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I'm sure some of you would already be
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familiar with the term sweatshop but for
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those of you who aren't a sweatshop is a
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term used to describe a workplace that
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has extremely low standards and usually
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under pays workers while having them
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work for extremely long hours this is
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usually large corporations that value
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low costs over the lives and well-being
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of their workers commonly found in the
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clothing and fashion industry the
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history of sweatshops go way back to the
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1820s people worked to make union
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service codes like this one and other
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jackets during the Civil War in 1864
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when people think of sweatshops and
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other cruel forms of work we think yeah
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well that was in the 19th and 20th
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century right that stuff doesn't happen
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right now
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well unfortunately these practices
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continue on today as well Nike and many
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other brands have been accused of
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running sweatshops all around the world
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for most activists or at least people
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that are read on this topic are aware of
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this when people think of sweatshops
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they usually think of factories in other
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parts of the world like Bangladesh
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Cambodia China or Ecuador what if I told
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you there are sweatshops present in the
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US yep there are sweatshops in the US
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where workers are being paid
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unbelievably low wages which are illegal
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Before we jump into that story we need
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to take a deeper look into the history
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of sweatshops through our modern era and
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why sweatshops are even being practiced
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at all
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for these refugees classrooms are a
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distant memory ten hours a day six days
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a week
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they make jeans annie is 12
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his younger brother Yasin is 10 we have
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to work our family doesn't have any
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money
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we can't go to school anymore on the
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first day I worked one hour I left it
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was too hard I really want to go back to
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school because I don't know how to read
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or write let's first look at how bad
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sweatshops can really get an article on
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the Guardian goes into detail in regards
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to this topic I'm going to be quoting
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many articles during this video and all
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links will be in the description to
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their original sources interviews taken
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from The Observer and Dan watch shed
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light on the conditions of what it was
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like for workers in Cambodia nor in
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Sofia from the collective union of
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movement of workers said mass panic had
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occurred when one woman suffered a
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seizure in a factory where temperatures
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were later found to be reaching 37
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degrees Celsius workers feared for their
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lives in one incident when 28 people
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collapsed rushing to escape a fire at a
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factory supplying Nike another described
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panic after thick smoke seeped into a
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factory supplying Puma I heard the
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explosion smoke came into the factory
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workers were afraid and panicked I ran
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to the gate to get out it was locked but
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I ran to the managers door more and more
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workers came behind other workers could
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not run to get out and I heard they
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started fainting it got to the point
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that workers in factories that produced
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for Zahra
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mango and next left hidden messages sewn
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into the clothing asking for help hoping
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that customers would find it and help
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them fight for their right to get paid
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here are some quotes from workers and
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factories for Zahra mango and next one
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morning we came to work and the firm was
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gone the shutters were closed down our
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boss had disappeared we had no other
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choice but to start this campaign
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we put these tags on garments across
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every Zara store in every shopping mall
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across Istanbul we don't want to harm
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Zara that's not what this is about but
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we want what is owed to us Zara
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responded by creating a hardship fund
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for workers left unpaid but I can't help
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but wonder what would have happened had
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these workers not pleaded in this very
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clever way they literally had to hide
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messages in the clothing for customers
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to discover and then ended up getting
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280 thousand signatures on a petition
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which then made Zara and the
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manufacturing factory pay their workers
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it goes without saying that had these
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workers not taken these drastic steps
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they wouldn't have gotten paid this is a
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common trend we see among corporations
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and even the police department at this
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point these companies don't take
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responsibility until they are cornered
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with either real evidence or in the case
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of the police department undeniable
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video proof there were also 500 workers
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that fainted in factories that supplied
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to Nike Puma and many other brands these
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quotes help form a picture of what it's
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like in terms of conditions in these
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factories a Southeast Asia field
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director for the worker rights
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consortium taken from an article on the
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Guardian said there is no proper
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investment in an adequate working
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environment and no investment in the
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living wage if workers are fainting it
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should be a clear indication you need to
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do something more drastic Nike has made
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a statement saying we take the issue of
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fainting seriously as it can be both a
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social response and an indication of
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issues within a factory that may require
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corrective action all right so things
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are trying to be done to fix these
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issues but why is this even a practice
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why outsource all your production for
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clothing when you're a company based in
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the US Canada or the UK why don't the
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companies just produce their products in
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the country they're based it's quite
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simple it's cheaper to produce in other
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countries this practice has been present
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for years and is still present to this
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day there are many Joseph's occasions
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given by many corporations and
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economists that this is actually
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benefiting these communities all right
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let's take a look at some of their
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justifications
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an economist once said the misery of
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being exploited by capitalists is
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nothing compared to the misery of not
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being exploited at all
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okay this point of view truly infuriates
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me and I think it's best put by Trisha
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Stryker at a TED talk about this topic
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but people say are we not doing them a
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favor by giving them business and
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stimulating their economy isn't working
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in a factory at any wage better than the
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other alternative is available to them
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for example working as a prostitute or
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selling your child into slavery or
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leaving your village your family and
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your children behind for months on end
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to work for wickedly low wages and
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unsafe working conditions
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this is not a choice this is the
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exploitation of vulnerability companies
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are profiting of their need to work we
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need to respect these people treat them
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like we would treat workers in Australia
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because this would not happen in
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Australia the idea that we can view
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someone in a less advantageous situation
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and think that it's morally justifiable
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for us to exploit their current
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situation is beyond me
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I do understand the point of view of the
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Economist that these countries and
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workers would starve without these jobs
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at those factories but that doesn't mean
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we get to take advantage of their need
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to exploit it in maximize production and
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efficiency over the years the heat has
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been on these companies from activists
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and organizations so things have
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certainly been changing for the better
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that being said it's fascinating to see
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corporations devise new techniques to
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avoid blame in regards to sweatshops
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this is a common method utilized by
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brands to avoid blame brands would
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outsource their production to
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manufacturing companies in other
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countries with lower wages and maximize
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production in many cases all well
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knowing that these conditions might not
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be too standard but yet turning a blind
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eye due to scrutiny from inspection
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organizations and activists conditions
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have been raised but firstly it
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shouldn't take protests and large
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amounts of scrutiny to be a human being
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human meaning not exploiting workers to
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the point of fainting or in some cases
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death just to fill your pockets secondly
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outsourcing manufacturing and claiming
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to be blame free is just nothing but
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intentionally turning a blind eye to
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Inconvenient Truth
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there has been another horrific incident
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at a garment factory in Bangladesh an
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eight story building collapsed today
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killing at least 145 people and injuring
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hundreds of others this just months
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after a fire killed more than a hundred
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people and put the unsafe working
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conditions at many factories in the
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global spotlight now there are brands
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working to improve these conditions but
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it's just sad to see how slow movement
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for change is when there are people
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suffering and dying
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so we can wear a new pair of pants the
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time says investigations by the US
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Department of Labor from 2016 to 2019
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found factories in Los Angeles
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contracted by fashion OVA workers were
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being paid as little as two dollars and
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seventy seven cents an hour that is
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absolutely ridiculous the State of
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California's minimum wage is $12 an hour
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now you're probably wondering how on
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earth are brands getting away with these
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crimes it's simple
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the outsource their production and
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manufacturing and are labeled as a
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retailers and not manufacturers this
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simple change in their label as a brand
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exploits a loophole in the law the state
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of California passed a law in 1999 the
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landmark anti-sweatshop legislation
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persons damaged by failure of a garment
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manufacturer job or contractor or
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subcontractor to pay wages or benefits
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of course the one entity that is exempt
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from paying this is the retailer so as
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long as you are the retailer you
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outsource all your manufacturing whether
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that be in Cambodia Bangladesh or the
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United States it doesn't matter the
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retailer holds no liability and doesn't
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have to pay the charges what David well
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told the LA Times sums up the situation
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pretty well they forced the production
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costs to as low as they want because of
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their power in the supply chain with the
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result of ultimately the workers bearing
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the whole cost and risk of the system
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this whole problem devolves from the
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retail the common feeling among people
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after finding out about sweatshops and
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other cruel performs of production is
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one of two reactions either feel bad and
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then try to escape the feeling by
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distracting themselves with Netflix
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YouTube or something else this happens
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due to the feeling of helplessness and
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not knowing what to do so I won't end
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this video that way but a rather will
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give you ways in which you can help and
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avoid being part of this vicious cycle
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of fast fashion and sweatshops I leave
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in the description a link to brands that
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are against sweatshops and are focused
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on the safety and treatment of garment
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workers so I save you the time of having
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to do the research yourself and thanks
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for watching
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[Music]
