waterlily
For many people, such as those in China, Vietnam, and Indonesia, working in sweatshops is a common way of life. A sweatshop is a work place that has been given this slang name because of the work conditions inside the factory itself. Conditions are rumored to be hard, often involving long working hours and barley lit, small workstations. Often, sweatshops will entail utilizing women and young children to accomplish a majority of the work. Working in such places is not a choice for most, but is the only way to provide for their family, even if it means working up to sixty five hours a week. Nike is just one of the many large corporations which are involved in using employees in sweatshops to fulfill their work needs. Nike owns sixteen Indonesian plants and employs more than 500,000 workers in Asia alone. Indonesian workers are paid close to $2.20 per day. Most of the workers, actually about 90% of them, are women. Many of them are either forced to work overtime or feel compelled to work extra hours in order to feed and house their families (Levy 1). In an article entitled, "A Living Wage to End Sweatshops," Charles Kernaghan states that Disney pays workers in China thirteen cents an hour. "Nobody can survive on this
Another question to consider is, "Does mistreatment go on in these sweatshops?" Verena Dobnik, an Associated Press writer, reported earlier this year that a manager at a Nike plant in Vietnam was convicted of beating workers with a shoe. 89 - again more than your daily wage. Outside the factory are close to a thousand other desperately poor people ready to take any job that might become available. Bean, are among some the corporations who participated in this "code of conduct" programming. A Ho Chi Minh City factory had been suspended for abusing workers. Tuition for grammar school costs $7 a month. One example of this cruel treatment would be that the workers in Haiti are paid just six cents for every $19. In fewer words, then, these workers are in the global economy without the knowledge or tools to defend themselves (Kernaghan 1-3). In countries such as Haiti, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras wages continue to decline. Maybe such actions are only the first steps toward ending international sweatshop abuses. Unsettled as of yet are details of inspections and sanctions, which are critical to the success of the code. If only companies such as Disney were to redirect the $181 million in stock options it gave CEO Michael Eisner in 1996 - the largest corporate grant in history - it could double the wages of all 19,000 assembly workers in Haiti for the next fourteen years. However, a third article entitled " Nike Accused of Abusing Women in Vietnam," stated that Vietnamese women worked for twenty cents an hour to make almost one million Nike shoes a month, suffering corporal punishment and sexual harassment. If they raise their voice to defend themselves, they are fired.
Common topics in this essay:
LL Bean,
Guatemala Honduras,
Creole Haitian,
Minh City,
Nike Reebok,
Vietnam Indonesia,
Tell Andrew,
Associated Press,
Michael Eisner,
Women Vietnam,
code conduct,
nike reebok,
six cents,
mistreatment workers,
human rights,
workers haiti,
minimum wage,
dobnik 1,
child labor,
sweatshop labor,
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Acceptance Essays
