CRS 231-Sweatshops

The issue of sweatshops is one that can be very controversial. Some believe that sweatshops in foreign countries that may practice inhuman working conditions at least provide the children and adults working there a livelihood. It is upsetting that people, especially children, are subjected to this kind of work, however, the big question is what else would these kids be doing if they weren’t working in a sweatshop? Would they be sold as sex slaves, or would their family be literally starving to death? This is the reality of children, men and women that live in countries that are homes to these sweatshops. It is hard for me to say if I am either pro-sweatshops or anti-sweatshops because although I believe that these places of work should no longer be allowed to remain running, I worry what would happen to the workers if we took away there only opportunity to feed their family, even if it may not be but just rice. Also, another question to consider is if there are enough people that really care about this problem to make a significant difference? Are Americans really willing to give up paying their extra low discount prices just so people they have no affiliation with won’t be subjected to such awful working conditions? One thing that I know I can take a definite stance on is that I find no valid reason for there to still be sweatshops in the United States and people to simply look over them only because it seems to be getting the job done for very little money and extremely quick .
The definition of sweatshops, as stated in our textbook is, “a company that violates labor, safety, and health, and/or worker compensation laws, or that has work environments that are unsafe, inhuman, or abusive without providing opportunities for workers to organize or negotiate better terms of work.” One example that I found online was about teenage girls in Honduras sewing clothes for Kathie Lee Gifford’s clothing line which is sold in Wal-Mart stores around the country. The girl’s ages ranged from 13 to 15 and usually worked from early morning to night, missing any opportunity to attend night school (National Labor Committee, www.nlcnet.org). When I heard about this incident I felt angry and sad for these girls, and it certainly altered my opinion of Kathy Lee Gifford regardless of whether or not she was aware of what was going on. I remember when I was 13 to 15; I was attending school and mostly hanging out with friends. If these teenage girls had an opportunity for a better life by finishing grammar school and they missed out because they were forced to work longer hours to accommodate rush orders for the Wal-Mart sold brand, then I find it absolutely ridiculous, no questions asked. However, a more of a positive note regarding this situation is that this was one of the cases of unsafe and abusive treatment of people that brought attention back to sweatshops, a topic usually forgotten by too many. Today, in class, someone asked is there anything we can do about this? I would have to say to that question that maybe there is nothing that as an individual we could do that would make a direct difference to sweatshops in these countries or even our own, however, we can make a conscious effort to remember the lesson here: to hold yourself and other people accountable for actions they take in all aspects of your life, if it be at school or work. The “don’t ask, don’t tell” philosophy shouldn’t be something that we adopt in life simply because it may be a little easier.