#1 Dragonhead
Can't argue with you,i know we as consumers want our good as cheap as possibe but not at any price surely,oh and by the way my wife thinks you sound sexy, good news i get her out of rehab next week,cured i hope.

Yesterday, Asda said it would investigate the claims.

Having recently watched a documentary on Walmart's business practises I can have no confidence in such a statement to be anything other than a smokescreen.

#1 dragonhead

we dont see your governement doing much to improve the workers conditions, they are totally complicit in all actions by foreign employers in your country.

What about over priced tat made in sweatshops for moaning michelle . Any one know if she stuck to her promise to sell her house and move her business out of scotland if wee eck became first minister?

I do anything I can to avoid buying items that are made outwith the EU. It's very difficult to do so and occasionally there is little choice but to buy goods made in Asian factories.

It is surely possible to improve working conditions. If an item costs £10 here then, by Dragonhead's estimation, the same item is £1 (ish) - the worker still needs to work for 25 hours to pay for it... how many people in the UK can claim that they need to work 25 hours to pay for a take away!! Let alone tha money it costs in housing - even if 1/50th of our prices here, that works out at around £10 per month (250 hours worked - 80+hours per week). When looked at in this way, it is surely worth the spending of some of the vast wealth in these companies to improve conditions...

#6 Sam
Can't say i go out my way when buying about where it was made, but agree with you we can't go on buying at any price to the workers detrement.Not sure what action we should take,a boycott of items would not help the workers.Any thoughts?

Dragonhead is not in China (the scotsman url in oh so democratic China is banned), if he is then he is working for the Chinese Government (as you can probably tell from his 'party line' rants), please ignore this individual

Sad very sad that folk work for such little pay.

I think the story about Rice is more shocking, though, some these folk in some parts of Idina only get paid in rice and the only meat they can eat is rat which they catch in the rice fields which is another service they give to the land owners. (I saw it on a BBC 2 programme)

In Bangladesh, 4p buys as much as £4 does here.

Now does it sound like "sweatshop" pay? All these do-gooders should mind their own business. The very people they seek to "protect" will end up being the loosers if they carry on.

I think we should let the market decide. The person in Bangladesh is not held again his/her will. If he/she thinks she can do better somewhere else, he should leave.
And yes, althogh 4 pence is not as if $4, but still it is worth a lot.
I am originally from Bangladesh, and I can tell you that the living standard has improved a lot ever since garment industry started growing. Yes, eventhough the working condition is not as it should be, they are still better off than a generation ago where only job you have is as servant and yes, you work 24/7.....
Again let the market force take care of this issue; and it is....wages are increasing due to lack of suppy.

#12, Kalachor.

I believe your basic logic is sound. However, Western, and other, companies are taking extreme advantage of the labour of the people of the less industrialised countries. I believe that this should be regulated in both places.

#7, ex Katman.

Perhaps, if the government was to put a tariff price (a price fixed at a reasonable % above cost) on all imported goods, we would see a benefit for all, producers and consumers.

remember that there are options out there - you dont have to buy your clothes from Tesco or Primark. There is the Fairtrade marked system now for cotton and you can also investigate the companies that you buy from - check out their values and choose how you want to buy from. There are plenty of ethical choices now in the UK so there is no excuse. You can always go down the recycled route or buy from charity shops or why not get out the old sewing machine & make your own!