Exploitation at Work Sweatshops More

Exploitation at Work

Sweatshops more often than not conjure images of slavery albeit in the context of our modern, industrialized world. The existence of sweatshops particularly in Third World countries has been brought to the world's attention because of the debauched working conditions characterized by long work hours, low wages, physically and psychologically hazardous work areas, and, in some cases, repressive employer-employee relations. Anti-sweatshop campaigns have especially brought to the fore the plight of women and children who are employed in factory work for the cheap labor they offer. While sweatshops have found defenders among the ranks of scholars in the likes of Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences awardee Paul Krugman and noted pro-globalization writer Johan Norberg, social movements have continually launched campaigns against these exploitative working conditions particularly in developing and least-developed countries, which have spawned interesting debates that continue to brew on extreme sides of the political fence. And as these discourses fight for supremacy in the public consciousness, this paper attempts to provide explanation as to why such conditions of modern slavery exists even in this time and so-called age of technological progress. Attempt will also be made to explore various means to put an end to the exploitation of women and children in the workplace, particularly the role of those from the First World in improving the lives of those in the Third World without resorting to accepting the "no-alternative-to-sweatshops" perspective that some of its proponents would have the consuming public believe.

Slavery has turned up into our modern world in ways that has evolved along with the economic and technological revolution the world has undergone. The shift of economies from the primary and secondary sectors into the tertiary sector of services reveals the persistence of exploitation in the workplace, which exists particularly in factories of First World multinational companies in Third World countries that particularly employ among their ranks women and children. As the world's economies become more integrated and flattened, as noted author Thomas Friedman put it, more and more poor countries found their competitiveness in the cheap labor that their low-skilled population can offer. As multinational companies find the means to maximize their profits, developing and least-developed countries offer fertile ground for relocating their manufacturing operations where costs can be cut to the very least while allowing them more room to maximize profit. This has brought the emergence of new forms of exploitation in the labor sector, particularly of women and children. These changes in the socioeconomic and technological landscape more commonly known as globalization is the primary reason why exploitation of women and children in the workplace persist all over the world, even in industrialized countries such as the United States. According to Green America, a U.S.-based, not-for-profit organization working towards social justice and environmentally sustainable economies, sweatshops exist primarily because of this profit-maximization objective of multinational companies (Green America). As companies demand the lowest prices for the goods their suppliers from abroad supply to offer the lowest possible price to the consumers, employment of low-skilled women and children are the best option. While women and children are commonly part of the labor force, a practice which is not altogether uncommon in developing and least-developed economies, what is deplorable is the conditions and contexts wherein these women and children are subjected to. Apart from low wages, working conditions are poor compared even to the minimum standards set by the International Labour Organization, to which most countries of the world are members and are bound by its labor conventions. This combination of low wages and poor working conditions make up the exploitative relations in the workplace. In two words, the exploitation of children and women are a manifestation of the corruption of the human mind and soul that is driven by greed and competition that characterize the companies of the global world (Green America).

Defenders of sweatshops justify its existence with such arrangements as better employment alternatives to the more back-breaking work under the heat of the sun in farms or in garbage dumps where there is higher risk of contracting a respiratory disease (see Kristof, 2009). Others say that sweatshops are but part of the natural course of economic development of any country that seeks to progress. But it is by no means a reason turn a blind eye to the lamentable conditions of women and children in these factories. Social movements working towards establishing a world that is just have gained inroads in influencing government policies to put an end to the abuse of women and children in the workplace. Initiatives such as the Clean Clothes Campaign, Ethical Trading Initiative, Fair Trade campaigns in Europe and the U.S. have gained ground to introduce alternative means of doing business to usher in a society where prosperity is shared and enjoyed not at the expense more vulnerable sectors. These initiatives are characterized by their campaigns not only to instigate changes in policy but more importantly in bringing in a new perspective and changes in attitudes of consumers. Such attitudinal and behavioral changes are important especially in light of empowering consumers to make the choice of putting their hard-earned money on products that are produced under conditions that do not alienate workers, producers or artisans. Coming up with a comprehensive proposal to put an end to exploitation of women and children in sweatshops, Green America published the fifth edition of the Guide to Ending Sweatshops. It boldly proposes to investors and consumers to use their power to halt the abusive conditions by which products sold in developed, First World countries are made (Co-op America, 2004). Among its proposals basically start with awareness raising among the consuming public about being more discerning in purchasing products and discriminating against products of companies that has sweatshops in its supply chains, engaging in campaigns for corporate accountability and responsibility, as well as consumer campaigns, educating oneself about companies, exercising all means to influence company policies through the votes it affords its stockholders, among many others. Similar initiatives are being undertaken by campaigners bythe fair-trade movement where labelling of products as fair-trade are done, ethical trade advocacy, as well as lobbying in the halls of power where policies can be changed.