be a fan on Facebook
friend us on MySpace
watch us
Ways to be sweatshop free
Something as simple as buying socks or coffee from non-fair trade sources hurts the progression of human rights by supporting a system that disenfranchises workers. The best rule is to stick with fair trade certified items when you buy.
1. Get clothes from thrift stores and donate your used clothes to the Salvation Army
2. Look for sweat-free companies that don’t use cheap labor in under developed countries
3. Buy food and other materials from local farmers producers
4. Check out the fair trade federation http://transfairusa.org/
5. Get your school, sport team, family and friends to also avoid purchasing sweatshop goods. It is one thing to be sweat-free yourself, but it means a lot more to get others to as well.
Sweatshops In Foreign Countries
I would agree that most workers in many of these foreign countries deserve to be better paid. What is so unfortunate is that most people have literally NO idea what working under these conditions are actually like for so many. Many of these companies in other countries, lure poor, unsuspecting individuals to their factories/sweatshops promising them a chance at a better life. Most all of these workers are very poor and this is their only means of survival. All to often they arrive with thoughts of an improved life only to be subjected to absolutely horrible, nearly inhumane conditions. They often actually become stuck in this situation not because they now have a better life but because they are often paid such a minimal amount of money once they arrive. They live away from their families, much of their wages go to pay for the than disgusting, unclean, crowded conditions they are given to live in. To top it all off, in most cases there isn't enough money left allowing them to return to their families. They are literally stuck. Is this a choice you would make if given the true facts? Please do your research, educate yourself, and please don't be fooled into thinking that the conditions given to most of these people are actually offering them a better choice. Don't be fooled by companies that run adds to promote their image only to cover the deplorable conditions set forth by them behind closed doors.
Sweat Shops in Foreign Countries?
It is in my opinion that the cheap labor in foreign countries is -not- the same as a sweat shop. While I do agree that companies should pay the workers more, I do believe that those factories are beneficial to the countries that they are in. They provide jobs that otherwise would never have existed. Although conditions may be bad, if you asked the people who worked there I think that you would find that they are glad to even have a job in the first place.
Fly on,
Startrekern