Preview

How Do Washing Companies Use Sweatshops Ethical?

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
763 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Do Washing Companies Use Sweatshops Ethical?
Labor Practices
PHL/320
April 13, 2015
Aileen Smith
Labor Practices
The label or term sweatshop is commonly used when referring to a workshop or factory where the employees work for low wages, long hours, and usually under poor and dangerous conditions (Sweatshop, 2015). When researching the term “Sweatshop” I found that The United States Department of Labor classifies sweatshops as any organization that is in clear violation of two or more labor laws (2015). These laws consist of; working hours, wages, safety and disciplinary methods used, and working conditions. Due to globalization many clothing companies benefit from sweatshop labor, this paper will explore the debate of sweatshop labor and if the clothing companies who utilize sweatshop
…show more content…
These codes are created by the company to make ensure that every employee is treated equally, with respect and have their rights respected. Since ethical decision making is very helpful in the business level, companies should have ethics team who will formulate a code of ethics for workers in the sweatshops. By extending ethic training throughout every division of the company and ensuring that all vendors upholds the same standards, companies will be able to ethically conduct business in under developing countries. Companies set an ethical work environment by setting standards and making sure that all employees and vendors uphold their …show more content…
Companies can adhere to corporate responsibility by setting standards for their company as well as any vendors they have business with. Doing this will promote the public interest by encouraging community growth and development, in under developed countries, and will also help to eliminate unfair practices globally. By ensuring minimal employee standards companies are in position to end the term “sweatshop” from being associated with their brand.

References
David L. Wilson, "Who Really Benefits From Sweatshops?". (n.d.). Retrieved from http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2013/wilson120913.html
Log In - The New York Times. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/16/business/global/after-bangladesh-seeking-new-sources.html
Rising above sweatshops : innovative approaches to global labor challenges / edited by Laura P. Hartman, Denis G. Arnold, and Richard E. Wokutch ; forewords by Ken Block, Frank Vogl, and Norman E. Bowie. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://librarycatalog.dol.gov/client/en_US/wirtz/search/detailnonmodal/ent:$002f$002fSD_ILS$002f36$002fSD_ILS:36705/ada?qu=London%2C+Michael.&ic=true&ps=300
Which is Worse: A Sweatshop, or You? | Bleeding Heart Libertarians. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://bleedingheartlibertarians.com/2011/06/which-is-worse-a-sweatshop-or-you/
The reference page always begins on the top of the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Sweatshop labor is something we hear all too often but do you know what a sweatshop really is? A sweatshop is defined by the United States Department of Labor as company that breaks 2 or more federal laws. Sweatshops are inhumane, companies force people to work in unsafe, unsanitary, for low wages, and use children as well. Companies make millions each year off of sweatshop labor.…

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What is a sweatshop? Well, a sweatshop is a work environment with long hours, low wages, and difficult or dangerous conditions. Why are they frowned upon? Ravisankar expresses and demonstrates the many reasons why sweatshops are unethical. His attempt to convince the audience, sweatshops are degrading human rights is successful because of his skillful word choice and confident tone. Ravisankar grasps the attention of many consumers by saying “Being the ‘poor’ college students that we all are, many of us undoubtedly place the emphasis on finding the lowest prices”(86). With this being said, he relates to most people as to why they look for the lowest prices, but soon after that he disagrees with it.…

    • 803 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Many of the popular, well known brands including Nike, Adidas, Puma, Asics, FILA and Umbro are supposedly sweatshops. However, these companies do not like to admit to this. The migrants putting all the long hours into making the clothes don’t get recognised in any way for their contribution to the making of the designer clothes sold worldwide. While they’re getting paid an average of $2 - $3 per hour, taking roughly 2 hours per garment and being sold from anywhere between $100 - $1000.…

    • 424 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Sweatshops Case Study

    • 1353 Words
    • 6 Pages

    As corporate social responsibility is being widely implemented and scrutinized among society, sweatshops have become a controversial topic. Many view sweatshops as an unethical practice of corporations. However, it may not be perceived the same to others. Globalized companies take advantage of the cheaper labor costs when issuing their factories in countries such as: Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Thailand. Though child labor, low worker pay and poor working conditions are part of these sweatshops, economically, they may be helping the country for their future. So what is the ethical and moral decision for a corporation who maintains factories in other countries?…

    • 1353 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    PHL 320DateBridget PeacoIn several countries across the world, individuals are being misused and mistreated on a regular basis by sweatshops and the people that run them. A sweatshop is a word used to define an operating atmosphere, generally factories producing textile products that are considered hazardous because of poor operating environments. It has been discovered that employees that work at sweatshops often experience metal, physical, and sexual abuse, they work extensively long hours with being unable to leave, without health care benefits while earning inadequate wages. These sweatshops are also found to employ women and children, as they are easier to manipulate.…

    • 526 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Throughout the past decades the United States has allowed and been faced with sweatshop pro’s and con’s. There have been active sweatshop being utilized and there have also been many protests taking place by concerned government entities, labor boards and student organizations regarding the unethical operations of sweatshops. It is more common for sweatshop to be in operation in Third World countries because sweatshops are considered to be a positive move for economic development in the Third World counties.…

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Since the industrial revolution in the 1800’s there has been one industry that has always been entangled in scandal. You still hear about these scandals today. This particular scandal includes three similar characteristics. Unsafe working conditions, long hours, and low pay. Sweatshops and the textile industry are almost synonymous, you can’t think of one without thinking of the other.…

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Labor Practices PHL 320

    • 757 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Most members of society automatically consider sweatshops as an unacceptable source of labor because they are known for subjecting employees to dangerous and unsanitary labor conditions. Research organizations have consistently found that while economists and activists disagree about the costs and benefits of such practices, consumers have a strong preference to purchase products made without sweatshop labor. Mostly because consumers are concerned and often disturbed when labor abuses occur but the demand for products that guarantee favorable working conditions remains low.…

    • 757 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sweatshops Research Paper

    • 1581 Words
    • 7 Pages

    “In April (2000), Notre Dame...announced it would heed the urgings of its Anti-Sweatshop Task Force and cease allowing manufactured of its licensed goods in any of the 3 nations where laws are considered insufficiently protective of workers…” (Olson). This defines that people can and are trying to put an end to sweatshops. Many people realize the destruction that sweatshops are creating and how abusive it is to human rights. People are not safe if they are working somewhere that does not respect human rights. Since Notre Dame stopped using sweatshops, it is not only setting a good example but it is also protecting people in developing countries from sweatshops. On the contrary, a number of people believe that if Americans continue to buy from sweatshops, it is boosting the economy and decreasing the unemployment rates in third world countries, making the developing country a safe place for the citizens (of the third world country) to live in. “The best way to help people in the poorest countries is not to campaign against sweatshops but to promote manufacturing there… Among people who work in development, many believe that one of the best hopes for the poorest countries would be to build their manufacturing industries. But global campaigns make that less likely” (Kristof). This points out that putting sweatshops in poor countries will help the people living in them. Wrong! Putting sweatshops in…

    • 1581 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Sweatshops Violations

    • 91 Words
    • 1 Page

    Typically, large retailers don’t produce their own clothing. Instead, they hire manufacturers who enter into contracts with small factories. Because there are often a lot of these factories, they can be hard to monitor, and retailers often ignore the way the workers in those factories are treated. While not all small factories violate workers’ rights, some of them, known as sweatshops, have infamously poor working conditions.…

    • 91 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Sweatshops In The 1800s

    • 875 Words
    • 4 Pages

    1 Introduction Sweatshops is a place of work were working conditions are horrible and inhuman. They have been around for a long period of time. They are associated with factories that generally produce apparels. They tend to have low wages, excessive long working hours, child labour and awful working conditions. In this report the aim is to have an overview of sweatshops and wc.…

    • 875 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    Cheap Labor Violations

    • 2622 Words
    • 11 Pages

    This paper explores the way in which sweatshops, cheap labor, and violation of workers rights continues to exist throughout the world. Providing inside information that the average individual might not know about the products they purchase and use everyday. This paper touches on what goes on in these sweatshops, which the most common workers are, and what countries are receiving the lowest wages for their work. Some of the most popular companies who have been recognized as abusers of labor laws are addressed, along with an update on how they’ve fared since being accused. As the paper draws to a close different solutions…

    • 2622 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sweatshop Labour

    • 449 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Over the past couple of decades as the textiles and garment industry boomed due to globalization it became one of the largest sources of industrial employment in the world. Sweatshops experienced widespread growth and thus increasing the harm caused to those employed in them, notably being women and children. Children are employed in factories and are forced to endure the same harsh working environment as all other adults. In 1971, it was estimated that in Hong Kong more than twenty-five thousand children worked full time in garment factories. The harsh realities of sweatshops do not only affect children, but also the women, approximately 90% of sweatshop workers in the garment industry are women.…

    • 449 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sweatshops or sweat factories are a work place where people work in similar conditions to those of the farmers. They typically receive low pay for hard labor they work in unbearable conditions and some even have child labor even though there are laws forbidding it. Thanks to sweatshops we get cheaper goods typically clothes but on the other side of the world there may be a child or person who only got paid five cents for making a shoe you paid sixty dollars for. In an encyclopedia it stated, “Brands such as Nike use sweatshops to lower the cost of their products.”(Hickel 3). This shows that even big name brands such as Nike are using sweatshops to lower the cost of clothing, shoes and other merchandise. They pay the workers less incredibly low wages to work for long periods of time reducing expenses but increasing productivity. The poor once again are not being treated with the same rights that somebody in the middle class would get. They are hardworking people just like the farmers but are not getting paid anywhere near what they be earning and that poverty cycle once again will keep going from generation to generation. It states on a reliable website, “A study showed that doubling the salary of sweatshop workers would only increase the consumer cost of an item by 1.8%, while consumers would be willing to pay 15% more to know a product did not come from a sweatshop.”(Hickel 2). This explains that it wouldn’t hurt many people to…

    • 1102 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The term, “Sweatshop,” is used so much, yet not very people know the actual meaning of it. Dosomething.org, states that the U.S government laws to determine something as a sweatshop it must be a factory that violates 2 or more laws. Now, if you think about just two laws, it makes the list huge. Dosomething.org also states the condidtions of sweatshops are either extreemly hot or cold, depending on location, low wages, or no wages, and most importantly, child labor. Think about things you may have produced in this fashion, prime examples include, bags, shoes, clothing, small electronics, and other day to day things that nobody would expect. Dosomthing.org speculates that Africa, China, and the Middle East, have the highest percentages of sweatshops in the world. What does anyone do about this you may ask, the answer…

    • 486 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays

Related Topics