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I wish there were more focus on working conditions in the factories where these machines are made.
PortlandMaine   Advanced Beginner ME USA Member since 1/29/11 Posts: 1628	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 11/30/11 11:36 AM It seems like some of the machines makers would catch on that people want to feel the machines they buy are made by people who have good working conditions. Personally - I dont care WHERE things are made. I want to feel the workers are being treated well. I think a guilt about workers rights is the only (but, important) problem I have with my new machine. I like the workings of new machines - old ones are very cool, too! I love old machines. I am STILL sad about my Viking 150's death. Im thinking about selling my new machine and buying another oldie made in a country where we have a better bet in thinking the machines was not made under slave conditions. The Swiss made Bernina's dont enter the line-up till the "5" series - is that right? The "3"'s are made off shore, right? I dont even know if this feeling is valid - maybe someone KNOWS how the workers are treated in the off shore factories? Anyone else have this guilt? ------ Drag queen quilter!
suesewserge Member since 4/21/11 Posts: 151	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 11/30/11 12:30 PM Just curious, if you're feeling guilty or concerned (which is kind of you either way) about working conditions, why did you buy that machine in the first place? Even if you sell it now the unit will have been sold thus supporting demand for the product from whoever/wherever it was made. The Bernina 5 series are kind of a mystery, saw them at the dealer, the 530 and 50 I believe are made in Thailand like the 3's (but it's a Bernina owned/operated factory, can't make assumptions just because of it's location on the globe). The 580 embroidery unit says made in Switzerland but the machine itself - NOTHING! I thought they HAD to say where made. We looked at front, back, turned it upside down - no sticker, no ID anywhere. Dealer pulled out box and it says made in Switzerland. Now I'm sure if it were made in Switzerland Bernina would be bragging about that right there on the front of the machine like others! But it doesn't make sense to me since if the tooling/dies/factory equipment for the 5 series body/parts etc. are in Thailand that they'd machine up the Swiss factory too just for one model.
PortlandMaine   Advanced Beginner ME USA Member since 1/29/11 Posts: 1628	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 11/30/11 12:52 PM I had burned through 3 old made in a,b,c countries in less than a year ... wanted computerised and gave up on finding a used one from a local dealer. I did local dealer and felt that balanced it out - Did you mean to come off as challenging me -? ------ Drag queen quilter!
poorpigling Advanced TX USA Member since 12/28/07 Posts: 10057	Login to reply to this post In reply to PortlandMaine Like this post Date: 11/30/11 1:08 PM Keep your machine .. I hear what you are saying.. but its better than some have in some countries that have no jobs at all .. And a reminder that I know plenty of people here in the USA that have really bad working conditions.. Lets hope that by buying machines we are giving someone a much needed job and feeding a family .. You know if you applied that same worry to everything in your home.. you might not have much around you. Even the top rated to work for companies experience employee complaints .. Wish I had a solution to this. and many more problems in this world we live in.. At least the public is now more aware of these things.. and some of the outrage the companies are listening too..
ShantiSeamstressing Advanced Beginner Member since 6/11/10 Posts: 1203	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 11/30/11 1:11 PM I know how you feel, and I feel similarly not only about my machines but also any items I purchase. Even cocoa, for example. The English long ago boycotted sugar from slave labor plantations, and it was helpful as part of the effort to completely abolish slavery. Yes, I think it's a very humanitarian concern.
GBK   Intermediate GERMANY Member since 12/24/07 Posts: 900	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 11/30/11 1:28 PM If consumers stop being interested in the working conditions of others, be it in your own or another country, and push for better ones by questioning companies or by making conscious decisions, it would be a very sad sign. We have become very accustomed to rather easy access of whatever we wish, sometimes on the expenses of others, being far or near. While it is indeed very difficult to make these conscious decisions for all consumer goods every day, the efforts are definitively worthwhile. ------ Happy Sewing!
Soolip Advanced CA USA Member since 6/18/08 Posts: 1993	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 11/30/11 1:47 PM Do you have any evidence that workers in the Bernina factory were mistreated? If not, I really don't see any reason to sell your new machine. This makes no sense to me.
diane s Intermediate OR USA Member since 8/24/02 Posts: 3886	Login to reply to this post In reply to Soolip Like this post Date: 11/30/11 1:52 PM Quote: Soolip Do you have any evidence that workers in the Bernina factory were mistreated? If not, I really don't see any reason to sell your new machine. This makes no sense to me. I was wondering the same thing. Not all overseas factories are equal. ------ My grandmother taught me to sew when I was 10, and I've been sewing ever since.
Soolip Advanced CA USA Member since 6/18/08 Posts: 1993	Login to reply to this post In reply to diane s Like this post Date: 11/30/11 2:00 PM Oh surprise, other countries treat their citizens well, have laws to protect them, and have good if not great economies. The US isn't exactly the world-leader in any of these departments. Thailand has a solid economy, and from all reports the people are generally happy. The fact that it's a monarchy doesn't mean it's a dictatorship. There are other habitable countries than the good-ole US of A. And many are far, far better places to live in. So yeah, Diane, I have no idea where this is coming from either. -- Edited on 11/30/11 2:01 PM --
quiltingwolf Advanced MD USA Member since 12/15/02 Posts: 4987	Login to reply to this post Like this post Date: 11/30/11 2:15 PM If you are going to feel guilty about sewing machines you may as well feel guilty about everything else you buy as 80% is made in foreign factories most in China. From dog food to medicine. ------ quiltingwolf.blogspot.com

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