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The threat of outsourcing makes it increasingly difficult for unions to organize workers. Two million jobs in the more heavily unionized manufacturing jobs have been lost to China. Outsourcing causes unions to not only lose members, but makes it tougher for unions to organize new members.  In 57% of all union drives, employers threaten to move factories if workers unionize, a threat that is very real (Elk, 2010). Corporations have done more to hurt labor than labor has done to hurt itself. The most obvious threat that comes from outsourcing is the diminishing of jobs overall by transferring jobs from the U.S. to overseas.

In the United States, an employee would be grateful if they were to make nine dollars and hour. With the economy in the United States, no person alone could live even lower than comfortable on that pay.

Walmart is the world's largest company by revenue (approximately four hundred and eighty billion dollars) and the largest private employer in the world with two point three million employees. Walmart is also one of the world's most valuable companies by market value, and is also the largest grocery retailer in the U.S. “One Nation Under Walmart” is a case about how Walmart has taken over the retail business and the effects of their market domination. The case also shows statistics of how much percentage Walmart is of many suppliers’ sales. According to the case Walmart has a 30% market share of all household items. Twenty-eight percent of Dial’s business and twenty-four percent of Del Monte’s business go through Walmart stores. It is also worth noting that Walmart imports ten percent of all United States imports from China. The case states that Walmart is able to offer cheaper prices because they put so much pressure on their suppliers to lower their prices. The case, “One Nation Under Walmart”, explains the problems that some people have with the massive retailer. One of these problems is how Walmart has forced numerous local businesses to close their doors through their extremely competitive pricing. They are able to purchase bulk goods at such low prices and thus pass the savings onto customers. As a result of these lew costs, rivals are driven out of business which results in a loss of jobs. Jobs are vital to the success of a community and with Walmart causing job

There is a lack of sympathy and anger toward the working conditions of people working in agriculture and aquaculture. In the film Business of Hunger we saw the displacement of people for agricultural goods such as, peanuts which are water and land intensive. In this film we saw how people in nations such as Brazil and Africa are not even acknowledged by the western nations who consume the food they export. Not only in agriculture are the workers exploited but my recent discovery of the shrimp industry has exposed the truth of slavery and child labor with the capturing of shrimp. Asking where your food comes is just one simply way of being a better consumer. When you go into a store and look for organic or certified food we argued in class that constitutes being good consumers, but what do those labels really mean? When more than half of the shrimp consumed in the United States comes from Thailand which has the most exploitative conditions, it would be hard to even believe the label. Before this course I had no clue shrimp was coming from exploitative condition and during the shrimp case study, I mentioned to my friend she should not eat shrimp due to the overexploitation of the workers and the environmental degradation of the land. She told me her mom worked in a shrimp farm while in Vietnam, I was surprised and asked her how she was okay with eating the shrimp after her mom told her of the harsh conditions and she responded to me “It’s Vietnam, what do you expect.” These

Everybody has their own worries and opinions, so they choose to care about different things. Barbara Ehrenreich puts it this way, “The world may be flat, as New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman has written, but I always liked to think that I was standing on a bit of a hill” (608). The truth about outsourcing flies over the heads of many Americans, but hits Ehrenreich right in the face. She writes this article because it’s a journalist’s job is to take in new information that may be hard to understand or meant to be kept on the down low and convey it in a way that’s appealing to many. She implicitly blames CEOs and other high class positions for some of the more outrageous and negative outsourcing situations. Zakaria directly addresses this problem stating: “There is a growing gap between America’s worldly business elite and cosmopolitan class, on the other hand, and the majority of the American people, on the other” (622). America’s worldly business elite and cosmopolitan class are the ones that understand and control outsourcing, while the rest of Americans stay uninformed and are the real victims of outsourcing. Zakaria describes “the rise of the rest” as the third major tectonic power shift. His theory, which makes perfect sense, implies that these power shifts are a natural occurrence. According to Zakaria, the third shift shouldn’t hurt America and Americans shouldn’t feel threatened or worried by it. The thing that Americans should be worried about is the growing gap of power that exists between the elite business class and the rest of Americans. Because the higher class only looks out for themselves and only seeks profit for the firms that they control, many negative things are happening to the lower class, the biggest being the outsourcing of their jobs. This gap in power is what Zakaria thinks could hurt America and make it impossible to adapt to the more globalized world. Americans need

Many businesses in United States manufacture their product overseas. This involves manufacturing products outside United States where the labor cost is cheaper. Because of cheap labor, it is often more economical for a U.S. company to manufacture overseas and pay the shipping costs than to manufacture in the United States. For a company, the savings may be substantial. However, there are negative impacts on U.S. employment, as many jobs in the United States are being outsourced and replaced by overseas positions. The manufacturers outsource production projects to save time, money or resources. The manufacturing is outsourced so as to remain competitive and maintain a steady work flow. Without outsourcing, manufacturing costs could escalate to the point at which no product would sell and all employees would have no work. Outsourcing comes

Many people don’t realize that only five corporations control early 42 percent of combined USA grocery sales. These corporations stomp over the little man and out thousands of people out of jobs every year- around 20,000. By purchasing your produce from companies such as Walmart you are taking away the jobs of local farmers in your community. Unemployment has become a sad fate for most farmers since major corporations have gained control. The economy suffers when jobs are lost. By supporting locally grown products, you are also supporting the jobs and families of those farmers who produce your products. Also, you are supporting a better economy as more jobs are being made which leads to more money being recycled back into the system. I have now come to realize how important it is to purchase from local companies and farmer’s markets and believe that I will make my purchases there as much as I possibly can.

As the world has gotten “smaller” in terms of trade, outsourcing has become a hot topic in much political and economic debate in the United States.

In the essay “Sweatshop Oppression”, the writer, Rajeev Ravisankar begins his essay by building a connection with the audience by establishing common ground when he states, “being the “poor” college students that we all are” (Ravisankar, 2006). The problem he identifies is the significantly poor working conditions and slave labor wages that are often the price for cheaper goods from large renowned companies. Ravisankar assumes his readers are college students, and unaware of the reality of and often destitute conditions of these sweatshops. His goal is to not only bring awareness to the reality of sweatshop oppression, but how others, such as USAS have stepped up to bring change, and what

Our sense of Adventure and inability to abstain from new and exotic endeavors has bound us with a flaxen cord. With each new finding probing us to find more, we fulfill our curiosity. We eat more food and grow in knowledge. And this is great for mankind, in fact it lead to our nations foundation. Now, we trade and barter foods grown across the world. This makes it expensive to ship foods as well as difficult to eat food with less GMOs. And for foods that are only able to grow in specific climates it leads to “the exploitation of cheap labor.” (Source F). Meaning that countries without minimum wage requirements work long hours with unsubstantial pay. It damages their economies and communities due to the lack of

Kaleigh, I agree completely with you and Aaron. The decrease in the price of aluminum and how to affects companies, our country, and other industries are all great examples of how this issue affects our economy. Not only is this article illustrating the issue of outsourcing to other countries but it is alCheryl,

We often question how our food and clothes can be sold so cheap, this all comes down to where it is made or grown. Our clothes are made overseas in factories by women and in some cases even children in unsuitable conditions. They work long hours and don’t get paid much in return, it is said to be less than what they can afford to live on and made to work extra hours. This is why large stores like Primark and Asda can sell their clothes at such little cost. Some of the workers are said to be working 60 to 90 hours every week for as little as £17 per month. (Making social lives pg.88) The workers in the factories are grateful for their small wage and would struggle if the factories were to close and business was took elsewhere.

Wal-Mart knew that in the United States it would need to give the American workers more benefits which could lead to more costs. So, Wal-Mart decided to expand to China, which brought lots of success. Although Wal-Mart can create products and sell them for a low price, this has affected American job seekers looking for Employment. Wal-Mart is expanding throughout the world by created factories which could lead to the production of goods for low prices. For example, “it is noted for highly sophisticated global inventory management as it brings to foreign markets quintessential American values—Darwinian competition, every widening consumer choice, and increasing shareholder value” (Garten 24). Mostly, the people who are benefiting from Wal-Mart’s expansion throughout the world is only the customers and shareholders. The employees are suffering due to Wal-Mart cutting the jobs in America and relying on other countries to do their production for them. Not only is Wal-Mart cutting jobs in America, they are treating their employees in other countries harsh. For instance, “the Chinese garment workers are mainly migrants from farms, where earnings are even worse than at Wal-Mart’s subcontractors and where the labor is more grueling” (Mallaby 622). Wal-Mart is abusing other people from different countries based on how the countries don’t have enforced labor laws. Explains why Wal-Mart prefers to expand globally and move their production facilities to other countries rather than the United

It has come to my attention that workers in Cambodia are only getting paid two dollars and fifty cents an hour and working ten-hour days. Some would say this is the norm in their country. Well yes, In Cambodia it is normal to work ten hours per day for two dollars and fifty cents, which is above average. Two more hours worked and four dollars and seventy-five cents less than in the United States of America. In countries like Cambodia, the cost of living is substantially less than the cost of living in the United States. But is it ethical? Lets think if the roles were switched. A company from Cambodia is employing Americans. The company is paying them minimum wage, which is seven dollars and twenty-five cents. If Cambodia tried to pay them the

If Wal-Mart has such little regard for their own employees, it would make it difficult for a company to have minimal regard to where their merchandise is coming from. On the documentary, The High Price of Low Cost, informs of the countries and Wal-Mart’s effects on these countries, including its presence for manufacturing in China. The workers work in conditions of extreme temperatures from morning until dawn and provided boarding, which is shared with several others and lined with bunk beds. The board and utilities are deducted from their wages even if the workers choose not to stay on the facilities the board is still deducted from their pay. These workers that are looking for employment to make a better future for their families are