EllaNews

This is the third in a series about Ellaroo’s efforts at Business Sustainability.

Having just returned from India, this seems like the right time to talk about fair trade. Within the politically correct circles in which I run, if you mention offshoring, people cringe. Not just knee-jerk isolationists, even smart, thoughtful people. Even me! We’ve spent the better part of the 80s and 90s hearing that offshoring is ruining the American middle class. Manufacturing? Ruined. IT? Ruined. Your job is next.

I’m not trying to belittle the issue. My mother and stepfather have both lost roughly 30% of their earning potential through offshoring (programmer/systems analyst and technical writer, respectively). This is no esoteric discussion in my house. So you can guess that I am now “The Man”, squeezing the little guy for the last dollar. Damn the neighbors; I need money!

The problem is that I have been left with little choice in the matter. I outlined my reasons for offshoring in a previous post, The thing about India. (I realize I’m taking the long road here, but stay with me.)

You see, I still haven’t been able to find anything inherently evil about sending work to the part of the world best suited to perform it. Whether “best suited” means best price, skills, resources, whatever. What makes us all uncomfortable is when we see Big American Companies taking advantage of Poor Backward Countries for Big Profits. (Finally, we get to the topic at hand.)

If I must offshore, I’ll be damned if I’ll do it haphazzardly. Hence the trip to India, to meet everyone face to face and see what the facilities are like. I’ll write a trip report later, but I want to talk about what makes trade “fair”. Fortunately, other people have already thought long and hard about this. From the Fair Trade Federation (FTF) website, their criteria are:

• Paying fair wages in local context
• Supporting participatory workplaces
• Ensuring environmental sustainability
• Supplying financial and technical support
• Respecting cultural identity
• Offering public accountability
  
• Educating consumers

Here’s where I get to mention that the FTF wouldn’t think of Ellaroo as a fair trader. Why? Because we work with companies in India, rather than with local artisans/farmers. I’m not bothered by this because we still strive to meet all of the criteria above. We perform a great deal more due diligence on foreign companies that we deal with because in the US we rely on, and basically trust, governmental organizations to perform the due diligence. (Believe me, I’m not saying it’s a perfect system. I’m being honest.)

Legitimate foreign companies who hope to deal with US customers are very sensitive to issues of social accountability. Many, such as our sewing contractor, even go as far as to become certified by well-known organizations, like Swiss company SGS.

You can find companies operating entirely in the US who don’t deal fairly. You can also find companies operating across borders who strive to deal fairly in every transaction they make. Unfortunately for all of us, it’s not an easy matter to slot companies into Good and Bad categories, based on where they produce. Which is why it’s so important deal with companies that operate as trasparently as possible. That’s what we strive for.