Globalisation: Boon or Bane?

By Radley Balko

"In a village in the Mekong delta in Vietnam a woman and her twelve-year old daughter sit all day in the shade from five in the morning until five in the evening making straw beach mats. For their labour they receive $1 a day."

"In China, workers at Wellco Factory making shoes for Nike are paid 16 cents/hour (living wage for a small family is about 87 cents), 11-12 hour shifts, 7 days a week, 77-84 hours per week; workers are fined if they refuse overtime, and they’re not paid an extra rate for overtime hours."

Stories like these are common when we hear talk about "sweatshop" plants in the developing world. We hear worse, too -- terrible stories about women and children tricked into bondage, of union organizers getting beaten or killed, of terrible working conditions, long hours, and no bathroom breaks.

And yet American companies still operate low-wage factories - "sweatshops" - in developing countries. And there’s still a copious source of labor in those countries eager to take the low-paying jobs western factories offer them.

So what’s the story on sweatshops? Are they as bad as globalization critics claim they are? Should we boycott companies that operate them? Can they be stopped? Should they be stopped?

Let us take a look at Jesandry's (Sec 3D) PowerPoint Slides on WHAT exactly are sweatshops ... ...

Regards,
Miss Wong


Jesandry 3D Sweatshop)