s weatshops. d efinition : a shop employing workers at low wages, for long hours, and under poor...
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SWEATSHOPS
DEFINITION:
A shop employing workers at low wages, for long hours, and under poor conditions.
Factory where workers do piecework for poor pay and are prevented from forming unions; common in the clothing industry
Began between 1830 and 1850Caused by industrial revolutionBegan in the Garment IndustryLondon, New York City
Sweating (1840’s)Long HoursLow WagesUnsafe Conditions
SWEATSHOPS AND WAL-MART
Wal-Mart products
Produced in 48 different countries
Products mainly from Asian (China, Bangladesh) and Central American (El Salvador) factories.
Produced using sweatshop labor
TEXTILES AND WAL-MARTProduced by young women 17 to 25 years old
Forced to work seven days a week
12 to 28 cents an hour
No benefits
Housed in crowded and dirty dormitories 24-hour-a-day surveillance
BANGLADESH AS THE CENTER OF SWEATSHOP LABOR
April 24th – 1, 200 workers lost their life
An eight-story commercial building Rana Plaza collapsed in the Greater Dhaka Area, the capital of Bangladesh
What retailers had their clothes made in this building?
RETAILERS MAKING THEIR GARMENTS IN RANA PLAZA Gap Forever New Children's Place Walt Disney Company Walmart Joe Fresh (Loblaw) Tommy Hilfiger Calvin Klain Benetton H&M Nike Target American Eagle
“TOYS OF MISERY” AND WAL-MART
Seventy-one percent of the toys sold in the U.S. come from China
13- to 16-hour days molding, assembling, and spray-painting toys
20-hour shifts in peak season (Christmas)
Seven days a week
Paid as low as 13 cents an hour
Live in Shacks or Dorms
No medical care or safety equipment
Poor Conditions
SOME OF THE COMMON ABUSES IN THE SWEATSHOPS
Forced overtime
Locked bathrooms
Starvation wages
Pregnancy tests Denial of access to health care
Workers fired and blacklisted
Occasional beatings
Withheld wages
COMPANIES SUPPORTING SWEATSHOP FACTORIES
GAP Nike OLD NAVY Banana Republic Reebok Adidas Bridgestone Firestone Uniroyal Starbucks Sears
COMPANIES SUPPORTING SWEATSHOP FACTORIES
Mattel Dell Hewlett Packard Motorola G.E. Walt Disney Target Home Depot J.C. Penny + others
SOURCESBusiness Weekhttp://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_48/b4011001.htm
Business Research Yearbookhttp://cbae.nmsu.edu/mgt/handout/boje/bnike/index.html
MCSpotlighthttp://www.mcspotlight.org/beyond/companies/antiwalmart.html
Labor Rights
http://www.laborrights.org/projects/corporate/walmart/index.html
United Food and Commercial Workers
http://www.ufcw.org/press_room/fact_sheets_and_backgrounder/walmart/sweat_shops.cfm