Sweatshops Research Paper

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David Lundstrom Laureen Svobodny English 1101 23 December 2014 Sweatshops All around the world, people of all ages are working in harsh and unsafe conditions. They are becoming ill and some are even dying. Sweatshops are defined as factories that typically produce apparel (Powell 109). This is why sweatshops have to be stopped. Sweatshops first appeared in Great Britain in the late eighteenth century. They remained there until the early twentieth century. The United States first saw textile sweatshops in Massachusetts and Rhode Island in the early nineteenth century (Powell 109). There are many companies around the world that are considered sweatshops. Some recent examples are mostly clothing and shoe manufactures. Top brands …show more content…

The working conditions are not humane. The factories are extremely hot and unsafe for humans. This leads to a lot of sickness and disease. Not only do the sweatshops lead to disease, but sometimes the whole city will become unhealthy. The city can become unhealthy with disease too due to the poor sanitation and cramped housing (Powell 111). People who work in these factories are not treated like humans. According to Maritza Vargas, a union leader at Alta Gracia in Bangladesh, says “It’s as simple as understanding that we’re human beings, not machines.” (qtd. in Bhasin). In factories that are considered sweatshops, the employees do not receive sufficient wages. The wages they receive are unfair to them according to the modern United States standards (Powell 109). According to Sobeida Fortuna she is finally being treated with respect and dignity at Alta Gracia. Fortuna says “They would force me to work mandatory overtime hours.” “I’d work in uncomfortable chairs and positions. They would control my every movement, even monitor the times I used the bathroom or drink water.” (qtd. in Bhasin). Sweatshops should not be around because all people deserve to be treated the same. They should all be getting paid at least minimum wage and receiving some benefits. Sometimes in less developed countries, the labor laws are not enforced thoroughly enough. Not only the poor conditions, but there is also a lot of child labor. …show more content…

Alta Gracia in Bangladesh is an established business that is paying its workers three times minimum wage of the country. They do not make their employees work absurd hours. The employees’ overtime paychecks also do not go missing. The workers at Alta Gracia are able to take frequent breaks. Even though they pay their employees more, Alta Gracia still makes a profit (Bhasin). This is what all companies that are named sweatshops should try to do. They should all look at what they are doing and start to treat their employees better. All that has to be done to stop sweatshops is to start petitions and inform people about them. There are many different petitions and organizations against sweatshops out there. They need to drive for people to join them and support the

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