Monitoring Sweatshops: Workers, Consumers, and the Global Apparel Industry - Essay Example

SWEATSHOPS] By Insert Presented to Location Due Introduction Latin America is one of the regions where sweatshops violation in the trade industry is widespread. The leading victims of this vice in the region have always been the immigrants. Ten years ago, several Bolivian girls were saved from the hands of some callous men who condemned them to working like slaves in a “clandestine textile factory” that was owned by a Bolivian immigrant. Investigations into the matter revealed that, these women were forced into working for close to twenty hours daily with poor diet, and were frequently brutally attacked. In Mexico, it has been reported that workers are offered very little wages to an extent that they are forced to send their kids to offer labor in garment factories instead of going to school (Esbenshade, 2004, pp.4). This denies the young children from achieving their rights to education and forces them into the same torturing manual professions like their parents. The word “sweatshop” was first coined in the early 1900s i.e. during the industrial revolution. It was a term used to express the kind of abusive working situation several workers in Latin America used to and are still put to go through by middlemen who make an income off their sweat. For every pay a worker receives, there is a percentage that is taken by the middlemen. This percentage is what is said to be sweated from the laborer despite the fact that, they received minimal wages for disproportionate work, under unhygienic conditions. Basically, the greatest victim of sweatshops is often women. Under these working conditions, these women’s right to wages that meet basic costs of living is violated; they live and work under substandard and hazardous working condition; they receive no compensation for overtime work; and also endure sexual harassment. In many instances, the women fall victim to this inhuman habit as they are lured by recruiters who promise heaven but only offer hell. Worse still, is the fact that in most instances, they pay lots of cash in recruitment and contractual fees that tie them up to commitments that would probably last for endless years. Some even go for several years without receiving even a single penny as they try to pay off their debts. Those who attempt to escape back home without meeting their contractual commitments are in most cases blacklisted or jailed. The laborers, who often are not quite familiar with their labor rights frequently, carry on with work even when their wages delayed for weeks. Some employers even lure the women into offering them sexual favor for better opportunities and wages, something that never comes to bare fruits (Hapke, 2004, pp.3). Global Corporations’ Perspective and Ethics Ethics among global corporations is a widespread issue that impacts not only in the economies of Latin America, but also the economies of other nations as well. In a time when technology has enhanced accessibility all across the world, the global economy is continually becoming more and more vital. Labor standards of the firms targeting foreign workers must aptly take into consideration the principal form of human rights, and the persona of both the individuals targeted as well as that of the company. When discussing ethics among global corporations, some of the key areas of debate include “extortion, moral norms and human rights” (Hapke, 2004, pp.3). The behavioral traits exhibited by firms in the hosting nations normally impact negatively on the economies and persons of both the targeted nation as well as the host firms doing business. Due to this, the ethical standards under which a company ought to operate under has been a source of extensive debate for a very long time. There are two fundamental ethical issues in human rights that need to be largely taken into consideration by global business players. First and foremost, is the question of whether global business players should carry out business in nations which consistently violate human rights? The other issue is with regards to the responsibilities of global business players in observing and scrutinizing the labor practices of its foreign partners. The most noteworthy violation of human rights as noted by the global business environment is the existence of sweatshops. It is apparent to many that, the kind of wages offered to the workers in this kind of business environment makes them look like slaves. On the other side, some global corporations hold the perspective that, while critically examining these unacceptable wages, an individual must also consider the cultural and economic differences witnessed in both of these countries. The standards of living in the developed country which is often the host, generally is considerably higher than that of supplier nation which in most occasion is a developing one. However, it must also be noted that, it the responsibility of such global corporations to promote economic and social development of the foreign nations. In a situation where the wages simply just cover living cost, then undoubtedly development is just impossible. With time, various global players have responded amicably to change. For instance, there is the Gap Inc. that a couple of decades ago were faced by several lawsuits dealing with the contravention of labor laws. However, in the recent years, the company has implemented key reforms to improve their social responsibility. They are currently part of a campaign seeking to raise funds and awareness for those living with HIV/AIDS in various parts of the world. Other global actors’ point of view Governments’ perspective and Utilitarianism In both the USA and European countries, specifically England and France, the sweatshop was viewed as a primitive form of production. At the start of the trade, i.e. in the late nineteenth century, British and French investigators visited American sweatshops and the Americans did the same in Europe. Looking at the English Factory Act, the American team of investigators noticed that the act was drafted basically to address exactly the same kind of abusive conditions that were experienced in America (Powell & David, 2004, pp.2). In the United States of America, a majority of the victims of sweat shoppers have always been from Latin America. In Latin America, it was majorly the Spanish conquerors who exploited the native population exposing them to slave-like working conditions (Powell & David, 2004, pp.3). In Britain, it was until towards the end of the 19th century that, this harsh reality of life was first brought openly into the public domain, after the British government established a select commission to carry out an investigation into the matter. Earlier, most governments, both the host and foreign ones, were quite reluctant in trying to address the problem, even though they acknowledged the fact that this was a clear vice that violated some of the basic human right. Over the last couple of decades, governments have made legislative efforts geared towards addressing this unethical vice and promote utilitarianism, acknowledging the fact that the suitable action is one that enhances human happiness. Their perspectives concerning the issue have really changed, realizing that “the moral worth of any act is determined only by its resulting outcome” (Powell & David, 2004, pp.7). In the United States for example, the start of the fight against sweatshops commenced in the last decade of the nineteenth century with the implementation of a law that was meant to eradicate the production of tobacco products in homes. Parallel reforms on the country’s labor laws appeared to be rather futile. It only managed to make a positive impact after trade unions facilitated some slim respite. However, it was only after the “federal minimum wage and maximum-hours legislation” was implemented in mid twentieth century that sweatshops began to vanish (Powell & David, 2004, pp.7). Perspectives of International Non-Governmental Organizations In the last few decades, human rights activists have come out strongly to advocate for the elimination of labor practices that violate human rights principles. Up until now, they have been really successful in creating awareness with regards to these inhuman trade processes. Organizations such as the Sweatshops Watch, Human Rights Watch and the National Labor Coalition have pointed fingers at global corporations e.g. Disney, Nike, and Wall-mart accusing them of insidiously exploiting their workers. In recent years, great violations of Central American labor laws have not gone unnoticed. North American and European global corporations and their contractors have received the highest share of complains. This is because some of the labor practices that have been at the center of debate are legal outside North America and Europe. This is due to the fact that, certain oppressive and corrupt governments outside these regions tolerate some of these inhuman labor practices (Arnold & Norman, 2003, pp.221). As a result, global corporations have relocated their businesses to these regions to maximize on the revenue collection. Human rights activists for a long time have attempted to promote deontological moral ideologies. This are the kind of principles that suggest that lying or breaking a promise is unacceptable, even whether, it is intended to prevent more lies or broken promises. Similarly, it is even worse to inflict pain on an individual than to fail to protect others from harming such a person in a comparatively greater measure. The international non-governmental organization’s perspective with regards to sweatshops is major defined or rather influenced by certain fundamental factors. One is that, this trade infringes on human dignity and rights. According to Kant’s principle, “act so that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of another, always as an end and never as a means only” (Arnold & Norman, 2003, pp.222). This basically suggests that, morality expects individuals to respect people. This group of actors strongly believes that, lawlessness is contributes largely to poverty and is profoundly linked to human rights and labor rights violations. World Trade Organization’s Perspective and Contractualism Close to a decade ago, a group of activists held a demonstration in Seattle, famously known as the “battle of Seattle” to advocate against the World Trade Organization’s support of sweatshops and environmental degradation in the struggling developing nations. The activists were attempting to expose the bigotry of the few financially endowed and privileged, who were issuing an accustomed appeal for the subjugated persons across the globe. To the advocates of sweatshops like the World Trade Organization, it is fact that the developing nations’ poor fervently welcome foreign global corporations on any terms as it obviously a better alternative to their current misery (Bybee, 2008, p.2). Meager wages, long hours of working and cruel management in this kind of trade environment, along with the poor working and health conditions possibly appears dreadful to wealthy western nations, but are gratefully welcomed by the frantic men and women in Latin America. To them if the demands of the activists were met, then the outcome would have been denying the desperate poor Latin Americans a desperately desired opportunity to make a living and change their living conditions. The World Trade Organization’s perspectives regarding sweatshops are a depiction of their support of the principle of contractualism. This concept defines justice to be “based on the idea that political decisions are morally justifiable only to the extent they are coherent with un-coerced agreements between moral agents”. So as long as the desperate poor individuals agree to the contract they are offered by their contractors, they have no right to complain about the social justifiability of their working environments and conditions. Recommendations Lawlessness is a major contributing factor of poverty and is largely linked with human and labor rights infringement. One fundamental role that global business players can play to assist in enhancing human dignity of workers is encouraging respect for the rule of law. The United Nations has stressed on the essentiality of ensuring that all people all over the world, whether in developed or developing nations, are not subject to violations of the rule of law. Everyone in his conscious mind should assist in this fight. The ways through which individuals can be part of this course is by boycotting products of global corporations involved in the exploitation of its workers, contributing on opinion columns, and letter writing campaigns. Reference list Arnold, D. G., & N. E. (2003). Sweatshops and respect for persons. Business Ethics Quarter , 13 (2), 221-242. Bybee, R. (2008, July). pro-corporate views as the poor’s perspective. Retrieved May 03, 2012, from fair.org: http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3593 Esbenshade, J. L. (2004). Monitoring Sweatshops: Workers, Consumers, and the Global Apparel Industry. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Hapke, L. (2004). The History of an American Idea. New York: Rutgers University Press.Powell, B., & D. S. (2004). Sweatshops and Third World Living. California : The Independent Institute. Read More