My clothes came from where!?

Imani Murray

Sweatshops are some worst working environments there are. They violate labor laws and basic human rights.  The workers have to endure unfair pay, long unreasonable hours, and child labor. Despite these problems, Sweatshops are used by many clothing companies that are very popular, including  Forever 21, H&M and Urban Outfitters..Even though these practices are known to the public, these companies continue to be popular among shoppers because of their less expensive prices.

According to an article published in Businessweek “Sweatshops are work environments that possess three major characteristics—long hours, low pay, and unsafe or unhealthy working conditions. Sweatshops may also have policies that severely restrict workers' freedoms, including limiting bathroom breaks and even conversations with fellow workers. At its worst, violence is used”  Sweatshops are mainly located in places like South America, Asia, China, India. These people are desperate to work, due to living conditions and many other specific reasons. In most cases if these workers from other countries, are stripped of their passports. These leaves them trapped in the country and the sweatshops, because if seen they would be sent back from where they came from.Although these people make less than 64 cent an hour, they would much rather endure these hardships than return home  empty handed. The ages of their workers can start as young as five years old. H&M feel comfortable with doing this because no matter what they feel like people are going to buy their clothes.  People can pass out from a lot but the most common things that people in sweatshops pass out from is : prolonged working hours, very hot places, exhaustion, and hunger. According to “The Sun” website “Almost 8,000 Cambodian workers have reportedly collapsed since 2010 while making stock for H&M.” H&M has had problems with the way they have their sweatshops are set up for many years. They have made statements saying that they are going to do better with the working conditions that they have their workers in but still haven’t. They work people until they can’t work anymore. Once before H&M has been exploited for their sweatshops and yet they didn’t lose money or hear about it on the news. Only little websites talked about it. So therefore H&M feels like they are undefeated

Sweatshop workers get paid less than minimum wage. Minimum wage isn’t even enough to pay rent and feed your family if your job is following the labor laws. Coming across an article published by the website “The World Counts” they talked about the pay that sweatshop workers get paid. “Sweatshop workers wages can be as low as 1 US cent per hour, and they work up to 100 hours a week in conditions of poor air quality and extreme heat.” Out of the 168 hours there are in a week, they are working 100 of them. On top of that there are workers that can make only a penny every hour they work.  that is only a dollar a week, that isn’t nearly enough to support a family or even just themselves. Companies like H&M, NIke, and Forever 21 use these sweatshops so that they don’t have to pay that much for people to make their clothes. Not only are they make a huge profit but they are also making money off those workers that work for so little.

Sweatshops are going to continue to be around and stay in the conditions that they are in if people don’t do anything to make them better and stop buying clothes because they are less expensive if they are treating their workers like animals. They will still have underpaid and overworked people making clothes. If people would think while they are shopping where the clothes that they are purchasing came from they could help change the conditions that people are working in.  Companies using these cheap alternatives are an ongoing trend that needs to be stopped.

Works CIted

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1851851/hm-in-factory-horror-as-workers-endure-outrageous-sweatshop-conditions-making-clothes-which-include-beyonces-own-line/

http://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/economics-business-and-labor/labor/sweatshops