1. Sweatshops – A cheap alternative and foreign economic stimulus
Sweatshops – A cheap alternative and foreign economic stimulus? or a series of brutal exploitations?

2. Why International Factories?
Cheaper
Less skilled work needed
Faster
Saves skilled workers for more skilled work

3. Problem
As an American consumer we demand lower prices and products instantly. The American Labor Laws are extensive and restrict many of the ways Multinational Corporations go about doing their business within our borders. In recent decades this has led to moving factories overseas to countries with lax labor laws and regulations.

4. Problem Cont.
These lower labor restrictions and poor conditions have led to injury, illness, and abuse to the factory workers. Many poorly managed, maintained, and supplied factories have resulted in the move overseas. They are known to us as Sweatshops.

5. Is This Still Relevant To Current US Shoppers?
About 80 percent of apparel workers producing clothing for U.S. retailers are working under conditions that systematically violate local and international labor law. [1]

6. Definition - Sweatshop
Merriam-Webster:
“A shop or factory in which employees work for long hours at low wages and under unhealthy conditions [2]
Health, Education, and Human Services Division (US):
“An employer that violates more than one federal or state labor law governing minimum wage and overtime, child labor, industrial homework, occupational safety and health, workers’ compensation, or industry registration. [3]

7. Wages Compared To Products Manufactured
According to the National Labor Committee, a worker in El Salvador earns about 24 cents for each NBA jersey she makes, which then sells for $140 in the US. [4]

8. Dollars and Sense magazine explained how paying decent wages to workers at the beginning of the supply chain has little effect on a company’s competiveness. “In Mexico’s apparel industry, economists from the Political Economy Research Institute found that doubling the pay of nonsupervisory workers would add just $1.80 to the cost of a $100 men’s sports jacket. And a recent survey by the National Bureau of Economic Research Found that US consumers would be willing to pay $115 for the same jacket if they knew it had not been made under sweatshop conditions.” [5]

9. Issues
It is not uncommon for verbal abuse by shop managers. They frequently harass and bully workers for not working fast enough. Physical abuse is not uncommon either. Reebok and Nike have both had reports from factories in Mexico involving being hit and slapped.[4]

10. How do they get away with this?
As stated before many countries do not have the regulations yet to decide what is a safe level of working hours or environment.
Many of the people in the developing countries will do anything for money. A few cents to them and a long days work means more for their family. Some workers if they could would work more to be able to provide basic necessities for their family.

11. How do they get away with this?
In Cambodia, a large mosquito net costs $5. If there had been a sweatshop in the area, however harsh or dangerous, Nhem Yen would have leapt at the chance to work in it, to earn enough to buy a net big enough to cover all her children. [6]

12. Developing Countries
Many developing countries adopted the factories and harsh labor conditions as a way to begin the country’s economic drive.
Workers will be attracted to factories that allow them to work above the maximum requirements.

13. One Worker’s Story
“I start at about 6:30, after breakfast, and go until about 7 p.m.," explained one shy teenage girl. "We break for lunch, and I take half an hour off then.” "You do this six days a week?” "Oh, no. Every day.” "Seven days a week?” "Yes." She laughed at our surprise. "But then I take a week or two off at Chinese New Year to go back to my village."

14. Story Cont.
The others we talked to all seemed to regard it as a plus that the factory allowed them to work long hours. Indeed, some had sought out this factory precisely because it offered them the chance to earn more. "It's actually pretty annoying how hard they want to work," said the factory manager, a Hong Kong man. "It means we have to worry about security and have a supervisor around almost constantly.” [6]

15. Developing Countries
Over the past 50 years, countries like India resisted foreign exploitation, while countries that started at a similar economic level -- like Taiwan and South Korea -- accepted sweatshops as the price of development. Today there can be no doubt about which approach worked better. Taiwan and South Korea are modern countries with low rates of infant mortality and high levels of education; in contrast, every year 3.1 million Indian children die before the age of 5, mostly from diseases of poverty like diarrhea. [6]

16. Solutions Fair Trade Certified Products
Very commonly seen with coffee products.
Improved Management knowledge and leadership overseas.
“No Sweat!” programs

17. Fair Trade Certified Products
A base price for the commodity is set by the international Fair Trade Labeling Organization. The price attempts to cover the cost of production and a living wage to cover the basics of food, shelter, clothing, education, and medical care. Importers and retailers are then screened and certified by TransFair USA to ensure that they are paying the Fair Trade price for products. Crafts, apparel and other non-certified products are sold by members of the Fair Trade Federation, businesses committed to the principles of Fair Trade. For these crafts, a living wage is paid in the local context. Workers are guaranteed freedom of association and safe working conditions. Fair Trade also encourages women's participation in and leadership of cooperatives. Human rights and child labor laws are strictly enforced. [5]

18. “No Sweat!”
Co-op America, sponsor of the "No Sweat!" program to end sweatshop labor, recommends that individuals and businesses take the following steps to aid the cause: organize local community groups to support a sweatshop-free purchasing law in local or state government; investigate companies with which you do business and insist they maintain good records on labor issues; use your clout as a shareholder to encourage companies to treat employees fairly; and purchase union-made, local, and fair-trade approved goods. [7]

19. Conclusion
In the end, sweatshops remain a controversial issue. There are arguments both for and against, but ultimately, each individuals opinion will shake out to weigh on the importance of business profits, potential economic foreign success, and humanitarianism among multiple different factors. While it is possible to see multiple sides to the story, it is impossible to deny that certain traits of sweatshops and poor working conditions associated with them, are intolerable.

20. Citations
[1] "U.S. Retailers: Responsible for the Global Sweatshop Crisis." Behindthelabel.org. Web. 29 May <
[2] "Sweatshop - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary." Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. Web. 29 May <
[3] "Efforts to Address the Prevalence and Conditions of Sweatshops." United States General Accounting Office. Web. 30 May <
[4] "Sweatshops FAQ." Global Exchange - Building People-to-People Ties. Web. 29 May <
[5] "Green America's Ending Sweatshops Program: What to Know." Green America: Economic Action for a Just Planet. Web. 29 May <
[6] Kristof, Nicholas D., and Sheryl Wudunn. "Two Cheers for Sweatshops." The New York Times. 24 Sept Web. 29 May <
[7] "Sweatshops - Organization, System, Examples, Workplace, Business, System, The History of Sweatshops." Reference For Business - Encyclopedia of Small Business, Business Biographies, Business Plans, and Encyclopedia of American Industries. Web. 29 May <