Interesting information about sweatshops and child labor

[TimeTraveler]

I read this on another forum and thought it was interesting:

 

*Haitian workers earn only 6 cents for every pair of Disney “101 Dalmatians” outfit that Disney sells for $20. Disney pays its workers in Haiti about 28 cents an hour. A woman in Salvador working in a sweatshop makes 12 cents sewing a GAP T-shirt that sells in the US for $20. (Sources: In These Times; National Labor Committee; Jobs with Justice)

 

*Almost half of all toys sold in the US are produced in China, Thailand, and other Asian countries. “China is the champ in the low wage sweepstakes. With minimum wages that hover around 80 cents a day, China is forcing a further decline in the already hideous working conditions in neighboring countries. Naturally, Western executives are flocking to China to do business.” (Bob Herbert, The New York Times)

 

*In 1995, Mattel CEO John Amerman made $7 million and held an additional $23 million in stock options - more than the combined annual salary of the 11,000 Mattel workers making Barbie dolls in China. (Eyal Press, The Nation)

 

*There are sweatshops in the US, too. One worker at a Los Angeles garment factory making clothes for Guess was paid 40 cents for his labor on a blouse that sold in a New York department store for $58. (Source: American Teacher)

 

*Myth: It’s OK to pay workers in poor countries lots less than workers are paid here because living expenses are so much less. Milk: in Haiti, 75 cents; in NY, 65 cents; eggs: in Haiti, $1.50, in NY, $1.39; cereal: in Haiti, $1.90, in NY, 1.69; gas: in Haiti, $2.20, in NY, $1.26. (Source: Newsday)

 

*In Indonesia, the minimum wage is $2.36 per day. The Suharto dictatorship admits that in Jakarta and other urban centers it takes $4 a day to meet subsistence needs. If Nike took just 1% of its annual advertising budget ($280 million), it could raise the income of all its Indonesian workers above the poverty line. (Source: Counterpunch, Global Exchange)

 

*Almost all soccer balls used in the US are imported. Major soccer ball manufacturing countries: Pakistan, China, and Indonesia. Between 1985 and 1995, the soccer ball industry greatly increased production in countries where children make leather hand-stitched balls. In countries like Pakistan, children may work 12 hour days for very little pay. (Source: International Labor Rights Fund)

 

*Nike CEO Phil Knight is the sixth richest man in the United States. He owns 100 million shares of Nike stock. His dividend income alone for the third quarter of 1996 was $80 million dollars. More than 75% of Nike's shoe production occurs in countries where it is illegal to form independent trade unions. (Source: Counterpunch, Press for Change)

 

*Throughout the world, 250 million 5 to 14 year olds are employed; one half of these work full-time. Many children work in industries where they are exposed to harmful chemicals or other dangerous conditions. In Sri Lanka, more children die from pesticide poisoning than from a combination of childhood diseases including malaria, tetanus, and whooping cough. (Source: International Labor Organization)

 

 

10 ways you can help prevent sweatshops

[Hellbender]

makes me sick. But I guess I shouldn't be surprised. This is corporate America we're talking here. Disney can go s**t in their hat for all I care.

[john5746]

Corporate America = American stockholders. When the stocks don't go up, people sell.

 

Sweatshops, etc are bad, but keep in mind America can't fix the world. If Nike, or Disney isn't there, do you think they would go home and play nintendo? They might starve, or work for someone else. It would be nice if some of the profits from the US corps would go to improving working conditions in the countries, but who knows what the countries would do with the money. Just having the companies there probably helps their economy.

 

IT workers in the US need a union. Man, these companies work your A** off, then get rid of you once they get some Indians trained.

[TimeTraveler]

Sweatshops, etc are bad, but keep in mind America can't fix the world.

 

No, but we could make a conscious effort to at least try and help the world. We need to control our corporations, there needs to be standards set and met, pay wages in foriegn countries needs to be reasonable. And when a corporation commits inhumane acts they need to pay, and pay hard, as to be made a major example.

 

Just having the companies there probably helps their economy.

 

Its a double edged sword, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, the problem is in third world countries most all are already very poor, so while a select few gain a little money the over-all economy is getting hammered, and more people are starving and dying.

 

And our aid policies are not helping either, we give countries food, their agricultural economy goes down putting many farmers out of business. Sounds silly but we are making people starve by giving them food. What we need to start doing is instead of giving these people food and letting our corporations exploit their populous we need to give these countries machinary, tools, supplies, equipment, ect... the tools to help them build their own agriculture and economy.

[john5746]

I say we don't "give" them anything. If giving them jobs and food hurts them, then giving them equipment or anything else is bound to hurt someone.

[Sayonara]

Sweatshops, etc are bad, but keep in mind America can't fix the world.

"Not trying to fix the world" doesn't require exploitation.

[Aardvark]

Its a double edged sword, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, the problem is in third world countries most all are already very poor, so while a select few gain a little money the over-all economy is getting hammered, and more people are starving and dying.

 

Whilst i agree that the major corporations are taking advantage of the low wages in these countries it is wrong to state that this is causing more poverty. The poor are not made poorer by the presence of these sweatshops. They get the chance to get these crappy jobs. But, and a big but, these crappy jobs are paying them more than they would otherwise have been getting. The poor are better off for the presence of these sweatshops

 

And our aid policies are not helping either, we give countries food, their agricultural economy goes down putting many farmers out of business. Sounds silly but we are making people starve by giving them food. What we need to start doing is instead of giving these people food and letting our corporations exploit their populous we need to give these countries machinary, tools, supplies, equipment, ect... the tools to help them build their own agriculture and economy.

 

 

I agree with your diagnosis. A lot of aid is seriously counterproductive. That is a subject that deserves a lot of attention.

 

I disagree with your prescription. These countries don't need to be given machinery or equipment. That sort of thing noramally results in inappropriate items ending up in the wrong hands and perputrating corruption and market distortion, typically hitting the small guys.

 

Rather, the poor countries need the rich countries to end the huge tariff barriers against them and to stop subsidising indistries on competion with them. The agricultural subsidies in both the EU and USA result in markets being closed and produce being dumped in poor countries. Trade barriers, for example the tarriff on imported prawns from Thailand to Europe costs Thailand hundreds of millions of dollars a year. Why do we need to protect ourselves from Thai prawns?

 

Scrap the unfair subsidies and tarriffs, that would make a real and immediate difference to the poor.

 

 

But it won't happen. Farmers have a big well funded lobby. Protectionism is always corruption under another name, special favours bought for political contributions.

[coquina]

As many of you know, I own and operate a machine shop. A lot of the production parts I used to build are now manufactured in China.

 

My liason with that company told me that the Chinese government built their factory and put the most modern, up to date, machinery in it and the company does not have to pay a nickel (or yen, or whatever the heck their currency is) for it. The highest level employees are paid the equivalent of $0.50 per hour. They do not have to carry worker's comp insurance, or liability insurance, or health insurance. They do not have to comply with OSHA regulations. As a result, they are able to make a part that I sold them for $38.50 for $3.50.

 

A friend of mine owns a Hallmark shop. When the market with China first opened up, she was sent on a trade mission. She was sent to a factory that made "handpainted vases". The employees were all little girls about 12 years old. They sat in front of a conveyor belt, and as the vase went by, they picked it up and painted a single leaf or petal on it and set it down. Each person only put on one stroke, in exactly the same place every time.

 

My friend was shown their dormatories - they were in bunks 4 high. Their meals consisted of a bowl of rice with a little chicken or meat thrown in. When my friend asked the person who was showing her through the factory how much they were paid, he told her that the girls were not allowed to keep any of the money - it was sent back home to their families. He said that 10 years before, little girl children would have been thrown on a dung heap, and at least now they had some value.

 

Think about that when you pick up a vase that says "handpainted in China".

[TimeTraveler]

Just say no to Walmart!

 

Walmart's criminal activities

[john5746]

My friend was shown their dormatories - they were in bunks 4 high. Their meals consisted of a bowl of rice with a little chicken or meat thrown in. When my friend asked the person who was showing her through the factory how much they were paid' date=' he told her that the girls were not allowed to keep any of the money - it was sent back home to their families. He said that 10 years before, little girl children would have been thrown on a dung heap, and at least now they had some value.

 

Think about that when you pick up a vase that says "handpainted in China".[/quote']

 

What should I do? If I buy it, does it save the girl from the dung heap or make them more miserable?

[Sayonara]

As consumers, we can apply pressure to change the market.

[Phi for All]

It should be noted that there is a huge difference between child slave labor and using labor at a lower economic rate. The first is exploitation, the second is arbitrage. Many workers around the world are paid good money (in their economies) that enable them to attend college, buy their own homes, and enjoy a level of prosperity that makes the practice of "offshoring" very vital to their national economics.

 

People in the US are slowly realizing that technological advances are making it possible for workers in other countries to take advantage of the economic differences. For too long we have been complaining about foreign workers "stealing our jobs", when it really boils down to clever people taking advantage of opportunities. The economic imbalance won't be around for long, but it is here now and we'll just have to deal with it.

 

We can't export our stuff and then cry foul when those we export to need more money to buy our stuff.

[TimeTraveler]

I want to reply to your post Phi, but I have to run, So I will later. Just want to say I understand where your coming from but I disagree in some ways.

 

The first is exploitation, the second is arbitrage.

 

*Myth: It’s OK to pay workers in poor countries lots less than workers are paid here because living expenses are so much less. Milk: in Haiti, 75 cents; in NY, 65 cents; eggs: in Haiti, $1.50, in NY, $1.39; cereal: in Haiti, $1.90, in NY, 1.69; gas: in Haiti, $2.20, in NY, $1.26. (Source: Newsday)

[Phi for All]

I want to reply to your post Phi, but I have to run, So I will later. Just want to say I understand where your coming from but I disagree in some ways.

Milk and eggs are not a good example to use, since they are subsidized by the US government. I'd like to know what kind of cereal you can buy in NY for $1.69. Here in CO it runs about $4 a pound. The fact that the gas price you have for NY in $1.26 tells me these figures are pretty old.

 

And the comparisons are all with Haiti. The US has totally screwed Haiti by unfairly protecting sugar and cotton imports from affecting our own farmers. I say unfair because the US has brought heavy pressure on Haiti to also import sugar and cotton from us, items which used to be their biggest exports.

 

My experiences with offshoring are mostly with China, India and South America, involving a higher technology skill set. The workers I've done business with are all college educated, bilingual people who own their own homes. Their economy is such that paying them $5/hour works out to be a quite livable wage.

 

I mentioned it because I've seen people in the US condemn offshoring the same way they condemn sweatshops. I still think the difference is the standard of living of the worker. Obviously, the kinds of examples given earlier of forced child labor is reprehensible. And I don't believe in the justification that these workers would otherwise be thrown on the dung-heap. This is a human rights violation and governments should work to stop such exploitation.

[john5746]

Many foreign countries have factories in the US. I don't see German and Japanese companies paying sky high wages. Companies pay according to the market. It would be crazy to pay factory workers more than what doctors can make in a country. You can see some of the problems that might occur.

 

Again, they could pay some sort of "tariff" that would go towards improving working conditions, etc.

[Sayonara]

Many foreign countries have factories in the US. I don't see German and Japanese companies paying sky high wages. Companies pay according to the market.

 

As consumers, we can apply pressure to change the market.

Round and round and round it goes; where it stops, nobody knows.

[john5746]

I didn't say they need to pay more.

[Sayonara]

I didn't say that you did. "Change the market" is about as open-ended as you can get.

[TimeTraveler]

Like with anything it differs from location to location and situation to situation, while in some countries, or some corporations may provide beneficial results to the economy and to the workers they employ. And in other situations it is exploitation and criminal.

 

I just think that the standard needs to be raised and when major violation occur they need to be dealt with harshly... for example in a fairly recent lawsuit against wal-mart it was fined 10,000 for each person it made violations against. For a company that brings in the profits wal-mart does a $1 million fine for each may have been more appropriate.

 

When infractions like these take place they need to made very public and the companies need to be punished. I can find many more examples but am working on another project at the moment. But, if you set examples by harsh punishments on these major companies other companies will begin to realize they are not untouchable and make their standards higher. Better pay and treatment is all that is wanted.

 

 

Investigations have been conducted by religious and human rights organizations at sweatshops where Wal-Mart products and clothing are made. Consistently, these undercover investigations have found that workers in these factories are paid starvation wages and child labor is common. Furthermore, women are forced to take birth control and forced to have abortions if they get pregnant, and working conditions are deplorable and many times dangerous.

 

In another case, we have charged Coca-Cola with the murder and terrorizing of trade unionists in Colombia.

 

In 1992, the American oil company Unocal Corporation embarked on a joint venture with the Burmese military regime and the French oil company, Total, to construct an oil pipeline in Burma. Known as the Yadana Project, this project involved the forced labor of thousands of Burmese villagers.

[john5746]

As a consumer, my motto is to spend less and save more. Not sure if that helps.

[Phi for All]

As a consumer, my motto is to spend less and save more. Not sure if that helps.

That makes you a citizen, not a consumer.

[TimeTraveler]

As a consumer, my motto is to spend less and save more. Not sure if that helps.

 

As a human being, my motto is to hurt less and care more. I am pretty sure that helps.