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Does anyone know what sweatshops are?
Most clothing and footwear sold in this country are made under highly abusive conditions, in factories in the US and other countries that are described as "sweatshops." Workers in these factories earn poverty wages, they work long hours, are mistreated and often they work in unhealthy or dangerous environments.
- Ask the students to name the countries their clothes were made in.
Halimas’ daughter got a job in a sweatshop in Cambodia in 1998. She sewed clothes for The Gap. She worked from 7 am to 7 pm seven days a week. Halimas’ daughter said the workers protested the work schedule and said they would like to get off work at 4:30 pm so they could spend some time with their families. The management at the company changed the work hours from 7 am to 9 pm.
- Why do you think the management did that? (they don’t want the workers making demands)
- Halimas’ daughter won’t quit her job, even though it is a sweatshop, can you guess why? (she needs the income to help feed her family)
The Gap The Gap is one of the most powerful and successful clothing companies in the world. It owns more than 4,000 stores. Last year, the company made close to $14 billion in sales, making it the largest branded retailer in the country. The Gap sells its products under the Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, GapKids, and babyGap labels. To produce its clothing, the Gap contracts with more than 3,600 factories in over 50 countries.
UNITE, a nonprofit organization working to end sweatshops investigated 41 Gap plants located in six countries, including Cambodia, and talked to hundreds of garment workers. Researchers found evidence of human rights abuses.
Have 5 students read the following quotes from workers:
1. "Our wages are not enough for us to eat well. We eat only enough to sustain us. We cannot afford to buy fruit, milk, eggs or other nutritious things with our basic pay. We cannot save money, and even if you work 30 or 40 years, you cannot buy an house. It is very sad." Mega, Indonesian garment worker employed at a Gap plant
2. "The factory is very dusty. We can’t escape breathing in the fibers and particles from the air. When we cough, if the t-shirt we were working on was made of blue fabric, then our mucous would be full of blue fibers." Tebello, Lesotho garment worker who has watched family members become seriously ill as a result of working in a Gap plant
3. "If we make simple mistakes, they beat us up and they don’t pay us for our work." Nanti, Bangladesh garment worker
4. "We organized a union because conditions were so bad in our factory. But then we lost our jobs when the Gap pulled its orders and our factory was closed down." Deisy, ex-Gap worker in El Salvador
5. In Cambodia workers have been trying to organize unions for better working conditions. In October 2002, Chuon Sophea, the union president at the plant, was beaten outside the plant with an iron pipe, an assault that sent him to the hospital for treatment of wounds to his head.
A look at costs
The cost of a pair of Gap blue jeans at retail: $39
Amount workers are paid for each pair of jeans: $0.27
Added cost to a pair of jeans if workers’ wages are doubled: $0.27
- Would you be willing to pay $0.27 more so the worker who sewed your jeans is paid a fair wage?
- Why do you think corporations buy from sweatshops? (higher profits)
- Are there sweatshops in the US? (yes, especially in US territories like Saipan)
What Can We Do to Stop Sweatshops?
Do you think we should close sweatshops? Why or why not? (Workers, like Halimas’ daughter, need the jobs. It is better to improve the conditions)
Break into small groups and make a list of what we can do. Have the groups share their ideas. Here are some suggestions:
1. Contact US corporations, like the Gap, and tell them you don’t want to buy clothes from companies that contract with factories that don’t treat their workers well.
2. Educate others about sweatshops including retail stores.
3. Buy union made products. Unions are advocates for workers rights.
4. Buy products with a Fair Trade label. These products come from companies that pay livable wages and have a healthy work environment.
5. Ask Congress to pass laws requiring corporations to only buy from factories that treat their workers fairly. (Why could this approach possibly fail? Because corporations do not support laws or politicians that might reduce their profits. Corporations like The Gap influence laws by hiring strong lobbyists and by making donations to Congressional candidates’ political campaign funds.)
Extra Credit – Write a report about Sweatshops and what can be done to stop them.
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