Abercrombie and fitch, gymboree, hanes, ikea, kohls, ll bean, pier 1 imports, propper international, and walmart. The phrase sweatshop was coined in 1850, meaning a factory or workshop. Historical and legal definitions have their place, but usually our description of a certain producer as a sweatshop will reflect a moral judgment. The argument in favor of the employment of illegal workers in the united states is that the workers chose their lot by illegally immigrating and often work under better conditions than they would on their home. Antisweatshop definition of antisweatshop by merriam. Other examples of these practices can be found in tables 2 through 9. Sweatshops throughout the years, united states businesses have had to face protests from government officials, labor leaders, and student organizations due to employing sweatshop labor. Sweatshop article about sweatshop by the free dictionary. The choice argument seeks, in other words, to shift the burden of proof onto those who wish to regulate sweatshop labor. Many sweatshops are in poor countries but sweatshops are also found in rich countries, where they often have people who are new to the country working in them, or people who are not legal residents. In england, the word sweater was used as early as 1850 to describe an employer who exacted monotonous work for very low wages. Sweatshops definitions, history, and morality matt.
We defined a sweatshop as a business that regularly violates both wage or child labor and safety or health laws. A sweatshop is defined by the us department of labor as a factory that violates 2 or more labor laws. Nowadays, sweatshops are becoming more and more obvious all around the world, especially in the developing countries. A minimum wage means the lowest hourly, daily or monthly wage which employers pay to employees or workers legally. Scholars have defined the term social justice in a number of ways, ranging from.
A factory or other workplace where persons work for unusually low pay. The word connotes places where labor laws are consistently violated. If you are unaware of what sweatshops are, they are generally characterized as a place of employment that have very low pay, very long hours of work, and terribly poor working conditions. A sweatshop is a place where people work, that is very crowded, where the work is very hard and the place is not safe to work in. Ultimately, then, the precise meaning of the term sweatshop will vary depending on context. The definition of a human sweatshop is mixed all around, but all together have similar connections. The merriamwebster dictionary defines a sweatshop as a shop or factory in which employees work for long hours at low wages and under unhealthy conditions. A sweatshop is usually a small manufacturing establishment employing workers under unfair and unsanitary working conditions. Pdf sweet sweatshops a reflexion about the impact of.
Thus it can improve the fates of the sweatshop workers children, by infusing income into the poorer nation. A sweatshop is a manufacturing facility characterized by poor working conditions, violations of labor law, long hours, and low wages. Sweatshops, choice, and exploitation surplus value. Arifa started working in bangladeshs garment factories when she was 10 years old. This quizworksheet combo will help you test your understanding of them. The term originated in 1892, when concerned individuals began to speak up about the unsafe working conditions for american garment workers. According to websters dictionary, a sweatshop is a usually small manufacturing establishment employing workers under unfair and unsanitary working conditions.
Sweatshop definition of sweatshop by merriamwebster. Sweatshop, workplace in which workers are employed at low wages and under unhealthy or oppressive conditions. Sweatshop, a shop or factory where workers work long hours at low wages under unhealthy conditions. The official inductees of the 2010 sweatshop hall of shame are. Sweatshop simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Sweating became widespread in the 1880s, when immigrants from eastern and southern europe provided an influx of cheap labour in the united states and. In beyond sweatshops, theodore moran examines the impact of fdi foreign direct investment in manufacturing on growth and welfare in developing countries, and explores how host governments can. While antisweatshop activists shed tears over sweatshop wages, one cant help but ask, why has this gone on for so long if there is a truly negative effect. The sweatshop workers often work long hours but just for a little pay, regardless of any laws mandating overtime pay or a minimum wage. After reading articles about working conditions for sweatshop workers, many of them younger than myself, i realized that i needed to check my privilege and consider what it would be like to work in a sweatshop in a third world country. Public disclosure of the sweatshop practices of american. Sweatshop definition and meaning collins english dictionary.
The us general accounting office gao defines a sweatshop as an employer that violates more than one federal or state labor law governing minimum wage and overtime, child labor, industrial homework, occupational safety. Sweatshop outline sweatshops stephanie myler general. The work may be difficult, dangerous, climatically challenging or underpaid. If you describe a small factory as a sweatshop, you mean that many people work there in.
Our data come from popular press articles that document sweatshop. Expanding social justice knowledge with sweatshop history. The worlds sweatshop essay examples 2292 words bartleby. Sweatshop outline sweatshops stephanie myler general purpose to inform specific purpose to inform my communications class about sweatshops in foreign. Many forms of advertising are protected by the first amendment, yet the supreme court for many years took the view that commercial speech speech that proposes an economic transaction was not protected by the first amendment linder 2012. Sweatshop definition of sweatshop by the free dictionary. Collective bargaining, process by which a union representing a group of workers negotiates with management for a contract. For example, labour camps in dubai, uae do not have proper conditions for the. Sweatshops definitions, history, and morality matt zwolinski. Antisweatshop definition is opposing or prohibiting sweatshops. Toward a redefinition of the us sweatshop scholars archive.
Arguing that the sweatshop is as american as apple pie, laura hapke surveys over a century and a half of the language, verbal and pictorial, in which the sweatshop has been imagined and its stories told. Workers in sweatshops may work long hours with low pay, regardless of laws mandating overtime pay or a minimum wage. What is a sweatshop what is a sweatshop the merriam. Some of these proposals would prohibit people in the united states from importing any goods. For example, sweatshops may pay below minimum wage and hire underage persons. In the article two cheers for sweatshops, nicholas d kristof and sheryl wudunn note that sweatshops play an important role not only in peoples daily life but also in the national economy, even though there are some. Sweatshops often have poor working conditions, unfair wages, unreasonable hours, child labor, and a lack of benefits for workers. Working conditions vary widely from the worst kind of sweatshop to factory complexes with clinics, schools and entertainment brand awareness should be a stepping stone to more concrete action, like opposing sweatshop labour, but its not an end in itself for almost four decades, seamstresses in this sprawling sweatshop churned out what was once the height of haut couture.
According to websters dictionary 2012, a sweatshop is a shop or factory in which employees work for long hours at low wages and under unhealthy conditions. York times, narratives in the form of oral history, and trade union notes were. In todays world, sweatshops are prevalent all across the globe. Sweatshop definition, a shop employing workers at low wages, for long hours, and under poor conditions. A shop or factory in which employees work long hours at low wages under poor conditions. Business establishment that makes its employees work under harsh and often hazardous conditions, and pays only minimal or survival wages. First amendment advertising is a critical component of any business. Pdf sweatshops are at least as old as the industrial age. Sweatshop or sweat factory is a term for a workplace with very poor, socially unacceptable or. Sweatshop definition is a shop or factory in which employees work for long hours at low wages and under unhealthy conditions.
The amount of money people are paid in sweatshops is lower than the. Sweatshop definition in the cambridge english dictionary. While sweatshop abuses in the garment industry have been an issue of public concern for decades, few people know about the sweatshops of the booming electronics industry. They define sweatshop operators as employers who violate two or more labor laws, from the. Information and translations of sweatshop in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on the web. Sweatshops and third world living standards independent institute.
It does so by forcing critics of sweatshops to specify the conditions under which it is morally permissible to interfere with sweatshop workers choice. York times, narratives in the form of oral history, and trade union notes were used to add depth to research from. Efforts to address the prevalence and conditions of sweatshops pdf. The us general accounting office defines a sweatshop as a business that regularly violates wage, child labor, health andor safety laws. This document was created by the worker rights consortium to serve as a model for member schools. These groups claim that their proposals would help third world workers. Sweatshop or sweat factory is a term for a workplace with very poor, socially unacceptable or illegal working conditions. A sweatshop is an industrialized provision that is known to have poor working conditions, infringement of labor law, and long hours coupled with low wages. For example, labour camps in dubai, uae do not have proper conditions for the workers and if they protest they can be deported if. The antisweatshop movement consists of unions, student groups, politicians, celebrities, and religious groups. As synonyms we used the terms chronic labor law violator and multiple labor law violator. The garment industry seems to be in the spotlight the most about unfair wages.
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