Fair trade has a general, lofty objective to treat people in poor and disadvantaged areas with humanity and equality. However, human rights organizations state that all role players - international bodies, governments, corporations and civil society - must work together to enable fair trade. Without fair trade the inequitable pay and conditions and the exploitation of workers and resources throughout the developing world will continue.
What Do Supporters of Fair Trade Say?
Proponents of fair trade argue that workers in the developing world are being exploited by international companies which seek the lowest labour costs possible in order to increase their profit margins - “poor working conditions, lack of social benefits and safety measures are aimed at maximising profits” (Sengenberger and Campbell, 1994, cited in Barrientos, 1999: 8).
Fair trade supporters claim that workers have the right to share in the gains of globalisation enjoyed by their employers, and that to reduce the social mindset and the notion of human capital to the maxim of “any job is better than none” is degrading, divisive and defeating and “optimizing profits to the detriment of workers is unethical” (Grimes, 2005: 239).