750 people died recently working in a clothing sweat shop building collapse where safety standards were not enforced.
Clothing produced in this building was made for brands and stores in the US including Benetton, Mango, JC Penny and others.
The government has a ethical responsibility to ensure that any businesses in the US subcontracting work to overseas ensure the suppliers meet a minimum level of occupation health and safety requirements. These requirements should include an appropriate minimum wage, safe working environment and no child exploitation.
All importers should be required to prove that the requirements are met through regular audits of the overseas operations.
It's been estimated a decent wage for the Bangladesh workers would increase clothing cost by only 5c per item