The Price of a Value


girlscout_uniformGirls Scouts, their parents, and now congressional representatives are very concerned with the organization’s efforts to ship production of the Girl Scout uniform overseas. The Girs Scouts of America Facebook page is quickly filling up with comments from parents outraged of these efforts.

First reported in the Herald News of Woodland Park, the story is quickly spreading in newspapers across the nation. the Girl Scouts are seeking bids for a new contract with 2 of the 4 companies located over seas. Those reports estimate the loss of 90 jobs should the contract be awarded to a company outside American borders.

The vendor supplying uniforms is located in Passaic, NJ, one of the few manufacturers still representative of an era when NJ’s embroidery dominated the market. As the VP of merchandising for the Girl Scout’s is seeking the most competitive bid, there are deep concerns they will not be able to match the cut rate wages that will be paid overseas.

One mother local to the FLOW area stated, “My kids need to know the value of a dollar, but they also need to know that money is not everything. The Girls Scouts are supposed to be teaching those values.” This comment is tame compared to the friends The Girl Scouts of America have on Facebook. The terms “shame” and “disgust” are used regularly by the rank and file of the organization.

Research online indicates that members of the Boy Scouts of America were denied the same opportunity to discuss the merits of shipping production outside of America. Visitors of this forum, Scouter.com, expressed dismay back in 2008 as they started seeing tags on the new uniforms indicating the manufacturing had moved overseas.

The video below, created by a Boy Scout, reflects many of the same sentiments voiced in the forum.