Sweatshops By Mike B.
Introduction
Today, the United States import many goods from all over the world, especially from countries in Asia like China. In these countries sweatshops are a huge problem. Sweatshop are very common in places such as Vietnam, China, and Indonesia, where workers are in poor conditions and being paid next to nothing to make the products we wear every day. This is a huge problem that we promote by companies moving their factories overseas so they can get cheap labor.
History
A sweatshop is a work environment where they have low pay, long hours, and unsafe or unhealthy working conditions. The earliest example of sweatshops originated in Ecuador. The Spanish explorers would make natives to work in sweatshop like conditions. Sweatshops used to be popular in the United States in the 1880s. They were also popular Europe during this time as well. When labor laws were put in place sweatshops disappeared in America and Europe. But now they are a problem in Asian countries
Current Conditions and what’s being done
Today there are many sweatshops located in Asia, Central America, and South America where big American companies, such as Nike, Gap, and Wal-mart, move their factories to so they can get cheap labor. Move business to other countries is called outsourcing which has become very popular in America so companies can lower their prices to beat there competition. In these sweatshops conditions are very poor. Workers are forced to work long days in physically and mentally harsh conditions for low wages. Employees work from 60 to 100 hours a week. Supervisors threaten and abuse workers when they complain and punish them for not meet impossible standards. For example, two workers demanded more pay and supervisors punished them by throwing them into a jail cell for four days without food then forced to leave the country. According to an interview on globallabourrights.com a Reebok factory that makes NFL and NBA jersey in Honduras workers have explained about the abusive treatment they receive and being pressured into working overtime hours. You can help by boycotting sweatshop made products as well as buying American made products. We could also ask the government to bring back multinational companies or put laws in telling companies that they cannot import sweatshop made goods.
Links to More Info
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Sweatshops.aspx
http://www.globallabourrights.org/reports?id=0184
http://horrorsofsweatshops.weebly.com/sweatshop-conditions-and-treatment-of-workers.html
Links to What’s Being Done
http://www.greenamerica.org/programs/sweatshops/whatyoucando/index.cfm
http://www.ehow.com/how_6879401_stop-sweatshops.html
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Sweatshops.aspx
http://www.globallabourrights.org/reports?id=0184
http://horrorsofsweatshops.weebly.com/sweatshop-conditions-and-treatment-of-workers.html
Links to What’s Being Done
http://www.greenamerica.org/programs/sweatshops/whatyoucando/index.cfm
http://www.ehow.com/how_6879401_stop-sweatshops.html