Quote Originally Posted by Robzy View Post
I notice this hasn't been discussed on any other forum except here (at least at the time I'm writing this). Will be interesting to see what happens once it hits the international sites, and also what Hasbro's next move is. I will be following this closely.
The competing Global fan forums probably don't want to highlight it or front-page it as news, in case Hasbro cuts them off, and they are then at a disadvantage to the other sites.
I was reading through the comments on TFW2005, and there was talk about it not being Hasbro's fault (as in, it is okay to be blissfully ignorant of what goes on in factories they don't own, as long as they get their product in the end), as well as justifying it as being in the best interests of those being exploited (because they have a job, no matter how bad it is).
Both are true, but the point people are making here (and are most disgusted by) is that Hasbro are making $500 million profit each year, with its Exec earning $23million, but don't want the people creating that profit, earn anything more than a $1 an hour, or make sure that they have clean living & working conditions.
Yes, a lot of those workers are desperate for any employment, and would be worse off without the factory job, but should we be happy with squalled living & working conditions, or question why their own government would allow its people to be exploited... not to mention, leaving western corporations unchecked, to employ people in a manner that they wouldn't be allowed to in their own country.
Conversely, for all we know, Hasbro/Tomy have made sure that those working & living conditions are actually better than other factories. It may not be worth boasting about, but unless we find out that this is normal or worse than other Chinese factories, we may just have to give Hasbro/Tomy the benefit of the doubt on this. (remember, Hasbro uses Tomy to find and contract these chinese factories - so Hasbro aren't as directly responsible as Tomy or the factory owners are)


Ultimately, the whole concept of outsourcing (or privatisation, when the government does it) causes these problems. Companies or entrepreneurs bid to win a contract, so the lower they go to win the contract, means less to spend on resources and employees.
In this case, we have factories in China & Vietnam bidding for these big toy contracts, and if one had to quote (say) $2 per Deluxe toy just to win the contract, then that is the rate that the factory owner is paid - and that's all the factory owner has available to spend to produce those products, as well as to end up with their own profit.
So if Hasbro were using a factory that was quoting $3 per unit, and another one said they could do it for $2 per unit (because they weren't wanting to pay their employees as much or provide good working conditions), what do you think the "bonus driven" execs would want to do to boost their own pay packet.
I'd much rather see companies share the success to all employees, not just the elite at the top of the pyramid... after all, if a business is successful enough to give the execs a double-digit percentage pay rise, it's a double standard to only give other people within the business (the lower level workers) a 2-4% pay rise that most get these days. The reverse would be worth asking as well - if execs claim to only be able to afford an extra 3% to their employees during wage negotiations, then they should be held to that same "affordability rate".

Yeah I know, it'd never happen. I guess I'm just too idealistic...