Unethical Sweatshops

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

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

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?

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 .

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.

Sweatshops have been a popular and serviceable “business,” although there are a lot of controversy on whether sweatshops should be banned and hows pay wages should be higher. Many people believe that sweatshops are unfair, cruel and unlawful, whereas others think that sweatshops are a second chance for many people living in developing countries. The dictionary definition of a sweatshop is factory or workshop, especially in the clothing industry, where manual workers are employed at very low wages for long hours and under poor conditions, it is defined by the US Department of Labor as a factory that violates 2 or more labor laws. Sweatshops are a frequent ordeal in many countries, all over the globe, with a variety of perspectives.

A sweatshop is a workplace that violates the law and where workers are subject to extreme exploitation (including the absence of a living wage or long work hours), poor working conditions such as health and safety hazards, arbitrary discipline such as verbal or physical discipline or fear and intimidation when they attempt to stand up for their rights or attempt to form a union.1 This paper explores the working conditions in sweatshops mainly located near the US-Mexican border and the results the production of sweatshops have caused. US companies import American parts into Mexico to assemble the parts in ‘maquiladoras’. Maquiladoras are best described as assembly plants run by foreign-based multinational corporations, most of which are headquartered in the United States and export the products back to the United States. The produced goods are then usually stamped ‘Assembled in Mexico or US Materials’.2

“Sweatshops are work environments that possess three major characteristics: long hours, low pay, and unsafe or unhealthy working conditions” (Childress, 2014). Sweatshops have been scrutinized around the world and have been around for a very long time. For a period of time it was called slavery because even some skilled slaves earned some money. Sweatshops are still thriving, even in today’s global economy. It is the corporations, stakeholders, and a global responsibility to ensure sweatshops go away forever, but is it possible? Toyota was accused of such practices back in 2002 and today claim that they no longer practice voluntary overtime.

Sweatshop workers make the ultimate sacrifice for profit. Merchandise in the garment industry are outsourced and produced by slave labourers forced in working conditions that are cruel and exploitative, often in fear of punishment. "A "sweatshop" is defined by the US Department of Labor as a factory that violates two or more labor laws" (Do Something, 2016). Human trafficking in the garment industry is prevalent globally, but astronomical numbers are concentrated in developing countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam. Multimillion-dollar, globalized companies have no accountability and turn a blind eye to the exploitation towards trafficked victims occurring behind the scenes in fear of jeopardizing company reputations. This research

This text became immediately implemented to a target market that has slender view of that sweatshops equal unfair pay and unfair remedy, but Kristof's article helps explains to his audience that sweatshops are an exceedingly safe and efficient process to households in growing international locations. The author attempts to persuade the audience to inspire greater sweatshops to be constructed in third world countries. Kristof

The idea of sweatshop has grown increasingly has been hotly contested over the past several years. At first, the author reviews the moral and economic foundations, then argues that the sweatshops are flawed, which are the violation of labor right. The author addresses the question of sweatshops are justified in violating local labor laws. Then the author pointed out that the global market competitions are the fundamental reason for growing sweatshops. Finally, the author provides some recent literature, which applies to the ban exploitation of sweatshop labor and offers advice on modifying the behavior of sweatshops.

Imagine having to work in an extremely dangerous environment where you were treated as less than a human been. Imagine having to deal with slave-like conditions in extremely harsh working environments. Imagine speaking out for your own good and only receiving bruises and getting fired. Imagine working at a Nike sweatshop. This is the reality that many sweatshop workers consider a day of life for the rest of their lives. These workers are taken by the factories that they work for and the companies that own or run the factories don’t regulate working conditions for all the workers in developing nations and countries.

I have learned that sweatshops are factories that are established all around the world where workers are payed a limited amount of money for employment. Globalized companies such as Adidas, Nike, Disney, Gap, Wal-Mart, and many more, have been caught in the act of forcing women and young children for cheap labour to expand their companies furthermore. The positive effects of this situation can lead to worldwide businesses to provide more job opportunities to the public and has access to more goods. This is all great but there are still negative effects that have to be covered. These workers only gain $1-$2 per day as their income for working extremely long hours which is very low. Sometimes, these cheap labourers work so hard

Remember when you were at the mall the last time and saw a pair of Nike shoes that you just couldn’t live without? You had to buy them, for a pricey cost, and just loved them, right? We all have owned a pair or two of Nike shoes in our life. They were the “cool” shoes to have back when I was in school. The thing that we may not have known is that Nike has been using “children as young as fifteen years old” (Jennings, 2012) as employees to make these shoes. In the following report I am going to go over some major ethical issues regarding using underage children and women in foreign countries for labor. I will tell about what the conditions that these