Sweatshop labor analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sweatshop labor analysis - Research Paper Example Existence of Sweatshops Talking of sweatshops all that comes to mind is extreme exploitation which may include absence of a living wage, health and safety hazards, arbitrary discipline mostly verbal or physical abuse, and the fear and intimidation the workers will face in any attempt to speak out or try to form a union to fight for their rights (Montero 3-6). In the film Mardi Gas Made in China, David places his focus on the everyday life of factory workers and their life within the factory environment. He also tries to focus on the special economics of china and its growth. The character Rogers is used to bring out the picture of the workers as he appears on every scene with a white shirt time and again. He does not want to be seen as wealthy and this is exactly the situation of the workers in the factory. The have very poor living standards. The audiences of this film think that David should rather speak about the other aspects of the lives of workers but rather he only reflects th e situation as it exists and overlooks the general fear by the workers and everyone else to speak out about what goes on. The film clearly depicts the existing connection between workers and consumers and thus the question of morality comes up. If at all any consumer sees these acts as not right then they have a right to hold the company accountable for its actions. The consumer has a degree of power and this is better explained in the film. If a customer feels compelled then a slight window opens up for them to understand the organizations functions to know what is right and what is necessary. Whenever there is a slight opportunity to exploit workers then that is where the labor gets its roots since the workers usually lack the knowledge and the resources to enable them stand up for themselves. Most of them are uneducated and some are immigrants who are naive and most at times lack the knowledge concerning their legal rights. The subcontracting system under which the garment indust ry operates places the garment workers at the bottom of the chain and leaves them with no option. Sustaining Sweatshops Sweatshops can be traced back to the 9th century when the sweating system was a word that described the process of big garment manufacturers contracted work out to the smaller firms who in turn would pay low wage to the immigrant workers. The workers would sweat as much labor as possible. However the existence of these shops today cannot clearly be justified but can just be supported by a number of myths that try to justify their existence. The workers of sweat shops survive on the life and debt aspect. These people live almost all their lives without any savings to count on since what they receive is too small to have percentages for saving. These people are therefore in no way linked to the money market. They lack the idea of managing finances and therefore no access to credit cards and no emergency funds set up. To justify the use of funds and the accountability , Rivoli sets out to find out the origin of her t-shirt (Pietra). The writer Rivoli tries to explain the cotton industry in America and its travel all through to China to the Garment Industries. They have a common theme with David since through their work they both give a reflection production, consumption and disposal of