Low pay is not the only concern for sweatshop workers. Unsafe working conditions, abusive behavior, and child labor are all very common. In deciding whether sweatshop work is ethical I think it is crucial that we educate ourselves on how these workers are being treated.
Factory fires and buildings collapsing is unfortunately a risk that many factory workers take to have a chance to work in sweatshops. Workers are forced to make the tough decision of going hungry or going to work in death traps. Large corporations are capitalizing on the workers' desperate situations. Bangladesh is the world's second largest clothing exporter after China and it has seen so many tragedy within their clothing factories. On April 25, 2013 a building collapse at a Walmart sweatshop killed over one thousand people in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Since 2006 over five hundred workers have been killed in Bangladesh through factory fires as well, many of which could have been avoided had the necessary precautions been put into place.
Sweatshop workers are often subjected to verbal, physical and sexual abuse. While doing my research I found that the exploitation of women is especially prevalent since approximately 80-90 percent of sweatshop workers are women. Often times women are required to take pregnancy tests at work and are immediately fired if the test is positive because the businesses do not want to pay for maternity leave. It is common for sweatshop workers to be sexually abused as well. Beverly Bell, an advocate for gender justice, interviewed Haitian women who described having a quid-pro-quo relationship with their managers. They were required to have sex with their managers in order to maintain their jobs and increase their hours. To view the testimonies of Haitian women click here.
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The majority of sweatshops employ children. Sweatshop workers can be as young as five years old and can work up to 16 hours per day. The children are put to work at dull and repetitious work and get very few breaks. The children are deprived of a childhood, education and any chance at a better life. It is estimated that between 5% and 30% of children in India are economically active, 20% of African children are economically active and 10%-20% of children in Latin America are economically active. Aside from the obvious set backs of a child working in a sweatshop there are serious medical issues that arise. Children can develop chronic lung diseases, bone deformations, diminished eyesight, and death. To read up on children in sweatshops click here.
As this blog progresses I want the reader to keep all of this in mind. I find there are so many people that argue that without sweatshop these workers are worse off. There is economic gain and necessity for these jobs but none of this matters if these workers are not able to live with dignity, security and respect. If a company chooses to outsource its work they are morally obligated to ensure their employees are taken care of. If the company chooses to ignore the conditions these workers are being put in then people should deny them their business.
Chelsea, I think this post is well done. I believe many of us are aware of the poor conditions of the buildings and safety violations, but you go a step further and put a human feel on the subject. Pointing out the abuses against women and children is certainly a big part of this debate. You have done well at supporting your claims here, with the testimonials and statistics. I also like how you have reminded us as readers to keep some underlying facts in mind to properly frame your information. It prepares the reader for what will be coming next in a way, without pushing this reader into too much of a prejudicial place.
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to see some comparisons between modern sweatshops abroad and the sweatshops here in America that inspired us to get weekends, 40 hour work weeks, and abolished child labor in our country.If contrasts and comparisons are drawn, perhaps we can make a global issue even closer to home by exploring our own ways we changed our own systems, and the impacts on society and economics..
Hi,
ReplyDeleteThis post was written so well! I found your whole post interesting but one thing that really stood out to me was that some women are required to take pregnancy tests at work.Which is why I agree with you, these companies are morally obligated to take care of their employees. How can US companies allow such a horrible environment for employees? One question this post generated for me was, are there any american laws regarding outsourcing? I look forward to seeing where you go with your next post. Hopefully in one of your posts you incorporate how businesses view outsourcing as beneficial.