1 2 - catholic social justice: justice and work sweatshop facts and empowerment options focus on the...
TRANSCRIPT
1
2 - Catholic Social Justice: Justice and Work
Sweatshop Facts and Empowerment Options
Focus on the “Worker” and not the “Work”
Worker Rights/Duties
Objective/Subjective Dimensions of Work
Rerum Novarum (Pope Leo XIII)
“Economic Justice for All”
Deacon Edward P. MunzNotes taken from the document “A Race To The Bottom” from the National Labor Committee
2
Examples From Around the World
Workers from Bangladesh earn .05¢ for each $17.99 Disney shirt (15hr/day, 7 days/wk)
Mattel (Wal-Mart) from China earn .13¢, 104° factories (18 1/2 hr/day, 7 days/wk)
Alcoa workers from Mexico selling their blood to survive in cardboard huts
“Made in U.S.A.” could be Vietnamese women in U.S. territory of American Samoa.
Did You Know? 65% of all apparel operations in N.Y.C. and L. A.
violate federal minimum wage laws U.S.A. lost 1.8 million manufacturing jobs in 2001 Wal-Mart is larger than 161 of the 189 countries in
the world Women in Bangladesh paid 1.6¢/$17 Harvard cap
- total cost of hat $1.23 = 1300% markup Kathie Lee demanded a change, but Wal-Mart
continued sweatshop practices in China 46% of workers indentured - owed money to factory.
6
Trademarks, Logos, Labels Protected by global trading laws as
intellectual property through copyright law Cannot violate without penalty or prison
16 year old workers who make the product? NO! Impediment to free trade!
Dolphin-free tuna? Yes. Workers treated with dignity and respect? No.
Congressional Testimony November 28, 2001
“There were 3 pregnant women…Mr. Lee demanded that they undergo abortions. He fired them when they refused.”
“At the workplace, Mr. Lee regularly groped and kissed the female workers in front of everyone.”
“Ms Quyen was held by her arms on 2 sides by 2 guards. A third guard thrust a pointed stick into her eye. She has now lost that eye.”
“On November 28 of 2000, there was a dispute between a supervisor and a female worker. Mr. Lee ordered the supervisor: ‘If you beat her to death, I will take the blame.’ The supervisor dragged the female worker out. Other workers came to her rescue. The American Samoan guards, already holding sticks and scissors, jumped in and beat us. Everyone was frightened. We ran for our lives.”
“Another male worker was pinned to the floor and repeatedly beaten at the temple, his blood spilling all over the floor.”
Let’s Do The MathSingle Salvadoran Mother with 3 Children
CATEGORY INCOME/EXPENSE BALANCE
Average Daily Wages Based on .60¢ per Hour $ 4.80 $ 4.80
Round Trip Bus Fare to Work $ 1.14 $ 3.66
Breakfast of Beans, Rice, Roll and Coffee $ .91 $ 2.75
Lunch of Chicken, Rice, Beans, Tortilla, Lemonade $ 1.37 $ 1.38
Rent (2 rooms, outhouse, no running water) $51.37/Mo. $ 1.68 ($ .30)
Supper of Rice, Beans, Tortillas, Plantain Coffee $ 1.96 ($ 2.26)
Milk for 3 Children Each Day $ .80 ($ 3.06)
Daily School Fees for Children in School During the Day $ .72 ($ 3.78)
Informal Daycare for Children Not in School $ 1.12 ($ 4.90)
Shoes for Children (Average School Shoes per Pair) $11.00 ($15.90)
Doctor Visit for 1 Adult with 1 Child $ 3.42 (19.32)
AVERAGE DAILY SAVINGS FOR BASIC NEEDS
(Taking Out Shoes, School, Daycare, Doctor Visits) ($19.32)
If Nike Doubled Wages, a $140.00 Jersey would only have 4/10ths of 1% labor in cost!
9
What Can We Do? U.S.A. Market biggest in the world
If We Speak, They MUST Listen or Loose BigBig Business Wal-Mart, JCPenney, Sears, AEO, The Gap, Kmart
Abercrombie & Fitch, will not abandon the U.S. market 32 million teens in U.S.A. (Aged 12-19)
• Average $110.00/month on clothing = $155.0 billion/year• Customer and Brand loyalty is critically important to retailers• They Want You - They Must Listen To You or they’re dead!• Check out the “No Sweat” label or ask why they don’t have it• Sign petitions to Congress• Make retailers aware that you are watching and demanding
change - Shop with a conscience.
It would take a sweatshop worker 210 years to earn what Michael Eisner earns in 1 hour
10
11
Focus on the Worker Work consumes 2/3 of our day Dominates our lifestyle (What we talk
about) 1973 Average Work Week = 40 hours 2000 Average Work Week = 46 hours 10 Fewer Leisure Hours/Week now Work is the means of livelihood, not
livelihood in itself.
12
Focus on the Worker (cont.)
Potential to express worker’s gifts/talents Up to 200 million children forced to work U.S. House of Representatives findings:
300 children work in carpet factory in Pakistan Pay is .20/hour Hours 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sleeping on the job? $60.00 fine Cry for parents? Beaten with sticks, chains, carpet
forks.
13
Two Dimensions of Work:Objective and Subjective
Work: sustained effort with the intent to produce or accomplish something Intellectual or manual Paid or unpaid Performed by laborers or directed by
managers Parenting requires work Being a student is work.
14
Two Dimensions of Work:Objective and Subjective
Work is Objective: The product or outcome of our work is the objective part of work
The tools or means to accomplish our task is also the objective part of work
Technology, machinery, products of research - how we achieve our results is the objective part of work.
15
Two Dimensions of Work:Objective and Subjective
The Human Person - the subject is the subjective part of work
The value of human work and the basis of its dignity is the subjective part of work
The basis of value is the person (subjective) part of work, not the work being done (objective) part of work.
16
The Real Purpose of Work … “The real purpose of work is to fulfill our
own humanity and to benefit the humanity of those our work serves”1
An executive secretary is the “subject” of the work, the work being done is the “object”
Work exists for human beings; human beings do not exist for work.
1 “Catholic Social Teaching: Learning and Living Justice, Michael Pennock, Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, Indiana, 2000, page 225.
17
The Real Purpose of Work …
Any ideology, culture, nation or employer that puts the human person second, making the end product the central and most important element of human effort, violates human dignity and is, therefore, immoral.
18
Positive Dimensions of Work …
1. Work is a fundamental means for people to express and develop themselves as human beings
2. It is the ordinary way for us to provide for our material needs
3. Work enables people to contribute to the well-being of the larger community
4. “Work serves to add to the heritage of the whole human family, of all the people living in the world.” (On Human Work, Paragraph 10, Pope John Paul II)
19
Rights/Duties of WorkersThe three factors in a Nations Economy Include:
Governments - Employers - Workers
Government must: Enact laws to protect individual freedoms and to protect private
property Guarantee a stable money supply and efficient public services Provide the security necessary for workers and owners to earn honest
livelihood Oversee and direct the exercise of human rights in economic sector.
20
Rights/Duties of Workers Business Owners Must:
Have a right to make a profit on their investmentCreate employment opportunitiesConsider the ways they are “responsible to society
for the economic and ecological effects of their operations”
Never abuse workers or consider the worker only a means to the end
Not consider profit the supreme god of business.
21
Rights/Duties of Workers Workers Must:
Fulfill the obligations they agree to with the employer Have the right to employment, a just wage, rest, safety
in the workplace, association (unionize) Have the right to a fair, equitable and affordable
healthcare system Work to their full potential Be able, through employment, to Thrive and not just
Survive.
22
Rerum Novarum (Of new Things)
Papal Encyclical of Leo XIII (May, 1891) Addressed condition of working classes
Relationships between government, business, labor, church
Supported right to form labor unions Rejected socialism Affirmed rights of private property ownership
Fundamental principle = equality between employer / employee
Reciprocity = Labor needs capital, Capital needs labor.
23
Rerum Novarum
Worker’s right to rest, worship important Worker not exposed to “corrupting
influences and dangerous occasions” “To exercise pressure upon the indigent and
the destitute for the sake of gain … is condemned by all laws, human and divine”
Workers must respect employer property Employer must pay a “just wage.”
24
Economic Justice For All
Pastoral letter on Catholic Social Teaching and U.S. Economy (1986) Key Points… Measure economy “…not in dollars/cents but on how
it touches human life and whether it protects or undermines the dignity of the human person”
Economic decisions help or hurt people Economic decisions strengthen or weaken family life Economic decisions advance or diminish quality of
justice.
25
Economic Justice For All
Everything begins with the human person “Human dignity is from God, not from race,
nationality, gender, economic status or human accomplishment”
THE HUMAN PERSON IS SACRED Principle of the “End in Itself”
We are never a means to the end, but the end in itself - Always!
26
Catholic Social TeachingThe Changing Face of the Workplace
Prevalent trends in the workplace include: Corporate downsizing International trade and competition Reduction or loss of benefits Corporate relocation Full time to Part time (strikers) Relationship between employee and employer Balance of work and family life Declining wages Lack of training for laid-off workers.
27
Catholic Social TeachingThe Changing Face of the Workplace
Work is more than a job or making a living Work is both a duty and a right It is an expression and reflection of human dignity Church’s work for justice carried out in workplace Employer sets stage - dignity enhanced or denied Rights of workers respected or frustrated Decisions on profit have human/community costs Social contract between employer/employee unraveling.
28
Catholic Social TeachingThe Changing Face of the Workplace
Trade unions? Good as long as the pursuit of common good is sought
Single-minded goals don’t serve employer or employee
Women’s pay must be commensurate w/men’s pay Women less likely to have healthcare Women more likely to earn less Women more likely to have greater home responsibilities Women more likely to head single parent homes Women more likely to experience sexual harassment at
work. (Office of Social Development and World Peace, USCCB)
29
30
Based on the two sweatshop undercover films produced by the National Labor Committee, please write a one-page response paper to the situations seen in Nicaragua and Bangladesh. Understanding of the social justice implication of sweatshop labor = 50% Use of ethical terms / principles learned during the first semester = 20%
Grammar, spelling, punctuation, syntax and general writing = 10% Depth of knowledge gained through the two videos (examples) = 10% Conclusion based on the social justice implications of sweatshops = 10% This paper is due as agreed. Please do not be late on this assignment. Because of the lead time and that I have posted this to my website which all students have full access, I cannot accept any late work. Missing work will result in a “0” zero for the assignment.
31
Pair up with one other person in this class.Go to the mall to observe where merchandise is made.Note the countries and product lines being observed.Note any pricing variations based on countries of origin.Apparel and other merchandise lines should be shopped.Maybe ask a sales associate or store mgr. under what conditions the merchandise was made.Write up findings – be creative in your reporting: film, posters, interviews, PowerPoint, audio clips, etc. Make it fun!Tour your own closet. Where is your stuff made?Each student submit a Position Paper (see website)
Choose a partner
Go to a local mall
Check out labels
Document observations
Report observations to class
Write a Position Paper (individual assignment)
Due as Agreed
33
QuestionsCommentsConcernsProblems