Hasbro's Ethical position: Choice magazine

[MV75]

I just cut the wires Paulbot, it makes it easier Hmmm makes you think now why we get all the defects in QC of Animated toys ... 80 hrs/week labor, sheesh and someone gets fined for being too much in the loo appalling work conditions.

That actually comes down to the people in charge of the actual factory. They get a certain amount of $ for a certain amount of figures. They then cut costs further on their side by doing stuff dodgy/cheap.

They could do all toys like the premium range as a standard, but don't because the factories then increase their bottom line.

I do wonder what is in the future though to toy prices and where they are manufactured when these countries catch up to us in their labour practices and conditions and pay due to constant "western interference". I see "cheap chinese labour" becoming "cheap african labour".
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Simca vedette

[GoktimusPrime]

It happens. Transformers were initially made in Japan until labour costs made it prohibitive. Then manufacturing was moved to off-shore to places like Macau (at the time still a Portuguese colony), Indonesia and now China. But yeah, once the cost of manufacturing in China becomes prohibitive they'll move it off-shore to somewhere cheaper. Africa's not a country btw.

[MV75]

But it is a term of the people. Yea, I'm playing the context card in response to your locality card.
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Mercedes-benz w212 history

[GoktimusPrime]

So then we can say that Transformers have always been made in the same place then. From G1 till now Transformers have always been Made In Asia(TM). Ggrrr!

[MV75]

Ah! You countered with the racism card. Don't make me play the socialist card because that would mean the game would be over because society will go to anarchy.
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Herbalaire Review

[Pipesqueak]

I think Choice is to some extent barking up the wrong tree by applying the same standards to retailers & manufacturers - while (say) Hasbro has a great deal of control over manufacturing methods, (say) Target buys the toys from the manufacturer - a better measure of Target's performance would be its employment practices. It's not in a position to know what standards/conditions are like in the country of manufacture, compared to the manufacturer.

I think you're letting the retailers too easily off the hook there, Dirge. One of the best documentaries I've seen in recent years was about Walmart (I think I've posted about it here before). It showed how at their headquarters they have corridors full of negotiating rooms where they play manufacturers off against one another to make things for the lowest price, down to the last cent. A major theme of the doco was how manufacturers used to have all the control, deciding what they wanted to make and dumping their product on the retailers. Now the tide has completely turned, as the big retailers (Walmart, Target etc) tell the manufacturers exactly what product they want and how little they're prepared to pay for it. It was a most revealing and disturbing piece of filmmaking, showing that if workers are being exploited in countries like China, it's because the retailers have screwed down the profit margins of the manufacturers to next to nothing. It's also a big reason why the manufacturers moved to the third world in the first place.

[Lint]

I think you're letting the retailers too easily off the hook there, Dirge. One of the best documentaries I've seen in recent years was about Walmart (I think I've posted about it here before). It showed how at their headquarters they have corridors full of negotiating rooms where they play manufacturers off against one another to make things for the lowest price, down to the last cent. A major theme of the doco was how manufacturers used to have all the control, deciding what they wanted to make and dumping their product on the retailers. Now the tide has completely turned, as the big retailers (Walmart, Target etc) tell the manufacturers exactly what product they want and how little they're prepared to pay for it. It was a most revealing and disturbing piece of filmmaking, showing that if workers are being exploited in countries like China, it's because the retailers have screwed down the profit margins of the manufacturers to next to nothing. It's also a big reason why the manufacturers moved to the third world in the first place.

What was this doco called again? I remember hearing about and having my interest piqued but I never actually saw it.

[dirge]

Pipesqueak: US retailers, I'd agree. I don't think Australian retailers have that same clout. Most Australian retailers just haggle for a product that already exists.

MV75: Try telling the people in Juba that they're the same people as their oppressors in Khartoum, who spent decades living off the natural resources of those they've been oppressing. (look it up, it'll save you making embarrassing geopolitical generalisations)

[MV75]

Pipesqueak: US retailers, I'd agree. I don't think Australian retailers have that same clout. Most Australian retailers just haggle for a product that already exists.

MV75: Try telling the people in Juba that they're the same people as their oppressors in Khartoum, who spent decades living off the natural resources of those they've been oppressing. (look it up, it'll save you making embarrassing geopolitical generalisations)

I'm not going to go to where you've completely torn up and thrown away the context, so I'll put it simply, yes they are, they all live in Sudan.

But as for your version, no, the germans are not the same as the jews.
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SILVER SURFER VAPORIZER

[TheDirtyDigger]

But as for your version, no, the germans are not the same as the jews.

What about German Jews? 250,000 people of the Hebraic persuasion today live in Berlin alone.


Australian retailers should have some clout even though we are a small backwater market. If I may draw an analogy with the sentiment of our favourite Asian-Australian, lesbian politician regarding climate change...it's doesn't matter that we're small and don't make a difference. Everybody needs to act.
Australian retailers SHOULD be demanding that the manufacturers of their products apply ethical standards when producing anything. Sure we don't account for much of the market but every little bit helps.

The following list is ONE company. You'd think they'd buy enough to have a little clout.

Bunnings Warehouse, Coles Supermarkets, Bi-Lo, Pick 'n Pay Hypermarket, Coles Express, Coles Central, Liquorland, Vintage Cellars, 1st Choice Liquor Superstore, Officeworks, Officeworks BusinessDirect, Harris Technology, Kmart, Kmart Tyre & Auto Service, Target, Pharmacy Direct, HouseWorks, Curragh Queensland Mining, Wesfarmers Premier Coal, Bengalla Mining Company*, Wesfarmers Federation Insurance, Lumley General Insurance, Lumley General Insurance (NZ), OAMPS Insurance Brokers, Crombie Lockwood (NZ), Koukia*, Blackwoods, Protector Alsafe, Wesfarmers Industrial & Safety NZ, CSBP, Australian Gold Reagents*, Wesfarmers Kleenheat Gas, Unigas*, Wesfarmers Kleenheat Elpiji, Wesfarmers LPG, Coregas, Air Liquide WA*, Energy Generation, Gresham Partners Group*, Wespine Industries*
* Joint ventures