Business ethics and social responsibility

Calls for Action after Garment Factory Collapse s Discussion Questions The tragedy that took place in Bangladesh and killed four hundreds of people leaving numerous of others unfound yet is a matter of working safety that was supposed to be ensured by the owner of the building (Boulden, 2013). His major responsibility is to provide appropriate safety and working conditions for the employees. All emergencies and accidents that occur due to the negligent attitude to safety are laid on the building owner, who is fully accountable for the factory’s collapse. The companies that buy from this factory should face consequences as well since claiming to be ethically right, they are supposed to be more aware about the ethical behavior of potential sellers and make their selection more thoroughly.
Primark and other retailers have a moral responsibility for monitoring the working conditions in the factories where they source their products because it is a matter of their own reputation also. The retailers should be also held accountable for the safety of the buildings where the factories are housed because they sell clothes that have been made in inadequate conditions, due to which people’s lives were lost. Therefore, by continuing to buy from the factory, Primark will be avoiding its ethical responsibility.
Taking into account such a terrible disaster, Bangladeshi government has not done enough to stop the poor conditions in the buildings. In my opinion, labor laws in Bangladesh must be held to the same standards as those in the United States, which are characterized with high effectiveness.
I totally agree with the approach of people who have called for a boycott of garments produced in Bangladesh. This will force factories to comply with basic levels of safety. However, boycotts of retailers may cause two consequences for people who work in those factories. On one hand, they will earn safety compliance and adequate working conditions, but on the other hand, with the lack of retailers, some factories will go bankrupt, therefore, workers may become unemployed. In addition to a positive influence of boycotts, moral action will raise utility; hence, workers with a proper safety are able to show higher productivity, which will also benefit the factory.
The salaries of employees on the factories in Bangladesh are indeed too low and Oxfam’s intention to stimulate the increase of average monthly payment is fair. It is a human rights violation to source goods from factories where wages are so low because such action supports underpayment of people. In case higher wages are implemented, this will raise prime cost of the products, which in its turn will affect the final price.
Reference
Boulden, J. (Presenter). (2013, April 29). Calls for Action after Garment Factory Collapse [Video podcast]. Retrieved from http://www. youtube. com/watch? v= vPCK3cAtzto/