Moggy wrote:Knoyleo wrote:Moggy wrote:rinks wrote:Moggy wrote:the market absolutely should dictate working conditions, because if it doesn’t, who will?
Sounding a bit Tory there, mate.
Far from it. There should be laws in place to protect workers, but exploitative employers are always going to be there and the market (i.e. us!) should respond to that and force companies to alter their behaviour or face a slump in profit. The UK/EU governments should do far more (far far more!) but there is also a responsibility on consumers to not accept companies that work their employees into ill health.
You're making a lot of assumptions about the market as a whole responding to things the way you think they should rather than how it actually does. People know about exploitation of foreign labour in gooseberry fool conditions, but they still buy cheap clothing and iPhones.
The market is gooseberry fool at dictating working conditions.
I am not saying that a boycott would work or that people would stick to it if one was called.
But you are being very naïve if you think things are going to change without consumers making a conscious effort to force companies to change. We are living under a Tory government that is lurching ever further right. Even if Corbyn gets in and attempts to change it, the American government is never going to stop it.
It’s fine to think that people are not going to stick to a boycott (you are right, they almost certainly wouldn’t) but it’s not good enough to say “well nobody else is doing it so I am just going to buy the product anyway” –
that’s the exact same argument as Boris Johnson uses to justify arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
Incidentally, I won't be buying this, and I'm sure there are plenty of others who won't, even if it's not going to make a jot of difference to Rockstar.
Yes consumers have to drive change, but they won't do it organically. The market will continue to fail people on working conditions, especially as it keeps inventing new forms of work, until there is some external influence to correct it, whether it be state intervention, unionisation, or other forces driving to educate consumers and lobby retailers/manufacturers.
The market on its own will always continue to exploit people's working conditions if it can squeeze more profit out of it.