Primark are not to blame for the 1 129 deaths in the Rana Plaza factory collapse. You are

Primark are not to blame for the 1 129 deaths in the Rana Plaza factory collapse. You are

On April 24, the cloying images appeared once more on our TV screens and in newspapers. Another Third World industrial disaster. Reminiscent of the Thane collapse in India earlier this year, and before that, the fires in factories in Lahore and Karachi, Pakistan’s two largest cities in 2012, it was an issue the West could scarcely ignore. Did you stare tragically at your cell phone, pondering the pointless loss of life? Of course you did. But there was a subtle resignedness there too; you felt a nagging sensation of the inevitability of the collapse. Rules aren’t followed, buildings collapse, people die. Corrupt governments squirm out of blame, and corrupter TNCs carry on making profits from cheap clothing. That’s the way it is, isn’t it? Always has been, at least for the last 40 years?

            There’s no harm in thinking that way. After all, its true. But what the news reel neglects to tell you, is that there have been 46 garment fire incidents alone in 8 months just in Bangladesh. Thus this is nowhere near an isolated problem. It’s not even of systemic proportions – it’s pandemic. Of course, there are those in the media who have been alerted to this problem. The outcry has come from far and wide – consumer and environmental groups, Pope Francis even, are justified in calling for fundamental changes in the way factories and the government legislate throughout the Third World. But for their many faults, TNCs are enacting much of this change, and have done so already. Laws to facilitate increasing of building regulations and the increasing power of workers through their unions to refuse unsafe working conditions are coming into prominence, if slowly amongst corrupt Bangladeshi officials. It’s not easy to refuse to work in a building, when that work is the only means of providing your next meal. But now the world has witnessed yet another high-profile atrocity such as Rana Plaza, more steps are being taken.

            So if TNCs are taking action to protect workers abroad, can they really be blamed for tragedies like this? More could be done, certainly, but who has the greatest motive to reform: companies with a vested interest to squeeze a profit out of Third World workers and Western consumers; or a government democratically elected and with direct responsibility for its people? I’m not suggesting of course that the TNCs are all forcibly evicted from developing countries with immediate effect. There is no doubt that the tertiary employment they provide is fast accelerating development and helping lift individuals and families from the deprivation and poverty of living in isolated, rural areas. And great strides are being taken to reform working conditions and pay. But it’s not enough. The person these companies are most responsible to is you, the consumer. It is your choice to purchase clothes produced abroad. And your choice to accept events such as Rana Plaza and move on with your life. With pressure on your behalf, and other ethically-minded individuals such as yourself, change can be wrought. It is the only way. These companies are starting to make the right changes, but they need your help – or force – to take it to the next level. Neither a capitalist-entangled Western government, or a weak and desperate Third World one. And certainly not a bureaucratic, death-by-committee EU. It is you who is needed to make the difference. Companies like Primark and Walmart are merely the channel for change. You are the one who can make it happen.

Thucydides - out.