Justice and Peace Among All People

Will you strive for justice and peace
among all people,
and respect the dignity
of every human being?
This is the final question asked of those being baptized in the Episcopal Church (all the questions are here for those curious about the others).

The New York Times ran an article this week on Sweatshops in Jordan which tells of "some foreign workers in Jordanian factories that produce garments for Target, Wal-Mart and other American retailers are complaining of dismal conditions — of 20-hour days, of not being paid for months and of being hit by supervisors and jailed when they complain."

This is the sort of thing I use as an example of sins we help to commit without either being of aware of it or intending for it to happen. I shop at Wal-Mart because it is convenient and cheap. Some suppliers to Wal-Mart make inexpensive things without enslaving their workers. However, in other places serious abuse takes place in order to maximize corporate profits while minimizing the price I pay.

The article went on to say

In interviews this week, five Bangladeshis who used to work in Jordanian apparel factories and four who still do had similar tales of paying more than $1,000 to work in Jordan, of working 90 to 120 hours a week, of not being paid the overtime guaranteed by Jordanian law, of sleeping 10 or 20 to a small dorm room. The National Labor Committee helped arrange interviews with the Bangladeshi workers, who spoke through interpreters.

The largest retailer in the United States, Wal-Mart, and one of the largest clothing makers, Jones Apparel, confirmed yesterday that they had discovered serious problems with the conditions at several major Jordanian factories.

In addition, a factory monitor for a major American company confirmed that Jordanian factories routinely confiscated their guest workers' passports, doctored wage and hour records and coached employees to lie to government and company inspectors about working conditions.

Doing something about this is difficult, if not impossible in the store itself. The inspectors found severe problems, but only in a quarter of the Jordanian factories. Not buying clothes from Jordan would punish the three quarters who do follow more acceptable standards. The answer comes at the corporate level where Wal-Mart and others learn that it doesn't pay to buy products from companies whose factory conditions are so abusive. Yet, policing this sort of thing would be daunting for any company, and they are left to reacting when reports like this recent one come forward. It reminds me of the public relations nightmare Kathy Lee Gifford found herself in years back when her name brand clothes were being made in Central American sweatshops without her knowledge.

I only offer this news here as an example of the way in which we can get caught up in the evil of this world without meaning to do so. It's an unintended consequence of our decisions. Such unintended consequences make it all the more important to stand up for what is good in situations in which we do have some control or influence. What do you think?

peace,
Frank+
The Rev. Frank Logue, Pastor + KIng of Peace Episcopal Church