So we've all researched well what we chose to do our presentation on in two weeks, US companies with manufacturing locations in places like China and the problems that entails.
China has laws regulating their industry which were put in place to prevent things like child labor, working below the minimum wage, and so on. All of it's on paper, but mostly this goes unenforced. US companies import these goods and sell them in places we visit every day, for instance, Wal-Mart. The retail giant's main toy supplier is Hasbro, a company most notorious for their use of sweatshops in China. Right now, Hasbro has atleast forty manufacturing plants in China at undisclosed locations. Which brings about the question, what is it these people are hiding?
Conditions in some of the worst sweatshops violate some of the most basic human rights. There are accounts of people working twelve hour shifts, seven days a week and do not get off work for months at a time. They're locked into the rooms and not allowed out for food breaks or restroom breaks. These people are paid not even half of China's legal minimum wage and are put into some of the most unsafe working conditions.
And about the products they're producing. They tend to be unsafe as well. Recalls of dog food, cat food, toothpaste, light bulbs, tires, toys, and so on have seen problems. These products poisoned people, animals, children, or resulted in accidents.
The mass production and cheap prices we demand here in The United States of America can be blamed for the exploitation of these people and the poisoning of our own in my honest opinion. They use cheap labor by poverty stricken villagers and cheap lead paint to finish off their products. This hurts everyone in the end, but doesn't seem to phase us as an overall society much.
So how do you guys feel? Opinions? Suggestions to the problem? Comments?
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When looking over several cases concerning sweatshops located in China and the harsh conditions their workers have to put up with, it's hard to think of effective "win-win" solutions.
ReplyDeleteIn one article I read about a factory that made Kathie Lee Gifford handbags that were sold in Wal-Mart stores. I had never before heard stories of sweatshop workers being beaten. You can only add that to the list.
Wal-Mart and Gifford denied having anything to do with the company when allegations first began to rise (go figure). Gifford had been tied to labor violations before in Central America. After so much publicity, Wal-Mart pulled production from the company.
Since 1992, Wal-Mart has required its suppliers to sign a code of basic labor standards. But like Andrea had said about Chinese law, there are ways around it.
It seems that Chun Si's labor-auditing systems would sugar coat their reports. Which shows how most sweatshops would get away with labor violations. Wal-Mart and Gifford had to hire outside auditors to find out that the company wouldn't pay for overtime (not many do) and had an excessive amount of work hours.
Even other companies like Timberland began investigations after catching word. The company that produces their boots was located in the same town of Zhongshan as Chun Si.
One would think that Mrs. Gifford would have been more cautious when out-sourcing the production of her merchandise, considering she had been in trouble before. Ignorance isn't an excuse, in my opinion.
But what can be done? Do these companies care enough to investigate who exactly they are working with? Like Andrea had said, America's demand of mass production for cheap is high.
There is an anti-sweatshop legislation that has been reintroduced to the United States Congress. If it is passed, the legislation will prohibit the import, export or sale of sweatshop goods in the U.S. But if this is passed, and American companies were to pull out of China, what would happen? It would make sense that China's economy would be thrown off it's course and spiral downwards, considering the United States is the largest importer of their goods. There are many pros for our country in this situation as there may be cons, and vise versa. I also read that China could call in debts if we stop buying all together, but I don't know much about that. Could we hold that against China? That if they didn't straighten up how they ran their factories, we would pull out? I don't really know.
*** I forgot to add that Chun Si Enterprise Handbag Factory was the factory's name.
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