Big american corporations are taking over the world. Macdonalds, Nike, Microsoft, GAP. Corporate giants. Some day, you could go to any city in the world and eat exactly the same fast food, buy exactly the same shoes or clothes… countries are losing their individuality because of this, and teenagers all over are starting to look like corporate clones, plastered with Nike logos, wearing trendy GAP jeans, and getting their hamburgers from Macdonalds.
I don't have a problem with this, I like clothes from GAP and I own Nike trainers… But what you don't tend to hear about these corporations, particualarly in the garment industry, is the conditions their clothes are made in.

Wellco Factory is in China and produces Nike Athletic Shoes.
Workers are paid $0.16 per hour,they work 11-12 hour shifts 7 days a week. They are fined if they refuse to work overtime, and aren't paid extra wages when they do, most have no legal work contract, there's humiliation, screaming, and some corporal punishment, pregnant women and women over 25 years old are fined, there are fines for talking at work, there are approximately 10 children in the sewing section and most workers have never heard of Nike's Code of Conduct.

Here's another shocking one:

You Li Fashion Factory in China produces Espirit Label garments.
Workers are paid $0.13 per hour, and work from 7.30 am to midnight 7 days a week, there is no overtime pay and no benefits, sometimes employees work 24 hour shifts, 6-8 people to a dorm room and dorm is dark and dirty, workers are under constant surveillance and live in fear. They have never heard of a Corporate Code of Conduct.

And there's more where that came from, other companies who run sweatshops like these include Addidas, Structure, The Limited, Sears, Cherokee Jeans, J.C. Penney, Liz Clayborne, Bugle Boy, Ralph Lauren, Ellen Tracey, Linda Allard, Ann Taylor, Preview, Wal-Mart, Kathie Lee.

Basically all the trendy clothes on the market have been made by some poor sods in China or some other distant eastern country. We pay good money for jeans that they've made, all they get back is a fraction of a fraction of a cent.
And Nike keeps the rest of the money to push into some million dollar advertising campaign to brainwash more teenagers into thinking that their brand is the coolest around.
Unfair and a rip off for the litte asian kid working their fingers off on a machine! On top of that, if you think about it, in a way it's racist. The majority of Western countries are white, the majority of Asian countries are coloured, black slavery was supposed to stop a long time ago and yet in a way it's still going on.
Another fact for you. Nike trainers are no better really- seriously! It's all in the advertising. They're advertising has had so much spent on it that it's worked it's way into the brains of young people and it's stuck there. Brainwashing. Think about it, if it's made in a sweatshop in china in such poor conditions then it can't really be that well made can it?
And I'm not just slagging off Nike here, it's the same with any trendy clothes store believe me. If it's cheap, then face the facts, somebody somewhere is being ripped off.
But I still own Nike trainers, this is because I feel there is no choice. The way that the world is working at the moment I could buy any other brand of trainers and still know that it was made in a sweatshop because all of them are! The entire garment industry is working like that!
Terrible or what?
-penmagic

Regardless of the economic benefits of globalization, sweatshops are not good. I'm sure you would be less concerned with the long-term effects of globalization if you were working in a sweatshop.
... and I'm sure I would be less worried about which MP3 player to buy if I I was working in a sweatshop. We are all dicks.

quote:

Originally posted by edward:
Globolization is good. without sayng much there is two great books i have read, The End of Poverty and The World is Flat. India, China and any other country where sweatshops are prevelant will in the near future be a problem for the US beacuse they want to be like us. for further understanding read the books they will open up your mind. Globolization is the key element in solving world extreme poverty. EXTREME POVERTY poverty as we know it will always exist.

Globolization is good. without sayng much there is two great books i have read, The End of Poverty and The World is Flat. India, China and any other country where sweatshops are prevelant will in the near future be a problem for the US beacuse they want to be like us. for further understanding read the books they will open up your mind. Globolization is the key element in solving world extreme poverty. EXTREME POVERTY poverty as we know it will always exist.

quote:

Unfair and a rip off for the litte asian kid working their fingers off on a machine! On top of that, if you think about it, in a way it's racist. The majority of Western countries are white, the majority of Asian countries are coloured, black slavery was supposed to stop a long time ago and yet in a way it's still going on.

Lol! Thats right, its racist. Its not that they have a population of 1.3billion that their wages are so low. And of course, we all know that Asian governments are whites who have forced the Asiatics into a slave-proletarian class.
Oooh, this is a cool game. OK, the crap quality of life of the blacks in Ethiopia is due to white racism too. And collapsing Zimbabwe is due to the whites oppression of the Blacks. I don't care if Whites barely exist, and have no power in this countries, its the damn White race to blame.
"All racism is bad, unless its against whites, in which case its 'anti-racism' ".

quote:

But I think the solution is simple: pass legislation that forces corporations to pay workers in other nations the wage that they pay american workers.

Awesome idea. That way, the west will stop using foreign labour, and the foreigners can enjoy starving to death.

Hold on, this thread is ancient!, how did it get dragged back up? Oh well

GOBALISATION HAS MANY PORZ AND CORNZ
BUT ON THING I CAN SAY THAT IT REALLY AFFECTING THE POOR COUNTRIES THEY ARE BEEN SIMPLY EXPLOITED......AND NOTHING ELSE......

If you want to stop this thing, you'll have to create an awareness. Humans are social animals. When people around them starts doing something (like not supporting sweatshops), more and more people will follow suit. Especially so if done by celebrities i.e. Blood Diamond case

that is slave labour noone should be able to pay that little for so much work

All some of u americans are worried about how america is going to hit in the global market. i personally feel that in 3rd wolrd countries no matter what the living conditons don't improve. i don't think such a small wage is ehough to live even hand to mouth so its better poeple are unemployed. at least they don't have to work finger to bone for nothing..its sad to see how people are worried about getting a pair of jeans for cheap when there is someone dying half way around the world for no damn reason.
in india itself there are many sweatshops and poeple work their backs off and still can't provide enough for their family so that they can own a good pair of clothes.
i completely agree with penmagic consumers are left with no choice + most people are not aware os this stuff so u end up buying brands..

Ok, here's my noise: The working conditions for sweatshop workers overseas are terrible, no matter what, However, before I went and boycotted a bunch of companys for their pay, I would want to find out the adverage income, I mean, maybe 1.25 an hour isnt that bad in China or whatever country. Just because we're used to $6.00 an hour in order to even begin to pay for things, doesnt mean that the neccesities overseas are not cheaper, and thus require less money. I do agree that the conditions should be changed, but i'd need more information before I jumped the gun on the wages. Thanks!
Oh, and b.t.w. after I get the answers to these quesitons and I decide that the cause is worthy of throwing away my nikes and not shopping at my fave. store, than I will, becuase there's PLENTY of other options, believe me.

Gloalisation is important in my opinion because it really helps out our (America) economy and our relations with other countries. I dont think that things such as wages and worker treatment are handled correctly but there isnt much that can be done at this point.
It is better right now that these people can have low-paying (average where they live) jobs as opposed to no jobs at all.
If you shutdown even %50 of the sweatshops in the world it would be devistating to the people of the area. A sullotion is probably neccesary but I dont know what can be done without destroying more than we help.

quote:

---

...pass legislation that forces corporations to pay workers in other nations the wage that they pay american workers.

---

This is absolutely the worst thing that could happen, because you're basically saying, "Okay, Italy, we're going to pass laws that overrule your authority and therefore make us the World Government."

Ludicrous.

And the loss of jobs argument is misused in every anti-capitalist/free trade argument.

True, jobs are lost, but where's the huge waiting lines of blue-collar white guys waiting to dig trenches and build houses all day?

The only problem free trade and globalization has is all the damn regulations and taxes imposed on countries and people.

If countries could just trade with whomever they wanted, with NO regulations whatsoever, our economy would flourish like it did when Adam Smith was around.

One disadvantage of globalization is our nation's loss of jobs. Companies are sending them overseas where work is cheaper. But I think the solution is simple: pass legislation that forces corporations to pay workers in other nations the wage that they pay american workers. This way, globalization can continue and the US won't lose jobs.

quote:

---

Wellco Factory is in China and produces Nike Athletic Shoes. Workers are paid $0.16 per hour,they work 11-12 hour shifts 7 days a week.

---

This factory is also - and more than likely - regulated or controlled by the Communist government there, so don't just start blaming the corporations.

Globalization hurts countries only when A) its trade agreements, laws, regulations undermine a countries' sovereignty, and B) its workers are under harsh living conditions, economic conditions, etc.


The reason these American corporations are overseas in the first place is because it's going to cost us - the U.S. consumers - a lot less to buy a pair of jeans than it is for the corporations to make them; in other words, if ALL of Abercrombie's factories were in the U.S., we'd have to depend on U.S.-this, U.S.-that and it would be a bloody FORTUNE for these clothes (though paying more than $50 is ridiculous, but hello supply and demand).

Granted, I don't like the fact that there are poor kids working 15-hour days in a factory, but it doesn't help by getting our government involved; if you want to really help the Global Capitalist market, you're going to have to lobby those overseas - communist, socialist - countries to change their ways.


As for me, I'm going to buy shorts/jeans/shirts that I think are affordable, regardless of where they came from.

But don't start slamming U.S. corporations for everything - free trade (100% free trade) and free markets in EVERY country would actually benefit ALL types of people; which brings me to another point.

Not ALL countries using "slave-labor" are like ours; has anyone - before they started slamming the corporations - even researched what the cost of living is overseas? What about their form of government? Anyone? Anyone at all?

Before you people start mouthing off, why don't you do a little bit of economic research first.

why is it that we (united states) have the most powerful companies , navy base , airforce ,and government and we can't share a dime to others poor countries , that needed the money more than we do. We take advantage of other people and accessories that we buy . You different commerical about children that need homes , why can't spend some money and buy those children , so that they can have parents that can love them and take care of them. Now america can we do the same , and care for others and just not oursleves.

Gap Incorporated is the second largest garment manufacturer/distributer in the world. (Second to, of course, Walmart.)

Actually, i wouldnt call GAP a "giant american corporation" right now, but rather a feeble one. Currently Gap Inc. (the company that produces the Gap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy clothing lines) has been having some economic problems...if you look they have a lot of bonds out to fix some of their debt problems...

Oh well, just thougth i would through that in.

Acer

This topic of sweatshops stuck out to me today. About a month ago I started reading a book called The Triangle Fire by Leon Stein. This discusses a subject and topic a lot of people are still unfamiliar with. At the Triange building in New York City in 1911 a fire occured. In this building many of the employees were from Jewish or Russian backgrounds. And many of these "employees" were in actuality "girls", and the supposed "building" was a sweatshop. These girls worked on the top 3 floors of the Triange Building. So, when the fire broke out on the 8th Floor(there were 10 floors), people began locking doors in hopes of saving fabrics. Unfortunately, as the fire grew to the upper floors people got locked into the building. For these young girls there was no way of escaping, many jumped to their death, while others burned. 146 people were killed because of many laws that were not enforced to the building and to the workers. The book just shows how horrible it was for these young women and how the U.S. tried to stop sweatshops. Unfortunately sweatshops still exist and people still die today, maybe not necessarily in the U.S., due to stupid accidents that could have been prevented.

mochi, Abercrombie and Fitch workers in Saipan sew on Made in USA labels. And in LA and San Francisco, there are sweatshops too.

I won't support companies who have sweatshops and use slave labor. I mean, why buy a $25 or more shirt from Gap when the woman or child only got 21 cents/hour? They don't get paid overtime, and get fined for talking. I mean, in my own small way, I'm telling these huge corporate companies "HELL NO! I DON'T SUPPORT SLAVE LABOR AND WON'T BUY YOUR OVERPRICED CRAP TIL YOU STOP!"
but I'm only one person, so I try to spread the word.
I agree that a lot of people who do realize they're wearing clothes from a "sweatshop company" don't care because 1) It's not them and 2)this is the supposedly "cool" look.
I think this is BS and why hasn't the US put regulations on this. This makes me vomit. People die from those conditions and overwork, and Americans are ok with wearing the clothes produced by some child working for their family. It makes me sick.

All non-opinionated info found at Behind the Label

The problem with most people today is they can just shrug off the matter of sweat shops and pretend they dont know, the issue isn't real enough for them, they dont work in sweat shops and they dont get paid half a dollar an day. Another thing is that most people just want whatever is in style they dont care what it is, they wear Ambercrombie and Fitch because thats what everybody else is wearing, if everybody else wore wearing dumpster clothes they would to. We just need to turn the masses away from the sweat shop oriented. Mabye if nobody buys their $250 dollar shoes because they have sweat shops, Nike will set up a better system for it's workers.

Stealing and dumpstering clothes works well. Just rememebr to donate some to places like the Salvation Army.