I thought this was a really interesting documentary:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001s74g/panorama-boohoos-broken-promises
In this case the company had its suppliers over a barrel with costs, even enforcing new discounts on the suppliers after they had agreed clothes orders, and even after clothes orders were shipped and en-route.
A little bit like Supermarkets forcing dairy farms to supply milk below cost...so it's not always the fault of the supplier, sometimes the customer has them over such a barrel they are essentially blackmailed into selling below cost, and that means poor conditions and low wages for the factory workers futher down the supply chain.
Seems like you think the real victims in this story are cyclists!
Indeed there's some people posting on this thread who would make great question time panelists:
"Look at this wrongdoing"
"The bigger story is who is telling you about the problem, ask yourself why"
"So you don't think there is anything wrong"
"No its definitely wrong, but my enemy's enemy is my friend, and there are other problems in the world, so lets talk about my specialist interest".
They could have chosen any industry and done the same so why Shimano?
Not sure if everyone sees the same links as I do - but there's a "pop out" story near the bottom thats clearly talking about the same sort of stuff in the condom sector. The condom story then has a link to a more traditional slavery in Africa. Could it just be that as you don't read the torygraph you only saw the story about bike parts because someone posted it on a bike forum?
Seems like you think the real victims in this story are cyclists!
Nope. What I think is the Telegraph don't give a sh*t about modern slavery, and hence the point of them publishing an article like this is not to tackle slavery, but to add to their anti-cyclist, pro-motorist, and generally anti-climate agenda. The main victims of which are not cyclists.
If they cared about slavery, then their slavery page wouldn't be dominated by anti-woke articles downplaying Britains role in slavery, and they wouldn't have been called out by actual anti-modern slavery organistions for misusing modern slavery statistics in smear attacks on asylum seekers.
Crudely put, I'd say their implicit proposal to deal with Shimano's modern slavery is drive more; I'd suggest keep on riding but click on the classified link above when you need to replace something.
I lived in cambodia in 2014,Koh Kong, right on the thai border, had a factory making shimano garments there.I cant imagine that the wages there were anything like realistic, considering the dirt poor nature of the place.
Working for asda 4 years ago, they were trying to bring in zero hours contracts, which meant that you could not guarantee to be able to pay the rent every month, but they really were anti- Union
the point of them publishing an article like this is not to tackle slavery, but to add to their anti-cyclist, pro-motorist, and generally anti-climate agenda
This is paranoia.
This is paranoia.
Do you just not read articles in the mainstream media, not just the telegraph?
They often have hundreds/thousands of comments, maybe 75% of those full of hate for ‘cyclists’. Anti-cycling articles generate loads of clicks & engagement, and just reinforces any negative stereotypes, to the point we are seen as sub human.
I imagine you will enjoy that last line, as it seems so ridiculous, but here is a comment from a Facebook page. The person commenting is an MTBer who, for obvious reasons, I avoid riding with these days.
What I’m seeing now in these comments sections is not that ‘cyclists should pay road tax’ it’s ’cyclists should pay more tax’…
I don't think it's paranoid. I'm not claiming I'm definitely correct on this, but I think a level of skepticism about the Telegraph's motives is justified.
I think it's pretty reasonable to say that newspapers have their particular political alliances, ideologies, and themes, which editors aim to keep too while maximising engagement from their audience, whether that be through positive or negative emotional reactions; largely feeding the audience things that fit with their worldview. All this is probably as true for the Guardian as it is for the Telegraph.
I also think it's pretty uncontroversial to say that the Telegraph is anti-cyclist and anti-climate, and that most of their discourse around slavery is about painting contemporary discussions as a woke waste of time. They also have some critical articles about modern slavery and the role of Western consumers in there, but extremely diluted amongst the rest.
So given all that, it's perfectly reasonable to ask why they are interested in modern slavery in the cycling sector? Does this fit into their typical political alignment and audience engagement, or not? If so, how? And if not -- which is what I think your argument that I'm being paranoid implies -- then why?
Maybe I can offer some limited insight as a former news journalist.
Yes, the Telegraph editoral leadership are probably happy to run anti-cycling stories.
No, they won't have set out to dig up dirt on Shimano to feed that agenda.
The reporters are unlikely to have anti-cycling views. It's more likely that they and the sub-editors do it as a hobby tbh.
Seeing it through a "culture war" lens isn't exactly paranoid, but it's needlessly reductive.
I also think it’s pretty uncontroversial to say that the Telegraph is anti-cyclist and anti-climate
How would anyone know that unless they regularly read the Daily Telegraph?
It might be true, I don't read it regular enough to know - I neither buy it nor pay for online access. A quick search throws this up which suggests that the claim might indeed be controversial:
@ernielynch, you can judge for yourself here. They don't seem to be as bad on climate as on cycling, but you can make up your own mind here
FYI I'm a climate change researcher, so I probably have a lower bar than most for what I consider anti-climate
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/recreational-cycling/
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/climate-change/
Edit: I worked out that their website is stupid. If you press escape after the article has loaded but before the paywall has come up, then you can block the latter (at least, a lot of the time this seems to work for me).
Anti-cycling articles generate loads of clicks & engagement, and just reinforces any negative stereotypes, to the point we are seen as sub human.
I imagine you will enjoy that last line, as it seems so ridiculous
The Shimano slavery article in the Telegraph is not an anti-cycling article. The previous, similar article is not an anti-catheter article. You are not the victim in a story about vulnerable Nepali workers being exploited by rapacious contractors to a multinational corporation. You are being ridiculous.
but you can make up your own mind here
I honestly don't have a view on the Daily Telegraph's position concerning climate change and cyclists, it would require me to be a regular reader.
I tend to base my views on evidence, which I am sure that as a climate change researcher you appreciate, 😉
I was just responding to the comment claiming that it’s pretty uncontroversial to say that the Telegraph is anti-cyclist and anti-climate.
Seeing it through a “culture war” lens isn’t exactly paranoid, but it’s needlessly reductive.
The Shimano slavery article in the Telegraph is not an anti-cycling article. The previous, similar article is not an anti-catheter article. You are not the victim in a story about vulnerable Nepali workers being exploited by rapacious contractors to a multinational corporation. You <em style="box-sizing: border-box; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; caret-color: #000000; color: #000000; font-family: Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, 'Noto Sans', sans-serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Noto Color Emoji';">are being ridiculous.
I agree. Attempting to create some sort of 'victimhood' really detracts from what we should be discussing; modern slavery. And if the bicycle manufacturing industry is linked to that, then 'cyclists' should be mindful of that, and perhaps apply greater scrutiny to their own consumerism.
Exactly, who cares about the rest, the point is this is happening so what would you like to see done about it?
I agree. Attempting to create some sort of ‘victimhood’ really detracts from what we should be discussing; modern slavery. And if the bicycle manufacturing industry is linked to that, then ‘cyclists’ should be mindful of that, and perhaps apply greater scrutiny to their own consumerism.
I don't think cycist are the victim here, but I can see how it came across that way.
My worry is to what extent people look at this story and think 'well that's another reason to ignore all this green cr*p and keep driving my car', rather than 'oh dear, may be I'll do what I can to spread this message so Shimano get their act together, and try to buy bike parts secondhand and only stuff I really need'.
Given the Telegraph's normal politics, I suspect they are going for the former message at least as much as the latter.
https://interactive.carbonbrief.org/how-uk-newspapers-changed-minds-climate-change/
Like the UK right wing press more broadly, the Telegraph has shifted from being at the front of climate skepticism, to accepting the science but merely complaining about the solutions.
It's moved from denial to delay.
https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-how-discourses-of-delay-are-used-to-slow-climate-action/
