The World of Sweatshops Essay examples

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

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.

Cambridge dictionary defines sweatshop as a small factory where workers are paid very little and work many hours under bad conditions. People working there are deprived of any kind of worker’s benefit. Child labor is very common in sweatshops. Workers in sweatshops are often missing key pieces of safety equipment such as face masks to ensure safe breathing or work in environments with insufficient means of emergency exit since employers may lock the doors and windows to prevent theft during working hours (Hartman ). The workers are abused, beaten, kicked, and shoved, even if they are sick or pregnant. Sweatshop is nothing but a modern form of slavery, because the workers are forced to work in harsh condition for a little wage, and they are denied any fundamental human rights .

Introductory rationale: When it comes to social justice issues, most people believe the government needs to solve the problem. Social justice in sweatshops is no exception. In my research, I have found that what people see as the cause of injustice in developing countries, sweatshops, are actually what is responsible for lifting people up out of poverty. As a result, any sort of government regulation will fail to solve the problem. The audience I am writing for is a diverse group of peers who are concerned with social justice though they may have different solutions and beliefs about the topic. My goal in this draft is to expand their knowledge and show them the benefits of not interfering with the free market.

Introductory rationale: When it comes to social justice issues, most people believe the government needs to solve the problem. Social justice in sweatshops is no exception. In my research, I have found that what people see as the cause of injustice in developing countries, sweatshops, are actually what is responsible for lifting people up out of poverty. As a result, any sort of government regulation will fail to solve the problem. The audience I am writing for is a diverse group of peers who are concerned with social justice though they may have different solutions and beliefs about the topic. My goal in this draft is to expand their knowledge and show them the benefits of not interfering with the free market.

There are many ways in which sweatshops breach the universal declaration of Human Rights upheld by the United Nations. The UDHD states that ‘’everyone has the right to rest and leisure including reasonable limitation of working hours and period holidays with pay’’. People who work in sweatshops are working in some of the worst conditions. As well as working in harsh conditions, these workers are on a very low wage. $160 dollars a month unfortunately does not last long as most of their wage is spent on rent, which leaves little money left for

Sweatshops greatly impact the lives of people all across the world; people are forced into incredibly tough labor along with unbearable working conditions. According to the writer of English Blog, “22 million children die annually due to the hazardous conditions in the sweatshops.” (English Blog RSS) Besides the low pay and awfully long working hours, the

"Teens in Sweatshops." Junior Scholastic, vol. 106, no. 8, 24 Nov. 2003, p. 8. EBSCOhost,cucproxy.cuchicago.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,cpid&custid=s8419239&db=prh&AN=11430419&site=ehost-live. This article focuses on teenagers that work in sweatshops, specifically in the United States. The article contains personal interviews and examples from real teens that were most likely immigrant workers working in sweatshops. The article describes events of a variety of different people working in different sweatshops and the effect it had on them. There are direct quotes from not only workers from sweatshops but also from workers in corporate companies speaking about their side on sweatshops. With statistics and facts being used in the article important information can easily be read through and understood. The article is important because it easily sums up sweatshops from what they are to what they do and how it affects others. With the article being so small and easy to read people with varying reading levels can read the information being presented and know about the abuse that is happening. Moving accounts from people and specific names of popular clothing stores serve as important details that impact a reader’s opinion on

The division of labour in sweatshops is gendered because the vast majority of workers are young women. The problems faced by many workers are also gendered because gender-based notions of what is acceptable inform working conditions. Thus medical or maternity leave, employer / employee relations and the right to organize can all become gender biased. Consequently, the negative aspects of sweatshops have a disproportionate impact on women. Because of this, some argue that efforts to combat the poor working conditions in sweatshops should focus more on empowering women[citation needed]. Although company-led attempts to improve the working conditions in sweatshops such as the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) have had some successes, others criticize the ETI as 'gender-blind'[citation needed]. The modern

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.

Sweatshop is defined as 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. Sweatshops also referred to as the “sweat factory”, creates a hazardous and unhealthy working environment for employees such as the exposure to harmful materials, dangerous situations, extreme temperatures and abuse from employers. Sweatshop workers work for long hours, sometimes without taking any breaks, and these workers are not paid for any overtime hours or the minimum wage, although it is mandatory by law. These conditions are considered risky for any person, but the worst part is that in many countries, children are being forced to work in these sweatshops.

Nicholas D Kristof begins his essay by exploring the ideas that factory jobs in poor countries are actually a means of reduce poverty. As noted in his article, “sweatshops are only a symptom of poverty, not a cause” (paragraph 8, pge 110). Although sweatshop may be harsh, present a better alternative for workers for in poor countries than what is already available to them. The problem he identifies in his article is the fact that many families would rather work at a sweatshop than stay in a dangerous garbage dumps, searching for something to recycle for a change (Kristof). He assumes that his readers know little about sweatshops; furthermore, how difficult and awful the living conditions are. He goes on to say that some of those workers have

Rubi Garyfalakis in her article “No sweat?” supports her point of view that sweatshop can be considered as a good solution for women in the third world to live by their own, and that sweatshop sets them free from early arranged marriage (Garyfalakis, 2016). However, those are only the visual surface of an iceberg. What about 91% of the iceberg below the surface of the water of the terminology: sweatshop? A sweatshop is defined as “a shop or factory in which employees work for long hours at low wages and under unhealthy conditions” (Merriam-Webster, n.d.). Therefore, it is not strongly recommended to fight for things that consequences are overweighed benefits it would bring back to a part of the society including child labor, violation of law, and increasing rate of unemployment.

Many large companies, especially in the clothing industry, rely on oversea sweatshops as their primary source of production. The term sweatshop is used to describe a factory that violates two or more laws regarding labor. In many developing countries, these workers are subject to terrible working conditions, low wage, child labour, unreasonable hours and a lack of benefits. Sweatshops are utilised due to the cheap labor and production by a number of companies like Zara, Kmart, Cotton On and Target. Despite a number of incidents involving factory fires, collapse and faulty/malfunctioning equipment killing hundreds at a time, workers continue to face these horrendous conditions and treatment. This is a social justice issue as wealthy companies take advantage of the desperation and vulnerability of those living in poverty. This results in unequal wealth, unfair and immoral treatment of poor people, especially women who make up 85% of the workforce and children, for which there are over 250 million aged 5-14 in the industry. For many, their hourly wage is less than a dollar, with many not being payed at.