Sweatshops
“Work environments that possess three major characteristics—long hours, low pay, and unsafe or unhealthy working conditions.”
Boyd Childress
http://www.toothpastefordinner.com/091207/close-down-sweatshops.gif
The Problem-
People around the world are working in hard conditions. Most do not make enough money to liven. Some work 14 hour days and seven days week. Some may get lucky and have 14 cents an hour wage. Some are even under age.
"To keep labor costs low, apparel shop owners usually pay workers a "piece rate." That means workers don't get paid by the hour. Rather, their wage is based on the number of items—shirts, shoes and socks—they complete in a shift. If workers hope to earn a decent income, they have to work hard, and they have to work long. Basically, they have to sweat."
Why this is going on-
People want low cost things. To get the low cost, you need to have cheep labor.
Pair of pants-
Made in the USA Made in Nicaragua
|
Retail price $17.99 Retail price $17.99
|
Average U.S.$8.31/hour Wage in shop- 43 cent/hour
|
Sewing time--15 minutes Sewing time--20 minutes
|
Labor cost--$2.08 Labor cost—14cents
|
($8.31/hr x 15 min = $2.0775) ($.43/hr x 20 minutes = $0.143332)
|
Abuse-
Most of the time there is verbal, physical and sexual abuse.
"I spend all day on my feet, working with hot vapor that usually burns my skin, and by the end of the day my arms and shoulders are in pain," a Mexican worker, Alvaro Saavedra Anzures, has told labor rights investigators. "We have to meet the quota of 1,000 pieces per day. That translates to more than a piece every minute. The quota is so high that we cannot even go to the bathroom or drink water or anything for the whole day."
"I refused his offer to have sex. He moved me to another production line to see what they could do to me; if they could fire me."
Who uses and where-
Gap-Thailand
Wal-Mart-Where there are sweatshops
Nike-India
Tommy Hilfiger-China
Liz Claiborne- India(jacket selling-$198. Manufactured-$.84cents)
Kathie Lee Gifford-China
There are many more people that use sweatshops and there are more countries.
Not just third world-
2000-more than half of the sewing shops (22,000) in the U.S, violated minimum wage and overtime laws. 75% violated health and safety laws. 98% of Los Angeles garment factories violated health and safety standards (blocked fire exits, unsanitary bathrooms and poor ventilation). The workers are almost entirely immigrants making about 1/3 of a proper wage.
Workers-
85% of sweatshop workers are women between ages 15-25. Because of this, employers often force the women to take birth control (they do routine pregnancy tests) so they do not have to pay for a women to have maternity leave. Women are often fired if they become pregnant.
http://ethicalstyle.com/wp-content/uploads/sweatshop3.jpg
What people are doing to help-
One of the biggest organizations out there to stop sweatshops is the Green America.
There are more programs and organizations to the sweatshop cause.
If you want to help, first start small. Look at the tags on your things, and then do a little research. Try to get clothes that are “organic” or made in the U.S.A (but even then it still might be made in a sweatshop).
Over all what is getting done-
Even thought there are people trying to help, there is only a small dent in getting rid of sweatshops. People speak out against sweatshops but, the sweatshops have been around for so many years that it will take many more before they disappear.
Recorce's-
Gap, Wal-Mart, Nike, and Tommy Hilfiger continue to use Sweatshops in Thailand
(http://www.clrlabor.org/alerts/2003/Mar01-Thai.htm)
Weekly News Update on the Americas
(http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/47/266.html)
Frequently Asked Questions: "Free Trade" and Sweatshops
(http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/sweatshops/sweatshopsfaq.html)
Picture1
(http://www.toothpastefordinner.com/091207/close-down-sweatshops.gif)
Feminists Against Sweatshops (http://feminist.org/other/sweatshops/sweatfaq.html )
E-notes
(http://www.enotes.com/management-encyclopedia/sweatshops)
Picture2
(http://ethicalstyle.com/wp-content/uploads/sweatshop3.jpg)
Green America (http://www.greenamericatoday.org/programs/sweatshops/whattoknow.cfm)
Here are stories to read for more information-
Secrets, Lies, and Sweatshops
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_48/b4011001.htm
THE TRUTH ABOUT SWEATSHOPS: THE GOOD AND BAD NEWS
http://www.humboldt.edu/~gbn2/ainger1.html
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.