Sweatshops are business establishments where employees work long hours under poor conditions for low wages; sometimes employees are underage and work 60-100 hours per week. Sweatshops are a major part of people’s lives who work in third world countries. Overlooking age requirements, work conditions, and correct compensation that we find acceptable, people who live and work there do not think sweatshops are wrong; for people in developing countries, sweatshops are their best way of surviving. It’s a controversial issue of whether or not sweatshops should remain open. Everyone enjoys the satisfaction that comes with buying cheap or inexpensive products manufactured by sweatshops, yet not all sweatshops provide suitable working conditions. Consumers
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Many companies do not provide proper equipment to insure the safety of the employees. These harsh conditions include, but not limited to, not having facial masks and/or gloves, poor ventilation, having locked exits, and long hours standing with minimal or no breaks. In January 2012, the New York Times published a report on labor conditions at Foxconn, one of Apple’s biggest manufacturing partners (Lau 732). The report exposed that employees, some underage, typically worked twelve hours per day for six or seven days per week under horrific conditions (Lau 732). There were reports of explosions in factories that made iPads and that employees were made to use a poisonous chemical to clean the iPads and iPhones screens with. On the other hand, Ben Powell discusses in “In Defense of ‘Sweatshops’”, the importance of sweatshops in third world countries. Regardless of traditional views on the issue, he believes that sweatshops are actually the best alternative available to several third world workers (Powell 537). In addition to, sweatshops are part of a manufacturing development that leads to higher wages and better working conditions. Even though Powell’s beliefs are probably not the same for most, sweatshops are basically all third world workers can rely on to make a little bit of money. Most employees are willing to exchange overtime pay for other benefits just to have the extra
Many companies do not provide proper equipment to insure the safety of the employees. These harsh conditions include, but not limited to, not having facial masks and/or gloves, poor ventilation, having locked exits, and long hours standing with minimal or no breaks. In January 2012, the New York Times published a report on labor conditions at Foxconn, one of Apple’s biggest manufacturing partners (Lau 732). The report exposed that employees, some underage, typically worked twelve hours per day for six or seven days per week under horrific conditions (Lau 732). There were reports of explosions in factories that made iPads and that employees were made to use a poisonous chemical to clean the iPads and iPhones screens with. On the other hand, Ben Powell discusses in “In Defense of ‘Sweatshops’”, the importance of sweatshops in third world countries. Regardless of traditional views on the issue, he believes that sweatshops are actually the best alternative available to several third world workers (Powell 537). In addition to, sweatshops are part of a manufacturing development that leads to higher wages and better working conditions. Even though Powell’s beliefs are probably not the same for most, sweatshops are basically all third world workers can rely on to make a little bit of money. Most employees are willing to exchange overtime pay for other benefits just to have the extra