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: : I'm suppose to do a project for my OAC(grade 13) class on why
: : sweatshops are a positive thing. I may not agree with them and neither does my teacher but I must present the pro side to them while my partner presents the con side to them so that not only one side is presented. I'm having a great difficulty finding information on the pro side of sweatshops. Can anyone help?
: : Thanks: Have you thought about doing the obvious and looking at the advantages by the profits that they earn, it actually helps developed countries keep there wealth. If it hurts the poor country then thats ok because the people who work in the sweatshops are used to being 27c per hour and if you were to pay them more then the cost of living would go up.
On the contrary; such plants are usually subcontractors of large Western or Japanese firms, which is where the profits go. The countries concerned pretty much have to accept the factories because they are trying to claw their way into a market already dominated by the Western world - and the only way they can do that is by cutting down on staff overheads.
With regard to "sweatshops", the amount the workers are paid isn't a living wage - that's part of the whole abhorrent affair. Our large corporations are turning a blind eye to various "humanitarian" documents like the UN Declaration of Universal Human Rights in the name of maximising their profits. Since it takes place a comfortably long way away from the PR people, it doesn't get broadcast to the world that Happy Meal toys are being made by people who couldn't afford a Happy Meal - because it would cost rather more than a week's wages for them. Similarly, Nike's Vietnamese workers will never own a pair of Nike Airs, as it would require a totally unrealistic saving effort on the worker's part.
Sweatshops are where the West's corporations can treat foreigners like dirt, for no better reason than that they are foreigners living in a Third World country and have to eat somehow. So much for the Brotherhood of Man or the Dignity of Labour.
Gideon.
