L
Lance
Guest
On the Drew Marioni show yesterday he was talking about fare trade and fare wages for workers. I think we can all agree that workers deserve a fare wage, the problem is defining what a fare wage is. Should a worker on a coffee plantation in Cote d’Ivorie be paid the same as a cowboy in Texas? The economies in many 3rd world countries are based more on the barter system than western countries are, so paying someone what we consider a living wage could totally disrupt their economy, yet they need to be able to support their families. If a shirt is made in India and the worker is paid $5 per day the shirt may cost me $15, same shirt made in America where the wage is $8.50 per hour will cost me $45. Am I being un-Catholic for buying 2 or 3 of the $15 shirts rather than 1 $45 shirt? Should I demand that the manufacturer pay say $20 per day in India and thus raise the cost of the shirt to $28, thus reducing the number of workers because he sells fewer shirts?
I don’t see any simple solutions and would like to hear your thoughts on the subject.
By the way, I have purchased fare trade coffee and found it to be excellent and not that much more expensive than anyother premium brand. Starbucks pays about 1 penny per cup for the coffee so if they raised that to 5 cents and increased the cost by a nickel noone would gripe.
I don’t see any simple solutions and would like to hear your thoughts on the subject.
By the way, I have purchased fare trade coffee and found it to be excellent and not that much more expensive than anyother premium brand. Starbucks pays about 1 penny per cup for the coffee so if they raised that to 5 cents and increased the cost by a nickel noone would gripe.