Are sweatshops still in China?
GUANGZHOU, China — Nearly a decade after some of the most powerful companies in the world — often under considerable criticism and consumer pressure — began an effort to eliminate sweatshop labor conditions in Asia, worker abuse is still commonplace in many of the Chinese factories that supply Western companies, ...
How many sweatshop workers are in China?
Often referred to as the factory of the world, China's industry-oriented economy relies on these migrant workers who make up the majority of the workforce. There are approximately 150 million internal migrant workers in China who, because of their status, do not receive any state benefits or protection.
Why are there so many sweatshops in China?
In China, a developing country that is known to be a hub for sweatshops due to relaxed labor laws, high population and low minimum wage, the minimum wage is set to be raised by approximately 7% in 10 provinces by the end of 2018.
Where are the most sweatshops in the world?
Most of the sweatshops are found in Asia, Central and South America although they are also found in Eastern Europe e.g. Romania. So basically, the citizens of the advanced industrial countries exploit the workers in developing countries in order to get low cost clothing.
Does Nike use Chinese sweatshops?
Nike, Inc. has been accused of using sweatshops and worker abuse to produce footwear and apparel in East Asia. After rising prices and the increasing cost of labor in Korean and Taiwanese factories, Nike began contracting in East Asian countries.
Are Chinese factories ethical?
Noting that the company is committed to nothing less than 100 percent ethical and sustainable manufacturing, Hostetter admitted that Made in China often “evokes the idea that it's made cheaply and it's made with not the most case that workers deserve.”
How much does Nike pay their factory workers in China?
Workers at the plant – owned by the world's largest maker of sneakers, Yue Yuen – earn as little as $1.67 an hour making shoes that can sell for up to 100 times as much in the United States.
Is child labor still used in China?
Chinese law prohibits the use of child of labor under age 16 but stipulates that children may be employed under special circumstances, such as in sports or in the arts, or if their “occupational training” and “educational labor” does not adversely affect their personal health and safety.
Are Chinese workers underpaid?
The ILO found wage earners in China made an average equivalent of just $656 a month, ranking them 57th out of the 72 countries the report covered. The key word is 'world' average. The world average was $1,480 a month. That includes countries from India to rich Luxemburg, where average workers earned $4,089 a month.
Are there sweatshops in USA?
In the United States, sweatshops predominantly exist in major metropolitan areas such as New York and Los Angeles. This is primarily because these major cities have easy access to a large group of undocumented immigrants who may take a chance on any labor in order to make money for their families.
Does China have poor working conditions?
Conditions in Chinese factories continue to be incredibly harsh. Workers are routinely exposed to a variety of dangerous working conditions that threaten their health and their safety. Low wages, long hours and excessive overtime remain the norm.
Does Nike still use child labor?
Nike admits it cannot ensure that none of its contractors will use child labour, and says the issue is the "most vexing" problem it faces. "Our goal... is to continue to do everything we can to eradicate child labour in our contract factories, but we can be certain that cases will occur," the report states.
Why is Labour so cheap in China?
Labour costs. China was initially one of the lowest labour cost countries known. However, due to the rising demands of people and the increase in the cost of goods, China is no longer regarded as the 'cheapest' country to manufacture goods anymore. China is now deemed as less competitive compared to other countries.
What countries have child labor?
A new report by risk analysis firm Maplecroft, which ranks 197 countries, identifies Eritrea, Somalia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, Sudan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Zimbabwe and Yemen as the 10 places where child labor is most prevalent.
What is Chinese child labor?
Employment of children under the age of 16 is referred to as using child labor. Employers who use child labor shall be fined by the labor protection authorities at the rate of 5000 yuan per month for each child laborer used (Regulations Banning Child Labor, Article 6).
Where does child Labour happen?
Most child workers can be found in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and Latin America. But child labour today is not restricted to developing countries. There are working children found in developed industrialised countries like Turkey and the Ukraine.
How many child laborers are there in China?
The problem of child labour is most marked in coastal regions although one study in 1993 gives an estimate of over 10 million children employed in rural enterprise. According to some reports, Zhejiang and Fujian province are the regions with the largest number of child labourers – most of them aged between 13 and 14.
How are people treated in sweatshops?
A "sweatshop" is defined by the US Department of Labor as a factory that violates 2 or more labor laws. Sweatshops often have poor working conditions, unfair wages, unreasonable hours, child labor, and a lack of benefits for workers. Take a stand and protest: Ask your school to make its apparel under fair conditions.
Are there slums in China?
China and India, as the most populous nations, lifted more from slum conditions than any other countries, the report adds. China's urban population living in slums fell from 37.3 percent in 2000 to 28.2 percent today; in India, nearly 60 million were lifted from slum conditions over the same time.
Why are sweatshops so popular in China?
China’s Sweatshop tends to violate human labor’s rights by forcing overtime and going under the mandatory minimum wage and other violations as long hour without pay, sexual, and physical harassment. China's sweatshop factory tends to be quite popular because is cheap labor, free trade zone, or low fee rates in taxes. The reason store as Apple and Walmart has their product to be assembled in China's factory is to avoid high export fees. Since Walmart and Apple factory's locations was identified and it came public in the media it shocked the world of its employee’s cruel working's condition. Factors in China are located in Guangdong Province Songang or in Shenzhen. For example Foxconn is a factory located in Shenzhen where Apple send their electronic to be assembled and made. In China the majority workers in factories is occupy by women and children. The percentage of women in China's Sweatshops is ninety percents. In China, the majority working in sweatshop are women which are young and not educated; in addition, forcing them to be ignorant of their own legal rights. Young women in China are attached to numeral discrimination and unfair pay. China's sweatshop is popular on violating labor rights, especially against women and underage minor women and men. It is unfortunate
What percentage of sweatshop workers are children?
Studies show, “59% of people that work in sweatshops are children.” (DoSomething). A sweatshop is a workplace with two or more labor law violations. Its controversial because children are working in labor jobs. Sweatshops make items and goods such as: clothes, rugs, shoes, toys, electronics, and coffee. The workers making these items get paid very little or sometimes not at all. A work environment that violates two or more labor law constitutes a sweatshop, which mostly employ children, promote unsafe
What are the advantages and disadvantages of sweatshops?
A sweatshop is a factory where employees work for longer hours with minimal wages provided and with a poor working condition. Having sweatshops in a country have advantages and disadvantages. There are few advantages of having sweatshops. First, it gives many people the opportunity to work. Thus it will reduce the unemployment rate in a particular country. Second, sweatshops help people to earn income so that they can support their family
Why do factories use children?
working environment. Some factories use children because they can cut more wages. Manufacturing factories with low wage, long working hours and poor conditions that violate human rights are called sweatshops. Since sweatshops violate human rights, they are unethical. Knowing this fact, should companies stop laboring in developing countries? The answer is no. In short, sweatshops are necessity parts of supply chain that fulfill demands and job supplies. Nonetheless, because sweatshops play vital role on
Is sweatshop a negative thing?
quote, it is easy for most of us to agree that sweatshops are a very negative part of society, when sweatshops are discussed we often think about children, poor working conditions and exploitation, which makes many of us believe that fair trade is the greater option. But what if I were to tell you there is more to the sweatshop industry than what the media has portrayed for us. In today’s society there is a global discussion on fair trade versus sweatshops. There are many opinions on this topic, especially
What companies responded to the sweatshop crisis in the 1990s?
Many multinationals were harshly criticized in the 1990s for using suppliers that maintained sweatshop conditions. Iconic brand names, like Nike, Mattel and Gap, responded by forming corporate social responsibility operations and working with contractors to create a system of factory audits and inspections.
How many fingers do factory workers lose in China?
Here in the Pearl River Delta region near Hong Kong, for example, factory workers lose or break about 40,000 fingers on the job every year, ...
What did Huanya employees suffer from?
A former Huanya employee who was reached by telephone gave a similar account of working conditions, saying many workers suffered from skin rashes after working with gold powders and that others were forced to sign papers “volunteering” to work overtime.
Why are factories raising security?
Concerned about the growing array of threats to profitability, as well as embarrassing exposés, factories are heightening security, harassing labor rights groups and calling the police when journalists show up at their gates.
Where is child labor used at Wal-Mart?
In December, two nongovernmental organizations, or NGOs, documented what they said were abuse and labor violations at 15 factories that produce or supply goods for Wal-Mart including the use of child labor at Huanya Gifts, a factory here in Guangzhou that makes Christmas tree ornaments.
What are the chemicals that Chinese companies use to shortchange their employees?
The groups say some Chinese companies routinely shortchange their employees on wages, withhold health benefits and expose their workers to dangerous machinery and harmful chemicals, like lead, cadmium and mercury.
What are the risks of working in Chinese factories?
In Chinese Factories, Lost Fingers and Low Pay. Chinese workers can face serious work hazards and abuse. In Hebei Province in northern China, a worker dragged a barrel in a chemical factory.
How many skilled workers will China have by 2020?
According to estimates by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, by 2020 the Chinese labour market will need approximately 200,000 skilled workers in the field of robotic operation and maintenance, system installing and debugging, and system integration and application (Zhai 2017).
Where is Hui Xu?
Hui Xu is a PhD Candidate at Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany. He has done extensive fieldwork on migration and labour in China. His research interest includes industrial changes and labour relations, civil society and social movements in China.
How many robots did Foxconn replace?
In order to address the instability deriving from workers’ grievances, in 2011 Foxconn announced a plan to replace workers with one million robots within three years. In many ways, this ambitious scheme epitomises the tendency of industrial upgrading in Chinese manufacturing industries in recent years, as the current model of economic growth, which relies on labour exploitation, shows its limitations.
The Dirty Little Secret behind the flashy, best-selling Bratz dolls
Bratz dolls are all the rage, ranking as the most sought-after toy this holiday season, surpassing even Barbie, which has dropped to third place. Bratz dolls now make up 40 percent of the fashion doll market, and will bring in $3 billion in sales this year.
Forced Overtime
During the busy season, workers are routinely at the factory 94 ½ hours a week, working 13 ½-hour shifts, seven days a week.
Below Subsistence-level Wages
The base wage is 51 ½ cents per hour and $4.13 a day, which is below subsistence level, making the workers dependent upon excessive overtime to survive.
Workers Paid 17 Cents for Each Bratz Doll
At the factory, there are 50 workers on an assembly line, and the current production target is to complete 150 Bratz dolls per hour. In effect this means that each worker must complete three dolls per hour, or one every 20 minutes.
Bratz Dolls Marked Up 428 Percent
Shipping records based on U.S. Customs documents show “Bratz P4F Cloe” doll being shipped from China to Wal-Mart with a landed Customs value of $3.01. This represents the entire cost of production for the Bratz Cloe doll—materials, accessories, direct and indirect labor, shipping costs and profit to the factory in China.
In January 2007, the Workers will Strike
To cut labor costs, Hua Tai management is moving to create a factory workforce made up entirely of temporary workers. All new contracts will be limited to just one month to a maximum of eight months.
Another Farce: Wal-Mart Monitors Pay an Announced Visit. The Workers are instructed to lie
On December 8, 2006, Wal-Mart auditors paid an announced visit to the Hua Tai 4K Toy factory. Management took certain preparatory steps. Workers with more than 10 years employment were given the day off with pay, since they could not be trusted to lie to Wal-Mart’s monitors.
Which fashion brands still use sweatshops?
Here is the list of 13 fashion brands that still use sweatshops. Aeropostale. Aeropostale is one of the largest American retailers of casual apparel and accessories. The company is known to use sweatshops for the fabrication of its clothing items. It has been involved in child labor scandals as well.
Why do clothing companies use inhumane methods?
Clothing brands use these inhumane manufacturing methods to cheaply produce low-quality and disposable clothing for high-street stores. For consumers that are new to ethical fashion, it's difficult to keep track of how and where your clothes are being made.
What is ASOS clothing?
ASOS. ASOS is a British online fashion and cosmetic retailer, selling over 850 brands on its website as well as its clothing range and accessories. ASOS uses child-labor in Turkish factories and implements sweatshop-like production lines in their warehouses.
What are the labor rights of clothing brands?
When it comes to labor rights, many clothing brands are still breaking the law such as sporting goods retailers and high-street chains. Many factory workers are paid below the legal minimum wage, forced to work long hours in unsafe environments, don't have access to healthcare or paid leaves.
Why did Forever 21 boycott?
Many consumers already boycott Forever 21 because of their use of sweatshops. Forever 21 makes a third of its clothing in the United States. But they are currently being accused of using sweatshop-like factories, underpaying their workers, having no compensation for overtime.
Should we ban sweatshops?
It's easy to say that we should ban sweatshops altogether but it's not an easy issue to solve. People are still relying on garment factories to earn enough money for them and their families living in developing countries. The fashion industry has a terrible social and environmental impact.
Is Disney made in sweatshops?
Disney's products available in stores are made in sweatshops using child labor. Disney breaches local labor laws, oppresses Chinese workers, forces staff to do three times the amount of work they should, and drives them to suicide. Forever 21. Forever 21 is a fast-fashion retailer headquartered in Los Angeles.
