"...900 workers were locked in the walled factory compound for all but a total of 60 minutes a day for meals. Guards regularly punched and hit workers for talking back to managers or even for walking too fast, he says. And they fined them up to $1 for infractions such as taking too long in the bathroom"
-An account of one of Wal-mart's sweatshops in China interviewed by Bloomberg Business Week.
WHAT IS A SWEATSHOP?
A working place or factory where standard laws on wage, condition, and working age violated.
HOW DO YOU KNOW IT'S WAGE SLAVERY?
Look at the hours the workers are doing, and the amount they are being paid-is it enough to live comfortably off of?
WHAT IS THE PRICE OF LIVING?
An example for a two-person family:
-A one bedroom apartment in downtown LA would cost $900 per month (they would have to share the one bedroom)
-A studio or loft in downtown would be $750
-Food: $300 per month
-total cost for JUST food and shelter would be: $1,200 per month for a 1 bedroom apt.
A working place or factory where standard laws on wage, condition, and working age violated.
HOW DO YOU KNOW IT'S WAGE SLAVERY?
Look at the hours the workers are doing, and the amount they are being paid-is it enough to live comfortably off of?
WHAT IS THE PRICE OF LIVING?
An example for a two-person family:
-A one bedroom apartment in downtown LA would cost $900 per month (they would have to share the one bedroom)
-A studio or loft in downtown would be $750
-Food: $300 per month
-total cost for JUST food and shelter would be: $1,200 per month for a 1 bedroom apt.
$1,050 a month for a studio/loft
ON AVERAGE A SWEATSHOP LABORER MAKES ABOUT $600 A MONTH*
*this number does not account for the cost of food and bus fare which brings down the total to $320 a month
11 T H I N G S Y O U N E E D T O K N O W
By http://www.betterworldshopper.org
- 1. A sweatshop is defined by the U.S. Department of Labor as a factory that violates 2 or more labor laws.
- 2. Sweatshops often have poor working conditions, unfair wages, unreasonable hours, child labor, and a lack of benefits for workers.
- 3. In developing countries, an estimated 250 million children ages 5-14 are forced to work.
- 4. America has stronger labor laws than most undeveloped countries, but it is not free of sweatshops. Many slip under the radar of the U.S.Department of Labor.
- 5. Products that commonly come from sweatshops are shoes, clothing, rugs, coffee, chocolate, toys, and bananas.
- 6. A study showed that doubling the salary of sweatshop workers would only increase the consumer cost of an item by 1.8 percent, while consumers would be willing to pay 15 percent more to know a product did not come from a sweatshop.
- 7. Sweatshops do not alleviate poverty. The people who are forced to work must spend the majority of their paycheck on food for their families to survive.
- 8. According to the National Labor Committee, women sewing NBA jerseys make 24 cents per garment that will eventually sell for $140.
- 9. Men and women alike are subjected to verbal, physical, and sexual abuse in factories from their managers and supervisors. They are sometimes trapped in the factory and forced to work overnight or across multiple shifts.
- 10. In 2000, more than 11,000 sweatshops in the U.S. violated the minimum wage and overtime laws, while over 16,000 had broken health and safety laws.
- 11. Because women make up 85-90 percent of sweatshop workers, employers force them to take birth control and routine pregnancy tests to avoid supporting maternity leave or providing appropriate health benefits
S T O R E R A N K I N G S
These stores received letter grades given by the website: http://www.betterworldshopper.org. This website provides rankings based on how humanely they treat their workers, how these companies treat the environment, how they treat animals, how they're involved in the community, and social justice.
W H A T D O I D O ?
By Sarah SM.
2 facts before I begin:
1. Just because the label says Made in the USA does not mean that it is sweatshop free. There are sweatshops in the U.S. in places like Downtown L.A. for example.
2. I am not asking you to give up shopping at certain stores entirely, just be conscience of where your clothes came from.
When I was in 6th grade, forever 21 was my favorite store. It was cheap, and it had really cool clothing, and not to mention their large, flowery headbands, and neon yellow sunglasses were just my style. I had a very small allowance and that was the place that you could get the most bang for your buck. By the time 7th grade rolled around I had moved on to H&M, the plaid skirts had caught my attention. This store was also incredibly cheap, and I could buy two or three things without going completely broke. 8th grade was the year I decided that these two stores were "beneath" me and that I would only shop at stores like Nordstrom and Barney's (not that I had that kind of money, I could get one thing in the BP section at nordstrom and stand looking at the store windows at Barneys, drooling). It was that year that I saw the project that some 6th graders made: they were exposing different stores for using sweatshop labor and H&M and Forever 21 were there. I was ashamed that my I Heart Nerds t-shirt had been made in a sweatshop, and the jeggings I paired with it were as well. My point here is not to give you an in-depth history of my fashion disasters (though there were many) but to talk to you about sweatshop labor. After I saw just how many stores use sweatshops, I cleared out my wardrobe, donating all of my clothes that were from H&M and Forever 21 to Goodwill save for the I Heart Nerds t-shirt (which I still have). It was a radical decision, but it was one that I did not regret. Could I do that with the clothing that I own now? Probably not. But I'm not asking you to go through your wardrobe and throw out everything in there that was made in a sweatshop, because the unfortunate thing is that you would probably end up having to get rid of over half of your wardrobe. Which brings me to my main point: EDUCATE YOURSELF. Know the background on the clothing you buy! I don't mean embark on an intensive research session before you plan a shopping trip (if you want to more kudos to you) but at least know, so you can Shop with a Conscience. Some more examples of things you can do are: pick a product that you use very often (like coffee, or tea, or mascara etc.) and vow to only buy that product from a store that is humane in the way it produces it's products (see some of the store rankings above). Another thing you can do is: Buy Organic. Organic fruits and vegetables are better for you anyway, and you can snack on something that is both healthy for you, and healthy for others. Join an organization like: Students Against Sweatshops. Engage in discussion. Buy Union Made products. These products were produced by union workers in America, and they are treated fairly. Also as an easy way to locate things that are sweatshop-free look for these labels:
2 facts before I begin:
1. Just because the label says Made in the USA does not mean that it is sweatshop free. There are sweatshops in the U.S. in places like Downtown L.A. for example.
2. I am not asking you to give up shopping at certain stores entirely, just be conscience of where your clothes came from.
When I was in 6th grade, forever 21 was my favorite store. It was cheap, and it had really cool clothing, and not to mention their large, flowery headbands, and neon yellow sunglasses were just my style. I had a very small allowance and that was the place that you could get the most bang for your buck. By the time 7th grade rolled around I had moved on to H&M, the plaid skirts had caught my attention. This store was also incredibly cheap, and I could buy two or three things without going completely broke. 8th grade was the year I decided that these two stores were "beneath" me and that I would only shop at stores like Nordstrom and Barney's (not that I had that kind of money, I could get one thing in the BP section at nordstrom and stand looking at the store windows at Barneys, drooling). It was that year that I saw the project that some 6th graders made: they were exposing different stores for using sweatshop labor and H&M and Forever 21 were there. I was ashamed that my I Heart Nerds t-shirt had been made in a sweatshop, and the jeggings I paired with it were as well. My point here is not to give you an in-depth history of my fashion disasters (though there were many) but to talk to you about sweatshop labor. After I saw just how many stores use sweatshops, I cleared out my wardrobe, donating all of my clothes that were from H&M and Forever 21 to Goodwill save for the I Heart Nerds t-shirt (which I still have). It was a radical decision, but it was one that I did not regret. Could I do that with the clothing that I own now? Probably not. But I'm not asking you to go through your wardrobe and throw out everything in there that was made in a sweatshop, because the unfortunate thing is that you would probably end up having to get rid of over half of your wardrobe. Which brings me to my main point: EDUCATE YOURSELF. Know the background on the clothing you buy! I don't mean embark on an intensive research session before you plan a shopping trip (if you want to more kudos to you) but at least know, so you can Shop with a Conscience. Some more examples of things you can do are: pick a product that you use very often (like coffee, or tea, or mascara etc.) and vow to only buy that product from a store that is humane in the way it produces it's products (see some of the store rankings above). Another thing you can do is: Buy Organic. Organic fruits and vegetables are better for you anyway, and you can snack on something that is both healthy for you, and healthy for others. Join an organization like: Students Against Sweatshops. Engage in discussion. Buy Union Made products. These products were produced by union workers in America, and they are treated fairly. Also as an easy way to locate things that are sweatshop-free look for these labels:
Thank you for reading!
By Sarah SM.
Group Members: Agnes A, and Lindsey O.
Challenge yourself to do a Sweatshop Labor Free Shopping Spree! Invite your friends!
By Sarah SM.
Group Members: Agnes A, and Lindsey O.
Challenge yourself to do a Sweatshop Labor Free Shopping Spree! Invite your friends!