Friday, June 10, 2011

Sweatshops of the World

Throughout your life, you have probably been told that sweatshops are confined to poor, developing countries such as China, India, and Mexico. Because of this you probably also think that they are no where near you and aren't your concern.. But, to fully understand how common sweatshops are throughout the world, you must first know how they are defined. The U.S. Government defines a sweatshop as “an employer that violates more than one federal or state labor law governing minimum wage and overtime, child labor, industrial homework, occupational safety and health, worker’s compensation or industry regulation.” Under this definition, sweatshops aren't only in poor countries, but also in the United States. In fact, under this definition, about 50% of the garment factories in the U.S. are classified as sweatshops.

Throughout history, many work places have been overcrowded, low-paying, and dangerous but the concept of a sweatshop was created in the mid 1800's. The word came from middle men in the garment industry known as the “sweater” that had others make clothing under severe conditions. Then, between 1850 and 1900, sweatshops began to attract many poor people to cities in order to find work. Since then, sweatshops have continued to run throughout the world despite numerous laws in favor of worker's rights.

Presently, the issue of sweatshops is most relevant in 3rd World countries, but of course still exist in developed countries. They are very common in countries such as India, China, Honduras, Haiti, Mexico, the Ivory Coast, and many more developing countries. The reason that many of these countries have sweatshops is that industrialized countries outsource their businesses in order to pay workers low wages and in turn make more money. A worker at one of these at one of these shops might expect to have crowded work space, low wages, long hours, and shortness of food. Also, the building might not meet fire hazard requirements and could be infested with rodents.

The question now is why people will accept such low wages for such intense work. The answer is that manufacturers offer very low prices to contractors to make their products. Although the prices aren't fair, the contractor must accept or risk the deal moving to another factory. Now, the contractor doesn't actually have enough money to do the job and pay their workers, so they must cut corners in order to make a profit. Because the shortage of money, workers are offered low wages but must accept or risk going hungry or not being able to feed their families. So in the end, everybody has been cheated except the manufacturer, who has made more money than they legally could.

Overall, sweatshops are a serious problem not only in 3rd world countries, but also in developed countries. Employees in sweatshops have to work in terrible conditions, and all for someone else to raise their own salary. Sweatshops need to be removed from the world and replaced with fair paying jobs, but this can only be done with the help of many people.

Women In Sweatshops

weatshops are generally made up of about 90% women, many of whom are young and uneducated about their rights. They are subject to all of the injustices that the men are, but they also often have to endure sexual harassment. In some sweatshops in Indonesia, women have been made to remove their clothes in order to prove that they were menstruating so they could take time off. Also, women have often been bribed by factory owners for better jobs in turn for sex. In one plant in Samoa, the factory owner was even known to go to the women's bathroom to watch them shower and change. Perhaps the worst injustice towards women in sweatshops is that some pregnant women have had to get abortions in order to keep their jobs.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

What Human Rights Are In Violation?

Sweatshops are a violation to the 24th Human Right Law. This law says: "Each work day should not be too long, since everyone has the right to rest and should be able to take regular paid holidays." Sweatshops obviously violate this because employees must work 16 hour days, and can't take any time off.

Sweatshops also violate the 4th Human Right Law. This law says: "Nobody has the right to treat you as his or her slave and you should not make anyone your slave." This law is in violation because the workers have no rights, and are often violated by the owners of the factories. Also, sweatshops have been linked with human trafficking.

Video of Sweatshops

Statistics, Facts, and Courses of Action

  • The Department of Labor indicates that 50% of garment factories in the U.S. violate two or more basic labor laws, establishing them as sweatshops.
  • Workers in sweatshops are often only paid $.10 to $.20 per hour.
  • A compliance manager for a major multinational company who has overseen many factory audits says that the percentage of Chinese suppliers caught submitting false payroll records has risen from 46% to 75% in the past four years. This manager, who requested anonymity, estimates that only 20% of Chinese suppliers comply with wage rules, while just 5% obey hour limitations.
  • U.S. government statistics from 2007 showed a loss of 1 million jobs in the U.S. apparel industry since 1994, when NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) was implemented.
  • In a Nike sweatshop, people are hired as young as 7 and are forced to work 16 hours, 7 days a week for their entire lives.
  • In Nike sweatshops, workers can only access the bathroom twice a day.
  • Many Nike sweatshop workers die by the age of 15, which is acclaimed correct by the ASSL League.


To take action against sweatshops, there are lots of websites you can go to. On these websites, you can learn about the problems, make donations, and learn of events promoting workers rights. 

Here are some links to these websites:





Although going to these websites and donating money or learning about events is a great way to support the cause, another way to help is to educate others. If more people are aware of the issue and know how to help, we will be closer to eliminating the problem. By showing others what is happening throughout the world and even in our own country, you raise awareness, which in turn provides more help towards the fight against sweatshops.


Bibliography

Apple, te of the. "Secrets, Lies, And Sweatshops."Businessweek - Business News, Stock Market & Financial Advice. Bloomberg, n.d. Web. 2 June 2011. .


"Background Information: Sweatshops | USLEAP."USLEAP | Fighting for Worker Justice in the Global Economy.USLEAP. Web. 01 June 2011. .


"Holding Companies Who Use Sweatshop Labor Accountable - by Astounding Articles - Helium."Helium - Where Knowledge Rules. DMCA, 08 Jan. 2002. Web. 08 June 2011. .

"Sweatshops."Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Massachusetts. Campaign for the Advancement of Women. Web. 01 June 2011. .


Tonelson, Alan. "Sweatshop."Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 01 June 2011. .