Primitive sweat shops, dangerous working conditions, 100+ hour work weeks, pennies earned a day, why?

Question

This describes the worker in tens of thousands of "sweat shops" in China today, right now. Multi-national companies, american companies, participate, in the sense of marketing or even manufacturing these goods. Has the American government bowed down before the corporation?

The U.N. estimates that 40,000 fingers are lost in a leading manufacturing provence, above Hong Kong, in China annually.

Answer 1

It's not the government,it's the consumers.I own a manufacturing company in Texas.Daily i am fighting a battle to convince our customers that there is a difference between the product we build and cheap imported junk.The current mindset in America is how much does it cost,not how long will it last.God help us all when our economy goes from a manufacturing based economy that converts raw materials to a finished product and thus creates wealth to a service based economy that only swaps dollars.
Added:
We as Americans are all to blame.Corp America responds to our spending habits;when we purchase a cheap imported product instead of a higher priced domestic product,we force Corp America to:
Lower production costs
out-source components and raw materials to cheaper off-shore suppliers
re-locate entire production facilities to countries with "cheap" labor and infrastructure costs
Cash out and move on.
Looking to blame someone?Next time you are in Wally World,go to the housewares section and look into the Chinese mirror.
Added more for Peanuthead,
You make an excellent point and I do agree with you.Corp America has had a part in the profits versus quality problem.This did not occur overnight.a 2x4 stud is a good example:
Started out being 2" x 4".
then went to 1.75" x 3.75" for the same price,"just as good but uses less wood " was the arguement.
Then went to 1.5" x 3.5" but cost more.Production costs are way up,and you will need more to support the load.When citing examples of those good old products of the 40's and 50's,you should remember that we were the ONLY industrialized nation whose infrastructure was not directly impacted by the ravages of WWII.We as nation emerged pretty much unscathed.
As other nations began re-building thier manufacturing plants with the latest machines and technologies we were soon being out produced and importing what began as cheap imported junk and which soon became a "servicable" product.Not as good as American built but it did the job and dang! you wouldn't beleive how little it cost compared to the American version.

Answer 2

I'm glad you bring this up. Several months ago, I saw a documentary about this on PBS. It featured a young girl from a rural part of China who went to work in a jeans factory in, if I remember correctly, Shanghai. The workers lived in quarters on the site of the factory. They were overworked and often weren't paid when they were supposed to be. Not only that, but there was actually footage of some American businesspeople visiting the site. Of course, the owner of the factory had to make everything look good to the Americans, and I recall seeing an American woman there talking as though everything was just great and hunkydory. I was so irritated by this, because I thought that surely this woman knew better about what was going on, yet she chose to believe that it was all peachy, because it was more convenient for her. I also remember that after I saw the documentary, I didn't look at my pants the same way again afterwards, because I just imagined some poor person like the girl in the documentary making my pants in some sweatshop for crap wages and long hours.

Answer 3

Well when they talked about the wonders of Globalization this was one of the things they were supposed to stop. We can see how well that worked. Corporate greed could care less about how many fingers were lost, as long as they keep all theirs to grab every last penny.

Yes......the American government has bent over for the corporate elite. Right now they're selling our souls and every other workers soul across the world, thinking they will be saving theirs.....for cheap labor.


Amos......for awhile I thought the same as you. When you're working for nothing how much it costs does matter. But right now you can spend decent money and still get junk. There's a difference between inexpensive and cheap. Bargain hunter and savy shopper vs price tag only. I know quality and unless you have major disposable income, even moderate stuff is junk anymore. More money doesn't mean better quality. I mean spend 125.00 for a pair of jeans....you expect them to last longer than the 2nd wearing before they fall apart. 200.00 for a pair of shoes should last longer than 6 mos. A refridgerator should have a life span longer than 5 years before it bites the dust. I shouldn't have to replace my entire home every 10 years......15 if I'm lucky. My grandma had an electrolux vacume. She died decades ago. That canister, moved on things that looked like the blades for a sled instead of wheels. That is working to this day yet I have gone through atleast a dozen other vacumes in my adult life. She used it, my mom used it, I used it and now my daughter uses it. Nothing lasts like that anymore. It didn't have carpet attachments for thicker carpets and that's the only reason it wasn't still used by me. They weren't invented yet for canister cleaners. But point is.....it's still running perfectly. You shouldn't have to be a billionaire to still have quality products. My dad was dirt poor but he had leather shoes. Now days you're spending 100x's more for cheap plastic that falls apart. I shouldn't be paying 200 bucks for something that cost a buck to make, off the labor of some fingerless person in China with cheap supplies, just so the corporate elite can pocket a few billion more.

Answer 4

Absolutely.
Our Government now represents special interest,
not it's citizens.
Corporations want cheap throw away labor.
Thus you have Nafta type exploitation of cheap thrid world labor at our expense.
Same with illegals here. Why pay a living wage when you can screw an illegal?
We the people? yea right.
More like we the corporate elite.

Answer 5

Go watch some Fox News, bigot. Cuba and China are very poor countries. The fact they are both socialist has nothing to do with it. The US would be wealthy no matter what political ideology it held whether that be fascist, communist or liberal. Fortunately Obama is a liberal, NOT a Marxist.

Answer 6

I think the AFL-CIO should send organizers to help unionize China.

Maybe they could hold a rally in Tienamen Square

Answer 7

The Chinese need INDEPENDENT unions, supported by European and American resources.

Answer 8

"Why?" you ask? Why?

So that American CEOs can have salaries that are so insanely inflated, so preposterously outrageously insultingly bigger and fatter than 99% of the entire American population.

THAT's why.

Answer 9

Blame Wal*mart and big business and most of all greed and stupidity.