An article entitled "Indian workers' struggle shines light on human trafficking, slave labor," spoke about Indian workers tricked into slave labor. They took jobs for the relief effort in Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. They were promised green cards. So they emptied their pockets as much money as twenty thousand and gave it to their employers. Instead of green cards, they were given temporary visas and out twenty thousand. They fought back but were given sympathy at best, even from the Indian embassy.
The sad truth is this subject is given very little attention and each case is barely different from the next. There are a large number of reports unaccounted for which is bad enough, but if they're ever uncovered they not have a voice to fight back.
In the article it states that slavery exists in plain sight in Florida. People are promised jobs with decent salaries and green cards. Soon they are deceived and in debt.First Kuwaiti General Trading & Contracting workers from India, Pakistan, the Philippines and other Asian countries were routinely beaten, denied medical care and forced to live in horrible conditions. This moved one employee of the company to 'resign in disgust' the article says. His words were, "Every U.S. labor law was broken."
What stood out? The last few sentences. In some places Slaver is in plain sight and nothing is being done about it. For a nation which holds such high standards for law, how can they allow every law they've ever written to be broken in their own country?
http://www.pslweb.org/site/News2?JServSessionIdr009=v29yt8h827.app5b&page=NewsArticle&id=9509&news_iv_ctrl=1261
Monday, January 26, 2009
Human Trafficking
Human Trafficking is very much in relation to sweatshops. Human Trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, harbouring, or receipt of people for the purposes of slavery, forced labor (Sweatshops for example)and servitude which is another word for slavery. I'm sure you've seen movies where the teenager is mad at their parents the run away. They desperately need an escape from their overbearing, 'harsh' parents. At the end of the movie they are reunited with their parents in a swell of music. They met people, learned about life and themselves. The sun shining down on them making them seem angelic. Running away seems like the perfect idea. They still have their cellphone and know where there homes are.
Here's the reality: Some of those teens never return home. Running away almost seems like a luxury for some. To be able to come back when they want. Some warmly welcomed back into the arms of their parents. For others in more precarious situations it is an escape from a nightmare. Human trafficking is a horror most do not understand nor could even fathom what some go through. People both young and old are trafficked. Some are sold into slavery by their own families, most of the time for money or to pay back a debt. Others are taken from their home. Extreme violence can be involved as well.
According to the 2004 U.S. Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report 600,000 to 800,000 men, women, and children are trafficked across international borders. 70 percent of those people are female. 50 percent are children. This isn't just an international epidemic, it happens in the United States as well. According to the U.S. Government Efforts to Combat Trafficking in Persons in Fiscal Year 2003, an estimated 14,500 to 17,500 foreign nationals are trafficked into the United States.
People are trafficked for money, sex, slavery and labor. These are just reports the government has discovered. Who knows how many people are still being trafficked as I type. The number is no doubt much larger. A thought that makes me shiver.
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/ncvrw/2005/pg5l.html
Here's the reality: Some of those teens never return home. Running away almost seems like a luxury for some. To be able to come back when they want. Some warmly welcomed back into the arms of their parents. For others in more precarious situations it is an escape from a nightmare. Human trafficking is a horror most do not understand nor could even fathom what some go through. People both young and old are trafficked. Some are sold into slavery by their own families, most of the time for money or to pay back a debt. Others are taken from their home. Extreme violence can be involved as well.
According to the 2004 U.S. Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report 600,000 to 800,000 men, women, and children are trafficked across international borders. 70 percent of those people are female. 50 percent are children. This isn't just an international epidemic, it happens in the United States as well. According to the U.S. Government Efforts to Combat Trafficking in Persons in Fiscal Year 2003, an estimated 14,500 to 17,500 foreign nationals are trafficked into the United States.
People are trafficked for money, sex, slavery and labor. These are just reports the government has discovered. Who knows how many people are still being trafficked as I type. The number is no doubt much larger. A thought that makes me shiver.
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/ncvrw/2005/pg5l.html
A Better Alternative?
In the article "Nike to the Rescue?" author John Miller speaks of famed reporter Nicholas Kristof and his stance on Pro-Sweatshop, explains why more needs to be set up in Africa and the problem with Anti-Sweatshop campaigns. Surprisingly, most men in Namibia's capital would rather work in Sweatshops than as Construction workers and laborers. The danger and risks in factory jobs are far less risky than that of construction. Workers earn more in factories than working on farm. It seems when Sweatshops aren't set up unemployment, death, and starvation rises. Once again most would prefer to work in Sweatshops.
Kristof believe activism hurts more than it helps. Although there is no excuse for worker abuse, then don't seem to mind as much. A reporter by economists Ann Harrison and Jason Scorse shows there is no negative when it comes to employment. Campaigns for higher wages seem to destroy jobs rather than help them. The argument? Wages only make up part of factories' costs.
The most telling, persuasive side of Pro- Sweatshop seems to be above all else the people don't want us to interfere. They like their jobs. They want to keep their jobs. There is no drop in employment and it helps these countries and Island's economy. Is that enough?
http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2006/0906miller.html
Kristof believe activism hurts more than it helps. Although there is no excuse for worker abuse, then don't seem to mind as much. A reporter by economists Ann Harrison and Jason Scorse shows there is no negative when it comes to employment. Campaigns for higher wages seem to destroy jobs rather than help them. The argument? Wages only make up part of factories' costs.
The most telling, persuasive side of Pro- Sweatshop seems to be above all else the people don't want us to interfere. They like their jobs. They want to keep their jobs. There is no drop in employment and it helps these countries and Island's economy. Is that enough?
http://www.dollarsandsense.org/archives/2006/0906miller.html
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Two Cheers for Sweatshops
They're dirty. They're dangerous. Yup you guessed it. Sweatshops and according to this article, they're not all that bad. "Two Cheers for Sweatshops" by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn follows the two in their travels in Asia. There they meet a man named Mongkol Latlakorn. His 15 year old daughter works in a sweatshop. Like any father, he's concerned about her health, (the needles she uses to make clothes went through her hand twice) but even more concerned with whether the sweatshop closes or not. In Cambodia they also met a grandmother named Nhem Yen. She moved to an area polluted with malaria. As a result her daughter and son-in-law died leaving her with two grandchildren and three kids of her own. When I read this I thought: Why in the world did she move there in the first place?
Her answer: Food. Protection is also factored into the equation Her and her family needed wood. She hoped she could cut wood and sell it. A large mosquito net costs $5. She wanted to be able to buy a net large enough to cover all of the children instead of having to decide who would sleep protected, while the other lay exposed.
Sweatshops are responsible for substantial economic grow in Asia. It is estimated that their economic will match ours of half a century ago if they continue. All that these two Pulitzer Prize winner reporters talked to didn't mind the long hours. They didn't mind the one or two week vacation once a year. They didn't mind their young children working in dangerous factories as much. In this case for the sake of their families. To have some kind of income is held at the highest point, above all else. To have some kind of income for food and shelter from various diseases.
If put in this situation, would I feel the same way that most people do about sweatshops. Would I risk starvation, death and disease for my family as well as myself? Would you? It seems there is more than meets the eye when it comes to Sweatshops. What would you do?
http://www.nytimes.com/library/magazine/home/20000924mag-sweatshops.html
Pro Sweatshop
Most people would think the past and current working conditions and wages of sweatshops in economically starving countries as horrible. However, some beg to differ. They argue these conditions are better than they were in the past. If the working were considered horrible in the past and present, what are they like now?
To add to their defense, they reason that if wages for living were bad, they wouldn't have taken the jobs. I wonder if they had a choice. Also, they say these jobs are better than working on a hot farm for 10-14 hours. The absence of the work provided by sweatshops leads to prostitution, starvation, and malnourishment.
According to UNICEF'S 1997 State of the World's Children study found these jobs to be more hazardous and dangerous. While critics point out that workers don't have enough money to buy shirts and shoes, the other party is quick to say the standard of living is different from others place, so what we consider barely enough money for a day in say America is enough for people in Honduras.
The cons seem to far outweigh the pros. Does this side have a point. I don't know. What do you think? Would you rather work in a factory or on a farm?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweatshop#Current_status_of_sweatshops
To add to their defense, they reason that if wages for living were bad, they wouldn't have taken the jobs. I wonder if they had a choice. Also, they say these jobs are better than working on a hot farm for 10-14 hours. The absence of the work provided by sweatshops leads to prostitution, starvation, and malnourishment.
According to UNICEF'S 1997 State of the World's Children study found these jobs to be more hazardous and dangerous. While critics point out that workers don't have enough money to buy shirts and shoes, the other party is quick to say the standard of living is different from others place, so what we consider barely enough money for a day in say America is enough for people in Honduras.
The cons seem to far outweigh the pros. Does this side have a point. I don't know. What do you think? Would you rather work in a factory or on a farm?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweatshop#Current_status_of_sweatshops
Taiwan
Taiwan seems to be having labor issues, according to an article entitled Critics Accuse Taiwan of Operating Sweatshops by Andrew Perrin, Taiwanese garment conditions are described as being 'Straight out of a Charles Dickens novels' activists say. Taiwan garment factories set up in Central America to produce goods for the U.S. market. According to Charles Kernaghan, executive director of the National Labor Committee, Taiwan has the worst reputation in terms of their treatment of workers. Examples of this include obligatory overtime, physical violence, union busting and pregnancy tests as a condition for employment.
A decision to fire and sue union leaders at its Chentex plant in Managua caught the attention of the National Labor Committee . The workers were 8 cents per hour and complained about poor ventilation, limited bathroom breaks and physical abuse when they didn't comply with their rules. They were paid 20 cents for every $30 pair of jeans delivered to such major retailers as J.C. Penney, Target, Sears, Kmart and Wal- Mart and the military. Colleges demanded action from congress. As a result, the plant lost orders from its U.S. buyers and were demanded to re-hire the people that were fired.
Nien Hsing vice chairman John Chen of the plant in Managua says his company employs more than 13,000 people in Nicaragua alone and ignored U.S. labor activists who criticize Taiwan as people who want to protect U.S. business interests.
It's nice to see the U.S. took action, hopefully something they are still doing. This article stood out to me when i read the $60 a month salary the workers get while being subjected to physical and verbal abuse. The response of the vice chairman makes me wonder what is going on to though.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/0815-02.htm
A decision to fire and sue union leaders at its Chentex plant in Managua caught the attention of the National Labor Committee . The workers were 8 cents per hour and complained about poor ventilation, limited bathroom breaks and physical abuse when they didn't comply with their rules. They were paid 20 cents for every $30 pair of jeans delivered to such major retailers as J.C. Penney, Target, Sears, Kmart and Wal- Mart and the military. Colleges demanded action from congress. As a result, the plant lost orders from its U.S. buyers and were demanded to re-hire the people that were fired.
Nien Hsing vice chairman John Chen of the plant in Managua says his company employs more than 13,000 people in Nicaragua alone and ignored U.S. labor activists who criticize Taiwan as people who want to protect U.S. business interests.
It's nice to see the U.S. took action, hopefully something they are still doing. This article stood out to me when i read the $60 a month salary the workers get while being subjected to physical and verbal abuse. The response of the vice chairman makes me wonder what is going on to though.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/0815-02.htm
Worker's Rights Consortium
The WRC is encouraging Universities to consider selling “living wage” clothing through their bookstores. This would progress toward higher standards in companies' production of university logo apparel. The idea is that Universities would buy apparel with companies willing to meet higher standard in terms of full respect for worker's rights, and a long-term commitment to supplier factories.
The WRC's memo brought out ideas that are worthy of thought:
Bookstores may consider working with licensee(s)that would consider higher labor standards voluntarily because if see a substantial interest among enough bookstores in buying such products, licensees may be interested in making and selling them. This would offer a profit-making opportunity for any licensee that is willing to voluntarily adopt and enforce higher labor standards, including payment of a living or non-poverty wage. It would allow the WRC to see whether higher labor standards, can be effectively carried out at the factory level.
We all know how expensive college books are, but the next time you walk into a bookstore (assuming they're associated with WRC,) think of what good it will do.
http://www.workersrights.org/LivingWageApparel.asp
MEMO:
http://www.workersrights.org/university/memo/012208_DSP_update.html
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