Sweatshops
Exploitation is never in fashion.
Why do big companies produce goods in developing countries?
It all comes down to money. In order to make more money, companies try to lower production costs as much as possible. In developing countries, labour is cheap.
Big retail and apparel companies are driven by profit. Companies look for places where workers are paid low wages. This way, companies can make merchandise cheaply, and mark-up the price when clothes hit stores in Europe and North America.
There are no international laws that require corporations to respect workers' rights, decent working conditions or even pay a decent wage. CLICK HERE to find out more about multi-national corporations and the current trade laws.
Globalization is also a factor. As trade among nations becomes easier with fewer trade barriers, multinational corporations are able to move in and out of countries to make stuff, like clothes. Some companies contract the labour out to another company. In turn, the work could be subcontracted out for a third or a fourth time.
It all sounds pretty confusing but sub-contracting labour is a huge part of the problem. Why? Because if there's too much distance between the retailer, and the company that's actually responsible for the labour, then the retailer can become less and less accountable for what happens in the factories.
In some cases, companies may not even be aware of sweatshop abuses. But ignorance is no excuse.
Some companies used to argue that workers suffering sweatshop abuses weren't actually their employees. Companies tried using this argument because they claimed the work was sub-contracted out to other companies. This is kind of argument is no longer holding up in the court of public opinion.
The public is better educated today about sweatshops and sweatshop abuses. We won't tolerate it. Sweatshops exploit their workers and exploitation is never in fashion!
Codes of Conduct - a cover up?
Codes of Conduct may be a public relations exercise, a cover-up. And, there's no reason to believe that just because a company has a code of conduct, they're improving standards for their workers.
Whether codes of conduct are cover-ups or not, there's one thing they do tell us for sure - these companies care what we think about them, their image and their labour practices.
Making sure a company has a code of conduct is the first step, but it's not the only thing to look for. Independent monitoring is even more important. Companies must allow independent monitoring of their factories. Monitoring their own factories isn't good enough. CLICK HERE for a list of questions to ask retailers.
Example of Sweatshop Abuse
In January 2001, at the Kukdong factory in Mexico (a factory that produced goods for Nike), workers staged a work stoppage to protest the illegal firing of workers who complained about low pay, rotten food in the cafeteria and failure of the company to pay their Christmas bonus.
Three days later, state police in full riot gear attacked the 300 workers occupying the factory. 15 workers ended up in the hospital. Since then workers at Kukdong have won some victories. Find out how Nike responded to the incident.
Important Links
Suggested Readings
- Klein, Naomi. No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies. Vintage Canada, 2000.
- Ross, Andrew, Ed. No Sweat: Fashion, Free Trade and the Rights of Garment Workers. London, New York: Verso, 1997.
- Schoenberger, Carl. Levis Children: Coming to Terms with Human Rights in the Global Marketplace. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2000.
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