The Sweating System: A Case Study

Multinational corporations, such as Wal-Mart and Nike, have complete control of their supply chain. This kind of unprecedented control has allowed these companies to dictate terms to everyone who works within the operation. Despite having so much control, these multinational corporations distance themselves from all of the atrocities that take place in the supply chain. By doing this, the reputation of the brand is not tarnished while still deflecting blame. The implications of this kind of control negatively affect the workers employed by contract manufacturers, suppliers, and goods movers because they are at the mercy of the corporate management who is only interested in profits. The consumer also has a responsibility to make a decision as
The Sweating System violates many major federal laws in the United States such as child labor, proper working conditions, and fair pay. This system separates the worker from his or her work because the worker is being paid very little in exchange for making a product that is sold for exponentially more money. In the case of the Sweating System and the practice of sweatshops, labor is being criminally exploited. This is a way for large corporations to pay low wages and make more of the consumed product in order to accelerate the supply chain. Outsourced workers, who are at the bottom of the labor ladder, are utilized so that corporations do not have to pay the normal wages for production. In the Is Wal-Mart Good for America? documentary, it shows how the wages of poor workers are dependent by the number of products that they make in small operations. This is a way that Wal-Mart pays low wages and can still quicken the supply chain. When things go wrong, the contractors are blamed and the large corporation is able to avoid responsibility and continue its massive supply chain. The large corporation does not directly hire the workers, so the large corporation is able to deflect the blame of low wages and poor working conditions. The Sweating System is a scapegoat for multinationals like Wal-Mart and Nike to increase profit margins
Contract manufacturers and suppliers will be forced to reduce the prices of goods while also increasing the quality of the product. Goods movers will have to increase the speed in which the product is delivered. This effect makes its way down the supply chain in which the workers in the sweatshops are going to make even less money and work in less safe conditions because management needs to compensate for its demand from the corporation. In turn, this causes poor employment behavior, which further degrades the workers with less pay and longer hours. This was conveyed in China Blue, a documentary that followed the story of a Jasmine. Jasmine, a fifteen year-old worker, becomes sick and exhausted due to the long hours that are given to her because of the contract manufacturers push to meet the supply of a large order. The workers, who are already treated so poorly, are the real victims of the multinational supply