The Thing about Sweatshops
Years after activists accused Nike and other Western brands of running Third World sweatshops, the issue has taken a surprising turn.
The path of discovery winds from coastal factory floors far into China's interior, past women knee-deep in streams pounding laundry. It continues down a dusty village lane to a startling sight: arrays of gleaming three-story houses with balconies, balustrades and even Greek columns rising from rice paddies.
It turns out that factory workers -- not the activists labeled "preachy" by one expert, and not the Nike executives so wounded by criticism -- get the last laugh. Villagers who "went out," as Chinese say, for what critics described as dead-end manufacturing jobs are sending money back and returning with savings, building houses and starting businesses.
Check out the whole story here.
So are you denying that sweatsops exist, or are you, like Blackadder, one of those sweatshop defenders?
ReplyDeleteWhy am I necessarily doing either of those things? I thought it was an interesting story.
ReplyDeleteI certainly don't deny they exist, and I think the conditions that some people work in are utterly deplorable.
Good to hear.
ReplyDelete