Introduction Rana Plaza, an eight storey building which housed a garment factory along with some shops, collapsed on April 24 2013 in Savar, Bangladesh. 1,129 were killed, and another 2,500 were injured. The incident made international news, and the attention caught by the disaster soon shifted towards the shockingly poor working conditions of the garment factory workers due to the nature of Bangladesh’s labour institutions. The garment factory was a textile supplier to over 96 different multinational companies (MNCs), among them being H&M, Zara, C&A and Benetton. In the aftermath of the collapse, firms and the local government have been pressured to implement changes in order to improve working conditions. This essay will analyse the changes in detail and answer the following question: What impact has Rana Plaza had on labour market institutions? Labour Institutions in Bangladesh Bangladesh, like many Less Developed Countries (LDCs), is able to attract MNCs which tend to originate from More Developed Countries (MDCs) due to its less-restrictive labour institutions. Bangladesh’s population is 163 million people, 62% of which are of working age and 18% are 15-24 years old . A large supply of labour exerts a downward pressure on wage levels, as there are many people who are competing in order to get a job. Employers, who are profit-maximising in nature, will want to pay workers the lowest wage level possible thus they hire those who are willing to work at the lower wages. A report conducted by ICF International found child labour to be a significant phenomenon in the informal garment industry . This further enlarges the labour pool and increases the downward pressure on wages. These downward pressures in turn affect the legal minimu... ... middle of paper ... ...able and lack protection. In 2012 Aminul Islam, a labour organiser who helped ABC news expose the working conditions of Bangladeshi garment factories, was found tortured and murdered . This lack of protection makes it easier for garment workers to be exploited. Furthermore, in Bangladesh the rules and regulations are not enforced as much as in more developed countries. Rules and regulations often represent a cost, as it takes more time and money to ensure that buildings adhere to them. With a lack of enforcement, buildings can be built more quickly and at a lower cost but to the expense of safety. Rana Plaza was no exception as the four upper floors were illegally constructed without permits. Furthermore, the building’s foundation was found to be substandard. As the garment factories are suppliers and not directly owned by MNCs, they feel less responsible for them.
Today we see the labor reforms put in place along with organizations that hold business to safety precautions like OSHA, Occupational Safety and Health Association. Today, worker’s fight for higher minimum wage but outside of America, there are worker’s fighting for the same rights we did back in the 1900’s. Back in 2013, in Bangladesh, a series of fires occurred. This raised questions about safety and treatment of workers. Within a few months, the government allowed the garment workers to form trade unions along with a plan to raise the minimum wage. And soon after, the United States pushed for Bangladesh to improve their labor standards. All of this happened within half a year, where back in the 1900’s it took over 50 years, starting with the coal miners. Without the workers as a sturdy base for the business, the company with crumble and fall. And without those businesses to help the economy grow, the government will cease to
Look down at the clothes you're wearing right now, chances are almost every single thing you are currently wearing was made in a sweatshop. It is estimated that between 50-75% of all garments are made under sweatshop like conditions. Designers and companies get 2nd party contractors to hire people to work in these factories, this is a tool to make them not responsible for the horrendous conditions. They get away with it by saying they are providing jobs for people in 3rd world countries so its okay, but in reality they are making their lives even worse. These companies and designers only care about their bank accounts so if they can exploit poor, young people from poverty stricken countries they surely will, and they do. A sweatshop is a factory
The mere idea of sweatshops, let alone their existence, seems cruel and unusual to people like us, especially in today's day and age. After all, in sweatshops "workers are subject to extreme exploitation. This includes... (not) enabling workers to cover ...
The injustice that transpires within these workspaces evoke disparate responses from concerned citizens. From reading Bob Jeffcott’s article “Sweat, Fire, and Ethics,” the reader is challenged to urge their governments and educational institutions to condemn the exercise of exploitation of sweatshops be demanding evidence of improvements in working conditions. In Jeffrey D. Sachs excerpt “Bangladesh: On the Ladder of Development,” the working conditions of the women factory workers in Bangladesh is revealed yet the reader is persuaded to support these sweatshops because it is the only opportunity that these women have to gain a better life for themselves and their families. Upon reading both pieces, it is evident that sweatshops do not necessarily need to end completely, yet the business strategies employed within these facilities that negatively affect the workers must be monitored and addressed by the government in order for these companies to abandon labor
The documentary effectively utilizes a logos and pathos approach to highlight the unsafe working conditions of the Bangladeshi garment workers. The positive aspect of this documentary is the firsthand accounts of the hazardous conditions and the focus on what has been done to better the situation, and where the large retailers are still lacking in their ethical responsibility to ensure safe workspace. Thus, CBC’s documentary is an educational piece that brings forth the current state of the Bangladesh garment factory after Rana Plaza, and implores for heightened responsibility from the government and the retailers in
The General Accountability Office defines a sweatshop as a “multiple labor law violator.” A sweatshop violates laws pertaining to benefits, working hours, and wages (“Toxic Uniforms”). To make more money, companies move their sweatshop factories to different locations and try to find the cheapest locations with the least regulations (“Sweatshops”). There are not as many sweatshop factories in the United States because the industries have been transferred overseas where the labor is cheaper and there are weaker regulations. In the United States, sweatshops are hidden from the public, with poor immigrant workers who are unable to speak out against the injustices (“Subsidizing Sweatshops”). Workers in sweatshops are forced to work overtime, earn below a living wage, do not earn benefits, and encounter verbal, physical and sexual abuse. Macy’s, JCPenney, Kohl’s, The
A sweatshop is defined as a factory where manual workers are employed at very low wages for long hours in unsafe working environments (Oxford Dictionary, 2011). Sweatshops are especially associated with clothing industries, such as Nike, Gap, Walmart, Primemark and other brand names. Sweatshop history begins in 1830 with clothing factories in New York City and London, even then the working conditions were poor, e.g. rat infestation. Since the 1850s worker unions have improved “sweatshops” conditions in the first world, and the term “sweatshop” is more associated with factories in the developing world. The statement that ‘sweatshops in developing countries are better than no jobs’ has many arguments for and against them, which will be explored in this essay.
Some companies have made strides in abolishing sweatshops in their business. Fruit of the Loom is one of those companies taking the strides. They are “the fourth college-logo apparel company to sign the Bangladesh Safety Accord, an agreement between unions and brands that will transform the Bangladesh garment industry from deathtraps to safe work places” (Fruit of the Loom). Adidas is another company who signed the same deal. Even though Fruit of the Loom is no Gucci or Prada, hopefully people will start to realize that some companies are taking the extra step to help people while others are merely taking advantage of those less fortunate.
Sweatshops are factories that violate two or more human rights. Sweatshops are known in the media and politically as dangerous places for workers to work in and are infamous for paying minimum wages for long hours of labour. The first source is a quote that states that Nike has helped improve Vietnamese’s’ workers lives by helping them be able to afford luxuries they did not have access to before such as scooters, bicycles and even cars. The source is showing sweatshops in a positive light stating how before sweatshops were established in developing countries, Vietnamese citizens were very poor and underprivileged. The source continues to say that the moment when sweatshops came to Vietnam, workers started to get more profit and their lives eventually went uphill from their due to being able to afford more necessities and luxuries; one of them being a vehicle, which makes their commute to work much faster which in turn increases their quality of life. The source demonstrates this point by mentioning that this is all due to globalization. Because of globalization, multinationals are able to make investments in developing countries which in turn offers the sweatshops and the employees better technology, better working skills and an improvement in their education which overall helps raise the sweatshops’ productivity which results in an increase
“Sweatshops Are the Norm in the Global Apparel Industry. We’re Standing up to Change That.” International Labor Rights Forum. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Feb. 2014. .
The individuals in Omelas attempt to forget who they oppress in order to maintain their perfect environment. The child of Omelas is stripped of its rights as a human and forced to live in gruesome conditions. “The floor is dirt, a little damp to the touch, as cellar dirt usually is. The room is about three paces long and two wide: a mere broom closet or disused tool room” (LeGuin 4) This child is pushed away from society. The people of Omelas understand that this goes on, but intend to do nothing about it. This concept is involuntary followed by not only the people of Omelas but people in the real world. Just like the residence of Omelas, we oppress factory/garment workers who are forced to live in harsh conditions and fight to keep our needs happy. In his short article, “California’s Garment Workers Reveal…” Davis goes out into the field to explore the conditions and neglect that garment workers face. Davis then interviews a woman who is the head of a labor advocacy group. “ imagine what that heat might feel like with no ventilation,’… Rough conditions—working 10 or more hours a day…baking-hot room…part of the job ” (Davis, Chris. "California 's Garment Workers Reveal: Sweatshops Aren 't Just a Problem Overseas." TakePart. N.p., n.d. Web.) These garment workers work endlessly to meet the needs that the big businesses set. Just like the outside entity that controls the rules set for the
Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn are Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalists who spent fourteen years in Asia doing research on the country as well as the sweatshops of that country. In their article "Two Cheers for Sweatshops" they sum up clearly the misunderstanding of sweatshops by most of the modern world. "Yet sweatshops that seem brutal from the vantage point of an American sitting in his living room can appear tantalizing to a Thai laborer getting by on beetles." The fact of the matter is that sweatshops in the eyes of the actual workers are not as bad as they are made out to be, by many activists. Though many organizations that oppose sweatshops and their labor practices try to make the point that sweatshops do not have to exist. But one must consider the fact that, the companies that use sweatshops are creating at least some type of jobs for people that gladly accept them.
Americans do not realize the amount of clothing we wear on a daily basis is actually made in Cambodia, such as Adidas and even the Gap. The women that work for these sweatshops in Cambodia sew for 50 cents an hour, which is what allows stores in America, such as H&M to sell inexpensive clothing (Winn, 2015). The conditions these Cambodian workers face are a noisy, loud, and extremely hot environment where people are known for having huge fainting attacks. When workers were on strike a year ago, authorities actually shot multiple people just because they were trying to raise their pay. There is plenty of evidence of abuse captured through many interviews of workers from different factories, and is not just a rarity these places see often or hear of. Factories hire children, fire pregnant women because they are slow and use the bathroom to much, scream at regular workers if they use the toilet more than two times a day, scam hard working employees with not paying them their money they worked for and more, and workers are sent home and replaced if 2,000 shirts are not stitched in one day. Expectations are unrealistic and not suitable for employees to be working each day for more than ten
Sweatshop is a common term used to refer to factories that typically produce apparel; that have very low wages by modern U.S. standards, long working hours, and unsafe or unhealthy working conditions; that often don't obey labor laws; and that would generally be considered
Aside from extralegal activity a portion of Burma’s economy stems from jobs provided by large international companies. Although they do allow for more jobs and essentially more money for citizens they also serve as a hindrance for individual economic growth because of the new found competition for local companies and also the implications towards child labor. I was extremely surprised at the number of American corporations that have been or are currently one way or another involved in forced and child labor. I recently came across a story about a 28 year old woman who stumbled upon a letter in her Saks Fifth Ave. shopping bag. This letter was from a Chinese prisoner who wrote numerous letters and stuffed them in these bags in hopes that someone on the outside would someday find and read one, little did he know that the letter would end up in West Harlem, In this letter he explains to this stranger how he is being treated, he compares his life to slavery, he spends over 13 hours making thousands of bags every day and experiences abuse regularly. The point that I am trying to make is that Saks Fifth Av is a large corporation, items in this store range from fifty to over a thousand dollars, they have a revenue of billions of dollars yet their profit comes from forced laborers. Companies like Hayne’s, Walmart and JC Penny, stores that most Americans know of and have