Labor Abuse in China
“Inside the factory, amid clattering machinery and clouds of sawdust, men without earplugs or protective goggles feed wood into screaming electric saws, making cabinets for stereo speakers” (Goodman and Pan 1). In the article Chinese Workers Pay for Wal-Mart’s Low Prices by Peter Goodman and Philip Pan the mistreatment of the migrant workers in China is evident. These kinds of behaviors are taking place all over in China. The abuse of the Chinese work force has reached terrible proportions and created unlawful conditions because of the demanding economy of China, and other countries’ needs of the goods; however, the companies that are centered in China are working to make sure their workers are treated fairly.
The abuse on Chinese workers has reached outstanding proportions and has caused an awful working condition for the majority of workers in China. Many migrant workers face an increasing amount of problems at work. On an average day at work they might experience a poorly lit and a cramped work place (Goldman 2). The factories that they work in have little room to perform up to par on a daily basis. A large amount of these factories are also poorly ventilated when there are harmful chemicals being used (Goldman 1). Often lacking proper safety equipment like goggles or ear-buds, the workers feel at risk to being seriously injured. Also, they could be exposed to chemicals or substances without proper masks. In the future these workers will find themselves having serious health conditions because of this (Little 1). Constantly working in these conditions is not ideal. Working like this on a daily basis has caused exhaustion and even death in the workplace (Goldman 3). Clearly people working ...
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...se problems, and they are trying to do what is best for the workers.
There are a lot of migrant workers in China in bad conditions where the factories are poorly lit, and very cramped. A lot of these heinous conditions are caused from the little enforcement of labor laws by the government. Although there are many companies that are starting to take the turn for the better by monitoring the work area. There are also other groups of people trying to abolish these actions. If you want to participate in the destruction of these actions toward workers then you should join an activist group that is working to do this. Many people out there are joining groups and they are making conditions better. With the constant action by the workers and the activists, the government will finally realize that these conditions aren’t right and they need to change for good.
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
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.
While cities have grown more prosperous due to the economy, China’s rural areas have seen little growth. Many Chinese have migrated from their rural homes to cities in order to gain better prospect for a job so they can take care of their families. Some even migrate to foreign countries for better economic prospects. It is estimated that the internal Chinese migrant population within China is around 145 million people. Wom...
The purpose of this report is to discuss my opinion on the question “Do I agree with the recommendations of the Human Rights Watch (HRW) in regards to work safety particularly when it comes to immigrant workers?” I will provide information on past and current safety related issues as they apply to the meat packing industry and immigrant workers. I will discuss the recommendations of the HRW. I will provide my opinion and consider some of the utilitarian and deontological considerations, and conclude this report with a brief summary of the entire analysis, highlighting some of the most significant parts that the report contains
Here many uneducated children, who do not have the financial resources to stay in school, migrate into big urban cities in search of jobs to make ends meet. The type of work that these young kids go and find are usually very labor intensive jobs such as textile, clothing, shoe, and toy manufacturing. Where they need little to no prior knowledge of working, and are put in long hours and very repetitive jobs. During my research I found that in China it is more common to see young girls working either in workshops or in the street, than it is for young boys. This is due to the fact that girls in China are not forced by their parents to complete their studies. The government of China does have laws and rules against the use of child labor in factories. There are special agencies that specifically go to each and every workshop or factory every year in search of child labor. The only problem with these laws and agencies is that they are not very enforcing. When an employer is caught using child labor, whether it is forced, excessive, or in hazardous conditions they are simply given a fine that they must pay to the government, and are forced to return the child home immediately. This causes for big private companies to simply keep hiring and hiring cheap child labor and only paying a fine without seriously facing the consequences. Employers usually also close their doors during the day, to not let any
Many workers do not complain about the poor working conditions and one of the main reasons factory owners are able to get away with this is because the typical factory worker is naïve and uneducated. They believe that if they say something, then they will lose the wages they receive. Most factory workers have family counting on them to send money and working in the factory pays better than having a rural job. “Across the Chinese countryside, those plowing and harvesting the fields are elderly men and women, charged with running the farm and caring for the younger children who are still in school. Money sent home by the migrants is already the biggest source of wealth accumulation in rural China” (Chang, 2008, p.
Shanghai is one of the most cities with developed economy due to this many people come to the town to find work. During 1983 and 2000 years the number of migrant workers increased from 0.5 million people to 3.87 million people. A large percentage of migrant workers work on manufacturing (25.8%). 19.6% and 13.9% people earn money on construction and trade, respectively. In public organizations often work native citizens than immigrants. In the other spheres such as skill...
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
As an economic future for Chinese immigrants began to look bright, the job market began to be saturated by Chinese laborers working for low pay and long hours, eventually causing the growing sense of anti-Chinese sent...
In the paper “The Disadvantages of China’s Cheap Labor in Its Foreign Trade”, JI Zuwei states, “In three factories, workers were employed for 80-90 hours overtime per month during the peak season. In one factory producing for Apple, up to 120 hours overtime was worked; a gross violation of Chinese labor law that limits overtime to 36 hours per month” (Zuwei, 2). Zuwei`s focus on the hours of the workers shows the uneasy struggle these laborers go through to hopefully earn enough to live and sustain a normal life. What Zuwei also points out is the labor limit for overtime, stating that 120 hours was gross and overall unbelievable, breaking the law`s 36 hour limit. Then again, the choice of overtime is that of the worker, as they clocked in as many hours as the wanted to, but it is not a business practice that should be kept. Even though these workers are working long hours, their dedication dramatically changes the economies of their countries.
Whatever the type of factory it may be, one thing that is consistent in the precarity of this line of work. Employees are overworked, working up 10-12 hours a day with little to no break time. They are also tremendously underpaid, only getting about $2 an hour, they miss time with their families and there is a lack of job stability. These negative factors not only have an impact on being able to sustain a proper way of life for themselves and their family, it also has an impact on how the worker is able to perceive themselves and view their self-identity. This is shown through the men who felt they lost their sense of masculinity because they were given such unskilled, low paid jobs in the factories compared to their female co-workers. This was also evident when employees and Foxconn felt that they lost their sense of dignity when being forced to do degrading jobs or when put down, ultimately leading to a negative self-view causing suicide. This concludes that factory work in China has a negative impact on
Foxconn has factories in Asia, Europe, Mexico and South America why is it that only China’s Foxoconn was in highlight and not any other country? While the Chinese factories happened to be the largest factories in China, these factories are also facilitated with dormitories and other infrastructure to host the workers and provide workers to go back at end of the 12 hour shift to relax and reenergize for the next shift. A quarter of the employees live in these so called dormitories. My Case study will analyze how the various news sources revealed the global sweatshop to the world and the reactions by the companies who were using Foxconn to manufacture electronic goods. The Chinese newspaper displayed Foxconn employees having social and psychological reasons leading to suicides whereas US news showed it as human rights violation. Both of them did not acknowledge the social justice and world economy aspects and steps that were taken by the electronics giants to rectify the problems that were being faced in Wuhan, China.
Do you think child labor is a problem? Many people think it is not a problem in the United states. Child labor and sweatshops are still a big problem all around the world because they are still around and some sweatshops abuse the children and don’t pay them enough.
Child labor is one of the biggest concerns occurring around the world. Over one hundred million children work in dangerous conditions in agriculture, mining, and other sectors. People around the world are working to end child labor and help them reunite with their families as well get them an education. Child labor violates human rights due to its inhumane actions that result in the amount of casualties, injuries and poverty. This global issue cannot be resolved unless laws and regulations are reinforced strictly.
First of all globalization has led to exploitation of labor. We can’t ignore the fact that ethical aspects of international business deserve special attention. Corruption and engaging in illegal practice to make greater profit is a source of continuing controversy. Sometimes companies go international and move their production to foreign countries so they could employ workers for long hours, at low wages and in poor working conditions (sweat shops). They are also using child labor, the employment of children to a full time work that can be otherwise done by adults all that so they could get out of their responsibility towards their workers by avoiding paying them national insurance …When these multinational firms go abroad they forget all about principles and about human beings and their rights, according to Kent, J., Kinetz, E. & Whehrfritz, G. (2008/March24). Newsweek. Bottom of the barrel. “The dark side of globalization: a vast work force trapped in conditions that verge on slavery”, David, P. Falling of The Edge, Travels through the Dark Heart of Globalization..Nov 2008. (p62) also agrees with them when he explained his concerns about Chinese and Indians t...