ENGL 1302

Sweatshops: Holding People Back

A sweatshop is defined as a shop employing workers at low wages, for long hours, and u
nder poor conditions (Clawson). Nearly everyone has heard of sweatshops and most people belie
ve that they are bad, often due to the fact that the workers are exploited and treated inhumanely.
Proponents of sweatshops, however, believe that they mark the beginning of an era of industriali
zation for developing countries (Clawson). Meanwhile, others argue that sweatshops provide a w
age to those that are so destitute that without the factory job, they would earn no wage at all (Kris
tof). Despite these arguments, sweatshops are detrimental to a country, its people, and its culture
because they hold workers in poverty, render future generations unable to break the cycle of pov
erty, and subjugate workers basic human rights.
Although journalists such as Nicholas Kristof argue that sweatshops are a dream, provi
ding a wage to workers that otherwise would scrounge for everything they have, such is only half
the story. Certainly, one with no job at all would be inclined to set their sights on a factory job
as a means to survive, yet those who work in sweatshops still find themselves trapped in poverty
, barely able to survive. Jim Keady, founder of Educating for Justice, asserts the standard wage p
aid to an employee of a sweatshop is approximately $1.25 per day (TeamSweat). The wage is en
ough to provide for a shelter and some basic meals, but not enough to live in a clean, healthy env
ironment while allowing workers to partake of adequate nutrition. Sweatshops cannot even argue
that they cannot afford to pay their workers a higher wage, as a survey shows that consumers wo
uld gladly be willing to pay 15% more on average for products, just to know that they were not p
roduced in a sweatshop. Doubling the workers salary would only result in a 1.8% increase in cos
t to the consumer (11 Facts). Sweatshops have no place in society, simply because they force wor
kers to continue to accept a life of poverty, rather than offering them something more.
Not only are workers unable to provide for their families financially, but often, due to the
long work hours, are unable to provide for their children either. Many children wander the streets
, as seen in Behind the Swoosh or as depicted by Kristof. These children rummage and play in
refuse, breathing in toxic chemicals due to the smoldering trash piles and open sewage in their co
mmunities. Many children are unable to attend school either, possibly due to a need to care for y
ounger siblings while parents work or due to a lack of schools with teachers in the area. Without
parents at home to care for these children or teachers available to educate them, a new generation
of sweatshop workers will emerge. Uneducated and ill-prepared for their futures, children will g
row to continue along in the same circle of poverty in which their parents raised them. Their cou
ntry will remain undeveloped, and future generations will continue to be oppressed.
In addition to causing a cycle of poverty which leaves families without money and a coun
try undeveloped, sweatshops subjugate workers, taking from them their most basic human rights.
The workers in sweatshops suffer from physical, verbal, and even sexual abuse at the hands of t
heir supervisors and managers. They are also frequently locked inside the sweatshop and forced t
o work double shifts against their will, similarly to those workers which were locked inside the T
riangle Shirtwaist Company in Americas early industrial age. The employees of the Triangle Shi
rtwaist Company died tragically in a fire, unable to escape due to locked doors. The very same th
ing could happen in any sweatshop. Furthermore, female workers rights are infringed upon even
more, as they are often subjected to forced birth control and frequent pregnancy tests so that swe
atshops may avoid the necessary time off which comes from maternity leave (11 Facts). Keady r
eported that workers were even threatened with losing their jobs or death simply for speaking to
him. Sweatshops will seemingly do anything in their power to prevent workers from exercising t
heir rights to life, liberty, and their pursuit of happiness.
Sweatshops prevent workers from earning a fair wage, stunt the growth of developing co
untries by keeping their citizens impoverished, and infringe upon workers personal freedoms. E
ven though sweatshops provide jobs to workers that may otherwise have none, they fail to provid
e a quality of life to which all humans should be entitled and which is within the means of the sw
eatshop to achieve, if they so desired. It has been said that it is not the tyranny of evil men which
must be feared, but the indifference of the just. If the sweatshops truly had workers best interests
at heart, they would not continue to keep their employees shackled to destitution. Sweatshops ar
e no good for either people or society, and must be forced to reform.










Works Cited
"11 Facts About Sweatshops." DoSomething. N.d. Web. 14 May 2014.
Kristof, Nicholas. "Where Sweatshops Are a Dream." The New York Times. 14 Jan. 2009. Web
.
14 May 2014.
TeamSweat. "Nike Sweatshops: Behind the Swoosh." YouTube. 28 July 2011. Web. 14 May
2014.
Clawson, Laura. "The Biggest Myth of All Time Is That Sweatshops Are Bad." Daily Kos. 9 Ja
n.
2013. Web. 14 May 2014.