The truth about SweatShops

How do Sweatshops tie into our Nation’s Products? Many companies in the United Kingdom buy their products from factories that have their workers working in horrible conditions . That is employing over 50,000 workers to work in these conditions. They have the workers work from 5 A.M. until night time inhaling dangerous chemicals and working in temperatures that get as high as 130 degrees. These high temperatures cause heat stress, burns, and injuries to workers. Many of the factories that the United Kingdom buys from are in another countries. In these countries they have horrible working conditions. Working in these places called sweatshops should be banned. Sweatshops are “a shop or factory in which employees work long hours at low wages under poor conditions.”These factories cause problems for their workers later in the worker's life. Occasionally these problems lead to death. Many workers do not get to see a doctor when they are ill. Workers choose to go work to make money rather than see a doctor. Most do not receive regular vaccinations that help their body fight against "smallpox, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, and diphtheria". A sweatshop factory brings visions of dangerous, filthy, and cramped conditions. Omar is just 14 and he’s been stitching footballs since he was 8 his mum used to make them but her eyesight is getting worse by the day. Today, there are many different companies which specialize in a certain product and competition between each company is fierce. Companies must make their products cheaper and of better quality in order to compete which is why there are Sweat shops.
Sweat shops are shops or factories where employees must work for long hours with low wages in unhealthy conditions. When people think of sweat shops, the places that come into mind are usually third world countries like China, India, Thailand and the Philippines. Surprisingly, there are also sweat shops existing in the United States and even here in U.K Because of the minimum wage law, we Brits find it hard to believe some people are willing to work in sweat shops. It would make no sense to work for them, but many of the people working in those places are often illegal immigrants who want to stay in this country. It is very sad to believe that the workers are so desperate to tolerate such working conditions just so they can stay in our country where they believe they have more opportunity to make a decent living. This is why some people are willing to work at places with conditions like these. I think most of the time we take for granted all the things that we have and enjoy here in U.K.  With sweat shops, our first reaction is to question the fairness of such employment. We hear protestors in the news very often against big corporations  who have contracts with sweat shops in third world countries. Take the "football” for example. I was taught about  a boy in Sialkot Pakistan who works in a so called "sweat shop". This boy works for a company that produces "football" for people with big companies. His wage is 50 pence a day which by the Pakistan standard taking into consideration his age of 14 , is considered a very good pay. Meanwhile the football he makes makes is being sold by the company at least £10  each.. So when this boy  was asked whether he could afford a football which he makes, he said no, not even with his pay. Now let us analyze this: first, he shouldn't be working at the age of 14, he should be in school like we are now; second 50 pence a day can't even buy anyone a can of pop, a bus fare, let alone a single meal; third, if he were working here in U.K, and his company produces the same football, sells the same ball to the companies, wouldn't you think that he would be paid at least a minimum wage so that he could afford the ball that he makes" not a chance it’s all about the profit. Another consideration on sweat shops is the living conditions. In India, a sweat shop that produces clothing materials, houses at least a hundred workers in the factory and the factory is in operation twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week so these workers work in shifts of 12 hours. While the one half of the workers are sleeping, the other half are working. Their sleeping quarters are usually only as big as a classroom and yet half of the workers that are supposed to sleep in these quarters are all crammed in this area. The best condition in a small sleeping area could be one where the workers are sleeping in bunk beds. However in India bunk beds are luxuries especially ones with mattresses. The best that is provided to them are straw mats laid on the floor so they are not sleeping on the bare ground.
Along with the poor sleeping condition, the workers must work a straight 12 hours with little rest within the working hours without days off. Here in the U.K, a 40 hour week is considered taxing and the maximum hours one could work. The average working hours is 35 hours per week. So these are the downsides to sweat shops.
However for every con, there always is a pro. You could be wondering what good is there in sweat shops, if they are meant to have workers work long hours at low pay. Let me talk about  the thirteen year-old girl in Thailand. Although she’s thirteen and already working, she is not forced to work; she is working there out her own free will because of her circumstance. It is impossible for her not to have a reason to work there so you could imagine that maybe a family member of hers is ill, is passed away or she is even without a family. Even though the living quarters are horrible, and the food that they give her is minimal, she still thinks of her self as lucky. Most sweat shop owners do not like hiring kids because they can't work as much as adults so she is lucky even to be hired and her pay of 50 pence a day is more than sweat shops elsewhere that pay 20 pence a day. Without this job, which most likely makes her the bread winner of the family, she could be thrown out of her own home and be begging on the streets. While the job that she has to do is harsh, life without this job is most likely to even be harsher.
  BLOGGER LAURA QUANTRILL