Sweatshops

Victoria Swenson

GWS 220W—Dr. Brown
Research Paper

Behind the Scenes of Sweatshops

             In any industry, the number one priority of a business or product is customer satisfaction. Employees of corporations and businesses strive to produce the best quality and the most quantity of products such as cosmetics, technology and apparel garments. However, most American consumers overlook the production of where and how the products they purchase are actually coming from. Instead of wondering how or where our clothes were made, we focus on brand names such as Forever 21, Abercrombie & Fitch and J. Crew but the reality of the labor put into making the clothes we wear today is hidden behind the scenes in countries such as China and India in what is termed as sweatshops. Due to the amount of products produced from sweatshops that are incorporated in our daily lives, with the example of clothing, one must understand what a sweatshop is and what goes on “behind the scenes” of the public eye of production. Throughout this paper the conditions and employees of sweatshops in China and India and the effects of globalization in this industry will be addressed through gathered research and information.

              Sweatshop is a term that does not have one specific definition but more so a variety of descriptions that are associated in defining what a sweatshop actually is. The first part of the word sweatshop, “sweat”, was used centuries ago as a metaphor to describe “severe exertion of labor” (Wilson). The second part of the word, “shop”, refers to where the work is being done and most of the time it is in a factory of foreign countries such as China and India. Around the 1890s, sweatshop became a term to define harsh and unequal working conditions of individuals who work in factories, specifically producing garments for the apparel industry. The unequal and harsh working conditions that are associated with what defines a sweatshop includes the degrading and disrespect of employees, unsafe and hazardous working environments, payment incomes at less than minimum wage, frequent hours of overtime, and little to no benefits. Although young children are victims of the employment in sweatshops, it is more common for child labor in India sweatshops than in China sweatshops. For example, India holds the largest number of child workers between ages of 5-14 years old and has been estimated to employ about 100,000 children in just one area of India, Tamil Nadu. (Kala) However, in both China and India the majority of individuals who deal with these conditions at their jobs are mostly female. In India sweatshops, over half of the employees are female. Similar in China sweatshops, about 90% of the workforce is females ranging from the ages of about15-25 years old (Lendman). Individuals, specifically females who work in the secretive and unseen harsh reality of sweatshops, usually have little to no other options of employment conditions regardless of laws.

             In an article titled Global Sweatshop Wage Slavery, author Stephen Lendman briefly explains Articles 23 and 24 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Within these articles of Human Rights, most of the laws contradict what defines a sweatshop and its working atmosphere. For example, under Article 23, one law states that “everyone, without discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.” However, discrimination is found in sweatshops by taking advantage of under age, such as the children in India, and under educated workers and not rewarding them with equal pay for their hard labors. Another example in Article 24 states that “everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay”. Again, this law has no relation to sweatshop employees because they are often forced to work long hours without minimal breaks during their shifts. For example, they even have limited access to bathroom breaks and rarely get enough sleep (Chartier). This is because of their long work hours and having to work almost every day of the week.

             The reality of a female employee who works in a China sweatshop was examined in a documentary movie titled China Blue. This movie showed the “behind the scenes” working conditions from an employee and owner perspective of the Lifeng Factory in Shanxi, China. Lifeng is a factory that produces jeans that is on the main garments worn around the world. China Blue emphasized what a sweatshop and its conditions truly are and showed the labor that the employees put into the garments we wear today. Although some sweatshops may vary in the way they are managed and the products they produce, almost all sweatshop employees experience the same working conditions which was examined throughout the movie through the eyes of a 17 year old Chinese female named Jasmine Lee.

              After having no other option but to leave her village and find work to help support her family, Jasmine Lee traveled across China to Shanxi to work at Lifeng Factory in the position of a thread cutter. A thread cutter in this sweatshop is assigned to cut off the loose threads on the denim, checking the pocket quality and cleaning any excess lint off the jeans. Jasmine Lee states that this process takes about 30 minutes for one pair of jeans and every hour, equivalent to two pair of jeans, she earns half a Yuan. Therefore, every hour of hard labor that is put into two pairs of jeans she will be making about 6 cents. Sadly she is working at an hourly rate of 6 cents for 11 hours, 7 days a week with no benefits and frequent overtime hours that are never rewarded. Outside of the Lifeng factory, Jasmine Lee is still under sweatshop conditions by the fact that she has to live right next to the factory in a dormitory setting of 12 girls to a room and the food that is consumed by them is paid for by taking money out of their paychecks. Therefore, all of the hard labor that goes into a day of making jeans at Lifeng is not rewarded with money but the money is compensated for a place for the employees to live and eat for the short amount of hours they are not at the factory. Unfortunately this lifestyle of excessive long-hours and overtime of hard labor, with no breaks and a limited amount of bathroom breaks (2 breaks per shift), unequal pay and work rights is the life of many female workers in sweatshops not just in China but India as well.

              Although the conditions of both the workplace and financial earnings of sweatshops are similar in both India and China, the employees and products they produce differ in some ways. As stated before, India’s main employees of sweatshops are children. Children who work in India sweatshops produce most of the same products that China does such as garments and technology but are also producing more products that relate to health risks. Some examples of these labors include carpet weaving, glass blowing, lead mining and brick kilns (Kala). Dealing with these productions health risks are more increased than when producing garments. For example, children working in brick kilns suffered from major stomach, skin and breathing problems due to the amount of exposure to dust, sand and heat. The amount of sweatshops in India and China and other countries in general, even the United States, are still high today and this overlooked industry of production could result from globalization.

             Throughout recent years, the economy and business trade market has started to increase and lead to an increase demand of products around the world. Thus, “economic globalization is accelerating the flow of migrant labor” (Seager, p.72).According to an encyclopedia relating to the topic of sweatshops, migrant labor is often common in sweatshops because of vulnerable populations such as women, children and immigrants willing to perform this type of work. Regardless of job positions or conditions, both immigrants and residents of countries travel within their country and to different countries seeking job opportunities. It may be obvious that an individual wouldn’t seek out a job as horrible as a position in a sweatshop, but for many people it is their only opportunity for employment. Since most foreign countries are low-income and the production and trade demands are so high and important in the global economy, more jobs are available in sweatshops. Not only do individuals need these job positions to establish a life to support themselves but to help support their families as well; This goal of providing for oneself and their family may be, but not proven to be, one main reasons why people all over the world work to establish a job or career.

            The importance of a career and the benefits such as a financial income seem to be a universal goal throughout the world in the average person’s life, but many such as sweatshop employees are cheated out of the financial and beneficial rewards that are associated with work of the hours they put in. Not only are sweatshops treating employees unequally in multiple aspects but governments are as well by allowing sweatshop workers to continue to be taken advantage of the labor they do. In China specifically, years ago the government had abolished workers’ right to strike and any worker who did not follow this law or “walked off” the job, they were not only breaking the law but often times punished. This law was usually regulated and enforced by the managers of factories due to their authority. For example, in the movie China Blue the owner of Lifeng, Mr. Lam was a police chief before the owner of the jean factory and had many connections to the police department and government of China which not only enforced his power but also makes it highly impossible for his employees to “act out” or quit and he ultimately has full control over the work they do.

            
              In order for citizens of India and China to establish any type of a financially stable life, they work in these sweatshops. The unrecognized labor they put into their work and the conditions they deal with has started to raise awareness of this industry of production. Acknowledgement of how sweatshops are run and how they treat their employees lead to activists and organizations whose main goals are to help stop or prevent these working conditions by empowering workers to stand up for themselves in their careers and by trying to help protect their work rights and health laws. Examples of these organizations include War on Want, Worker Empowerment, Asia Monitor Resource Centre and Labor Action China. The organization known as Worker Empowerment, or “WE” was established in 2003 and had a mission to empower the workers of sweatshops and help them realize and learn how to deal with abusive work atmospheres. For example, since most employees are thought to be unintelligent, they are verbally abused by their bosses and constantly disrespected when on the job, but WE has helped workers on how to handle these types of situations. The organizations of Asia Monitor Rescue Centre (AMRC) and Labor Action China (LAC) have also increased working conditions in a positive way by pressuring the government to alter their labor laws and standards in certain ways. One example these organizations have made a change for sweatshop workers, was in October of 2008 when workers suffering from diseases due to their dangerous environments began to see changes in the occupational health legislation.

            Sweatshops and hard labor or under age, underpaid and underestimated workers is behind the scenes in the business economy of the apparel industry. Many people, especially Americans focus highly on brand names and do not think twice about how their clothes were made or where they were produced. The unseen and unfortunate reality of the unrewarded labor of young female adults in sweatshops and the conditions they have to work in and management they work under is hidden well from consumers. While the average American works at the most 60 hours a week with overtime, the average employee of a sweatshop works 77 hours a week with no shift breaks, little pay that is less than minimum wage and no benefits. Thankfully organizations such as WE, AMRC and LAC have started to help make a change in the lives of people who work in or are associated with sweatshops. Awareness and prevention of sweatshop factories not only in China, India and other countries such as the United States, needs to be increased and stop being overlooked by false advertisement of brand names such as Abercrombie & Fitch when in reality a child from India or a young teenage girl from China deserves the credit of your “favorite pair of skinny jeans”.

Works Cited

Lendman, S. (2010). Global Sweatshop Wage Slavery. Retrieved from http://www.thepeoplesvoice.org/TPV3/Voices.php/2010/02/25/global-sweatshop-wage-slavery

Peled, M. X. (Director) (2005). China blue [DVD].

Seager, J. (2009). The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World. (fourth ed., p. 72). New York, NY: The Penguin Group.

Wichterich, C. (2009). Trade-a driving force for jobs and women's empowerment. Gender and Trade: Focus on China and India, Retrieved from http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/iez/global/06389.pdf

Wilson, A. (n.d.). A dirty history of discrimination and ignorance. Sweatshops, Retrieved from http://atlismta.org/online-journals/0506-journal-government-and-the-rights-of-individuals/sweatshops/

Kala, T. "Exploitation of Child Labourers in India." (2006): n. page. Web. 19 Apr. 2012. <http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/jun2006/indi-j08.shtml>.

Chartier, Gary. "Sweat shops, Labor Rights, and Competitive Advantage." n. page. Web. 19 Apr. 2012. <http://law.uoregon.edu/org/oril/docs/10-1/Chartier.pdf>.

"Sweatshops." Encyclopedia of Management. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 19 Apr. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.