for men's clothes:
http://www.brooksbrothers.com/men/mi...C-GM9028969921
Brooks Brothers is selling men's shirts, three for $199. These shirts
surely are manufactured in China (or worse) by workers making a few
pennies a day.
In the good old days, these shirts were manufactured in two factories
(neither owned by Brooks Brothers) in New Haven, Connecticut, my home
town, by members of the ILGWU, who earned union-negotiated wages and
benefits. The workers made a modest living, the shirt manufacturers made
a reasonable profit, and the consumer - guys like me - were able to buy
these men's shirts, three for $27. Once a year, "seconds" were available
for about $6 each.
The economic change is staggering. The shirts are now more than $65
each, instead of $9 each, the workers today make next to nothing, and
the corporationists are making out like bandits.
The last major U.S. shirtmaker, Hathaway, closed its doors years ago.
This is progress?