Underpaid and Exhausted: The Cost of Sweatshops
Despite the many economic revolutions, and societal changes, sweatshops have continued to exist since the inception of the Industrial revolution, continuing to the Information age. Today, in an era of free-market capitalism, despite the detrimental impact, sweatshops are considered to be a lucrative source of capital accumulation and technology advancements. To emphasise more on the economic, social and environmental impact of sweatshops, this article examines the true cost of exploiting exhausted and underpaid workers.
Sweatshops; a term often used in conjunction with exploitation and third world countries, are considered workplaces in which manual workers are employed at unfair wages, with unreasonable working hours, unhealthy and oppressing working conditions and discriminative worker benefits. By definition, these workplaces continue to violate at least two labor laws, such as those pertaining to wages, employee welfare, working hours and child labor.
Sweatshops exist largely in labor-intensive manufacturing industries such as textile and apparel, food and beverages, electrical equipment, appliances and components. A large percentage of workers employed at these factories are women, children and immigrants. With much of the factories positioned in third world developing nations, these understated workers are exposed to dire working conditions that are unsympathetic and have harsh consequences on the people.
The True Cost of Sweatshops
A factory fire on the 25thof March 1991 in New York changed the course of labor history. This tragic fire, also known as the ‘Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire’ ushered the beginning of the Industrial Age where trade unions in America fought for better working conditions for all Americans. 123 young women and 23 men died from the tragic fire[i]. One of the most devastating sweatshop tragedies was the ‘Rana Plaza collapse’ in 2013, which took 1,134 lives in Bangladesh. Prior to this, disasters such as the 2012 Dhaka Fire and 2010 Dhaka Fire took place, collectively killing up to 250 workers. Other similar industrial misfortunes include the ‘2014 Kunshan explosion’ in China and the 2012 factory fire in Pakistan. Not all destructive practices of large corporates and medium-sized companies capture the nation’s attention. The flood of foreign businesses establishing in developing countries to take advantage of a country’s dismally low minimum wages or other irregularities take a toll on the host country; often due to the lack of necessary hard and soft infrastructure to meet the increasing demand. Tragic occurrences at these factories that take the lives of many stem from appalling working conditions that are often ignored despite the warning signs of looming danger.
Today, unfavorable working conditions are not only present in the manufacturing industries, but it is observed in the agriculture sector too. Although it has not gained as much media attention, with the rapid advancements in science and technology, industrialization of agriculture has encouraged a workplace that has harmful, unsafe and socially unaccepted working conditions. There is a direct risk to communities that thrive on agriculture, continuing to damage soil, water and consequently the climate on an unprecedented scale. Industrialized farming[ii]affects workers, consumers and downstream neighbors. Today, industrialized farming has spread from the West to countries such as India, China, Brazil, Thailand, Pakistan, Mexico, Taiwan and the Philippines.
Although perceived to be efficient and profitable, factory farming inflicts a cost on the environment too. There is water pollution due to the fertilizer runoff that contaminates downstream water supplies. Industrial agriculture causes depletion of soil fertility and promotes erosion. The ecosystem from industrial agriculture suffers a shortage of pollination and a more diverse landscape. Industrialized agriculture that thrive on chemical fertilizers, pesticides, genetically modified crops and meat production in CAFOs (Confided Animal Feeding Operations) create pollution problems that reduce livability and depress property values in surrounding communities. Such grim practices aggravate climate change and damage the only planet that provides enough to satisfy every man’s need.
The Problem: Consumerism
The original purpose of consumerism may have been to drive economic growth, manipulating consumers to spend more and reduce inefficiencies in the markets. However, it quickly evolved in to a tool for social control.
Fast Fashion; the cheap, trendy clothing produced rapidly by mass-market retailers in response to the latest trends is a product of consumerism (i.e; H&M, Zara, Cotton On, Bershka etc). People have defied mere functionality of clothing and instead they purchase more and more clothes to keep in par with trends. Fast fashion is incited by large corporates in the fashion industry, by celebrities and the need for people to appear trendy on social media.
To mitigate the detrimental impact of sweatshops and fast fashion, more importance should be given towards sustainability in the fashion and manufacturing industries. Consumers ought to have more awareness on the economic, social and environmental impact. Business models should be based on longevity instead of promoting rapid and irresponsible consumption. In order to avoid subjecting workers to damaging working conditions, companies ought to address the elephant in the boardroom by decoupling their business growth from resource use.
The process of improving workplace health and safety has been meager relative to what is possible. However, regardless of which industry it is, importance should be on sustainability and ethicality. Global retailers should address the complexities involved in being a responsible corporate citizen while remaining accountable to shareholders rather than only focusing on profitability and efficiency. Collaboration between the private sector and the public sector is a crucial step in developing effective industrial policies to facilitate competent industries that pose no harm to people or the environment.
[i]Sweatshop Tragedy Ignites Fight for Workplace Safety. http://www.apwu.org/labor-history-articles/sweatshop-tragedy-ignites-fight-workplace-safety
[ii]Hidden Costs of Industrial Agriculture.
https://www.ucsusa.org/food_and_agriculture/our-failing-food-system/industrial-agriculture/hidden-costs-of-industrial.html
Comments
Post a Comment