Give us money to fight poverty, while we pay our workers next to nothing

As most people know, the wrist (rubber) band is the latest thing in fundraising. These cheapo trinkets are easy to sell and don't cost much to make. This is why the Make Poverty History folks decided to sell them. The campaign is big on words, claiming, "Millions of people are stuck in the trade trap. No matter how hard they work, they earn less every year. The situation is so dismal, half the world's population now lives on less than US$2 a day - roughly the cost of a burger. Why are people cheated of a proper living?"

The problem is that the factory which makes their wrist bands is a Chinese sweatshop which pays its employees 16 cents per hour. Click here for story. Even if the workers did 48 hours per week, they wouldn't make $2 per day.

Now to be fair, the charity discovered this on an ethics audit. But this is a highly visible charity, they should have known going into the deal.