Sweatshops : The United States Of America

Sweatshops have been around for centuries, beginning around the late 1880’s. Sweatshops are classified by three main components, long work hours, very low pay and unsafe and unhealthy working environments. Sweatshops are usually found in manufacturing industries and the most highlighted production is clothing corporations, who take full advantage of the low production costs of their products. Many may think sweatshops are a thing of the past but they are still affecting many lives across the nations. There are many ways sweatshops affect lives, but a recent article titled “New study finds ‘more sweatshops than Starbucks’ in Chicago” explains that there are many low wage industry jobs that are violating labor laws in the United States alone. The article also reports how employees who are working in such conditions won’t speak up in fear of the retaliation employers will implement. Analyzing Sweatshops through the lens of the Sociological perspectives will help us better understand the illegal conditions of workplaces that still exist today.

Sweltering heat, long hours, unfair working conditions are a few descriptive words that Americans use to describe a sweatshop. I believe our judgment is being misguided by the success of our nation, and it is imperative we redefine the word “sweatshop”. Individuals that endure life in third world countries know hardships that Americans could not imagine. If we were to recognize these economical differences it may shine a light on why these workers seek sweatshop jobs. In many of these cases, children must work to aid in the family’s survival. If these jobs are voluntary and both parties agree to working conditions, it results in a mutually beneficial arrangement. One of the worst things we can do as outsiders, to help these impoverished

A sweatshop is defined as a factory where manual workers are employed at very low wages for long hours in unsafe working environments (Oxford Dictionary, 2011). Sweatshops are especially associated with clothing industries, such as Nike, Gap, Walmart, Primemark and other brand names. Sweatshop history begins in 1830 with clothing factories in New York City and London, even then the working conditions were poor, e.g. rat infestation. Since the 1850s worker unions have improved “sweatshops” conditions in the first world, and the term “sweatshop” is more associated with factories in the developing world. The statement that ‘sweatshops in developing countries are better than no jobs’ has many arguments for and against them, which will be

Sweltering heat, long hours, and unfair working conditions are a few descriptive words that Americans use to describe a sweatshop. I believe our judgment is being misguided by the success of our nation, and it is imperative we redefine the word “sweatshop”. Individuals that endure life in third world countries know hardships that Americans could not imagine. If we were to recognize these economical differences it may shine a light on why these workers seek sweatshop jobs. In many of these cases, children must work to aid in the family’s survival. If these jobs are voluntary and both parties agree to work conditions, it results in a mutually beneficial arrangement. One of the worst things we can do as outsiders, to help these impoverished

A majority of the clothing worn and purchased today in the United States has been manufactured overseas in sweatshops. Since the beginning of factories and businesses, owners have always looked for a way to cut production costs while still managing to produce large quantities of their product. It was found that the best way to cut costs was to utilize cheap labor in factories known as sweatshops. According to the US General Account Office, sweatshops are defined as a “business that regularly violates both wage or child labor and safety or health laws”. These sweatshops exploit their workers in various ways: making them work long hours in dangerous working conditions for little to no pay. Personally, I believe that the come up and employment of these sweatshops is unethical, but through my research I plan to find out if these shops produce more positive than negatives by giving these people in need a job despite the rough conditions.

Time and time again, there have been opposing views on just about every single possible topic one could fathom. From the most politically controversial topics of gun control and stem cell research to the more mundane transparent ones of brown or white rice and hat or no hat—it continues. Sweatshops and the controversy surrounding them is one that is unable to be put into simplistic terms, for sweatshops themselves are complex. The grand debate of opposing views in regards to sweatshops continues between two writers who both make convincing arguments as to why and how sweatshops should or should not be dealt with. In Sweat, Fire and Ethics, by Bob Jeffcott, he argues that more people ought to worry less about the outer layers of sweatshops and delve deeper into the real reason they exist and the unnecessariness of them. In contrast, Jeffrey D. Sachs writes of the urgent requirement of sweatshops needed during the industrialization time in a developing country, in his article of Bangladesh: On the Ladder of Development. The question is then asked: How do sweatshops positively and negatively affect people here in the United States of America and in other countries around the world?

Large corporations such as Nike, Gap, and Reebok and many others from the United States have moved their factories to undeveloped nations; barely pay their employees enough to live on. Countries such as China, Indonesia, and Haiti have readily abundant cheap labor. There should be labor laws or an obligation of respecting workers to provide decent working conditions, fair wages, and safety standards.

     We as investors and consumers should not only act in our own self-interest, but also in the interest of the common good. Companies should invest their clients’ money in companies that want to eradicate sweatshops, to ensure that their products are made in compliance of labor

Firstly, if sweatshops were not as low paid and the working conditions were not as pleasant compared to first world countries, then companies might as well employ citizens of first world countries, who would probably be healthier. This would not benefit the people in the third world countries, who would slip into poverty and starvation.

1) “Where Sweatshops Are a Dream” is a short article in favor of sweatshops. The author talks about how the living standards rose due to sweatshops when he was a kid (Kristof). This article has a personal story from the author about improving conditions. This makes for a good pathos argument.

It was Martin Luther King, Jr. who said, "Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance." Many people in the Western world either do not know or choose to ignore the fact that a massive amount of products that come into North America from faraway lands are produced in sweatshops, including shoes, clothing, and toys. This ignorance over the inhumane and unjust labour conditions happening in factories on other sides of the globe is precisely what keeps these horrifying practices alive. China is home to one of the most enormous and concentrated sweatshop systems in the world. There are approximately 150 million people in China working in ghastly conditions, having to live off nearly unsustainable pay, and being refused benefits

Almost everyone knows sweatshops are not acceptable places to work or support. Sweatshops, per definition from the International Labor Organization are organizations that violate more than two labor laws (Venkidaslam). There are several arguments against sweatshops. First, is that these organizations exploit their workers. They provide them low wages and some pay below the minimum wage of the home nation. Moreover, these workers are forced to work more than 60 hours per week and are mandated to work overtime. In addition, workers are subjected to unsafe environments and sexual abuse. Finally, sweatshops are known for their child labor, where children below the legal working age are paid extremely small wages. Anyone who is against sweatshops will say, choosing to partner with these organizations are unethical.

According to cultural relativism, this is wrong. In French J. Lawrence’s Children’s Labor Market Involvement, Household Work, and Welfare: A Brazilian Case Study he argues that there should more of a focus “– on ending the exploitation of children rather than depriving them of all opportunities to work.” (Spath) Like he does, I argue that the assessment of whether or not sweatshops are bad cannot be made because. According to cultural relativism says, we have no right to deem someone else’s practices as wrong. If those that work in sweatshops need it to survive who are we to deprive them of a means to survive? If a person believes that it is in their self-interest to act in a certain way, does that not justify their actions? This brings up the argument of what way a person ought to act.

Researching whether ‘sweatshops’ are morally permissible has been an eye opening experience. One has to fully understand what a sweatshop actually is before developing an opinion whether it is morally right or wrong. The definition of a sweatshop is broad, it describes any type factory with dangerous and unhealthy working conditions, all while low pay and long hours are notorious. After digging deeper into this, it turns out that most if not all of the workers employed there would rather work in these type of factories than the alternative. Understanding what actually consists of an unhealthy work environment, and low wages are not as cut and dry as you may think. You have to keep in mind, most of these factories are located in foreign countries where the normal everyday conditions would be appalling to some Americans.

Many of the products sold in America, nationwide, are usually not even made by the people of our country or in our country. These products are usually made overseas in sweatshops. Sweatshops is a factory or workshop, especially in the clothing industry, where manual workers are employed at very low wages for long hours and under poor conditions. After knowing the definition of a sweatshop, I believe that sweatshops are permissible but are not morally permissible.