source: NDTV
After the reading the article, I can’t say that I’m not pleased to hear that someone such as Mr.Niedermaier wants to provide safe and ethical working conditions to workers that produce our everyday products. There have been so many tragic stories in the past few years, from the Rana Factory collapse in Bangladesh which left thousands of injured workers destitute, to the frequent suicides at Foxconn’s factories which produces Apple’s iPhones. A change from profits to ethics in the global market would definitely be welcome.
However, I can’t say I’m not skeptical about the plan Mr.Neidermaeir proposes. For one, the positive impacts of ethical factories will only be achieved if their products have mass market appeal, which means not transferring additional costs to consumers. Mr.Niedermaier claims to be able to do so, but provides no plan. Additionally, it seems highly unlikely that companies would be willing to cut their profit margins just to be ethical. Therefore, I disagree with Mr.Niedermaier that “corporations and capitalist incentives are better mechanisms to change things” as corporations will not change unless given pressure by their consumers. As long as consumers continue to buy products produced unethically, there will be no hope for the workers.