Supportive Blogs on Sweatshops

The blog that I followed had an interesting title. It was “When you think of the face of fashion, is this what comes to mind?” At the bottom of that title was a picture of a young boy making soccer balls in Indonesia. The write wrote about her enlightening of manufacturing slave labor of the company NIKE. She listened to a presentation about sweatshop labor, a man who stayed with educatingforjustice.org co-founder Leslie Kretz in Indonesia on the wages of sweatshop workers. She went on to talk about how she didn’t realize that she was a contributor to the success of companies like Nike, Adidas, Target etc. She found that much of what she owned came from companies that took part in poor treatment of sweatshop workers. Since consumers do not know how products are produced we will keep buying from companies that practice illegal and inhumane labor. She explains that we can-not just stop buying from these companies because the treatment of laborers could worsen but instead we can take do the alternative. She goes on to explain other ways in which we as consumers can stop the success of criminal companies.

· Buy from companies that manufacture in the US

· Fair trade companies she found are nosweatapparel.com and americanapparel.com

o The biggest problem with sweatshops is in sneakers and athletic shoes

o Child labor is very common in the shoe industry, New Balance is a good shoe company because they produce ¼ of its footwear products in the US.

o Starbucks does not practice fair trade. Coffee is the second largest import and many farm workers are forced to live in poverty and debt.

· Write to the companies that do practice abuse of sweatshop workers. Let them hear you and feel bad about what they’re doing to their employees.

Here is the link of the blog that I wrote this commentary on:
http://choubelle.wordpress.com/2008/10/18/when-you-think-of-the-face-of-fashion-is-this-what-comes-to-mind/

"Legalize LA: Deport Illegals!"

Even though American Apparel is changing the industry with fair employee rights and treatment they still face protest against the company. In these video clips below protestors stand outside a downtown LA American Apparel store with signs that say “Legalize LA: Deport Illegals!” American Apparel advertises t-shirts that say Legalize LA. These protestors believe that we should stop letting in illegal immigrants to protect America. The guy holding the camera says we need to stop letting in illegal immigrants and they need to fix their own government. What does this have to do with sweatshops? EVERYTHING! Most of the workers in clothing factories are not US citizens. America just wants to reap the benefits from illegal immigrants but exclude them from having equal rights. “Illegals” are the ones doing all the dirty work. They’re the construction workers, sweatshop workers, garden workers, house keepers, maids, etc. Americans don’t want them here but we want to go to their countries and take advantage of their services for our luxuries. I feel that everyone deserves an equal opportunity. Yes, other countries are corrupt and need to be fixed but what about those that already established a life here? What do we do about families that are spit between illegal immigrants and U.S. citizens? America is supposed to be the land of the free and opportunity. If we really want to go into it everyone but Mexicans and Native Indians are illegal. Europeans stole their land and pushed them further south. If anything they have more ownership then anyone whose ancestors didn’t originate here. Yes we will run into some problems with over population and there does need to be some sort of control over the millions of non U.S. citizens but how do we control that? Comment me and tell me what your stance is and how you think we could better control immigration.



Heres are the urls parts 1-6

Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ajS1Yz67Ik

Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8JbpmaLxd8

Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Es-CA0IaS8

Part 4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnZJbYdsQ24

Part 5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHNMEBdKZlA

Part 6 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vad4LPilSZk

Sweatshops with a Conscious

With globalization on the rise sweatshops are almost extinct in the US. When we see tags that say “Made in the US” that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s made in the US. Like when reading the book Selling Women Short, we find out that “Made in the US” really means mad in US territories. Now a new company has set the trend for other companies to follow. American Apparel has become a multi-million dollar company on selling clothing that does not partake in overseas exploitation. American Apparel is mostly known for their fitted t-shirts and also the fact that the clothing is label free. This company states that it’s committed to being a sweatshop free and labor fair company. American Apparel has been receiving positive media and excellent business because it doesn’t exploit overseas labor. This has attracted many consumers and has made American Apparel an ever so growing company. The creator of American Apparel, Dov Charney, states that his factory workers earn on average $12.50, more than the state of California’s minimum wage. I love the new way that this company thinks. American Apparel also provides its factory workers with benefits such as; subsidized private health care, computer classes, discounted bus passes and lunches, free English classes, as well as free on-site massages. It’s not all about profit, it’s about caring for those that work for you and help make the company a success. This is the way that all companies should be. Instead most companies like Coca-Cola, Nike, and Sean Jean enslave their overseas workers with long hours, low pay, and horrible working conditions. I watched a documentary on American Apparel and Charney is a very interesting character. He is very interactive with his workers and also knows many of them by their first names. He seems to care a lot about his workers and their well being. The workers said that they loved the company because it provides them with opportunities. Many of the workers were Spanish speaking employees and they loved the fact that they were provided with English class. This type of company makes it possible for workers to get out of living in poverty and provides better opportunities. Many companies can learn from American Apparel and see that people are becoming more aware of overseas exploitation. Americans are moving towards a greener prospective.

This the American Apparel Store on Broadway over in Seattle.

http://americanapparel.net/presscenter/articles/20040803montrealgazette.html

Sweatshops affect on Women

When I think about a specific event affective towards my topic of sweatshops are the mass rapes and homicides of women in Ciudad Juarez. I was first introduced to this topic when watching the film Bordertown starring Jennifer Lopez. Bordertown is about women in Ciudad Juarez that were kidnapped, beaten, raped, and murdered by men. One way that made it possible for this to happen was the sweatshops that the women worked in. Women in neighboring towns that were seeking jobs would travel to Ciudad Juarez to work in the sweatshops. The treatments of women in the sweatshops were inhumane. They worked all day with little breaks. They were on their feet the whole time they worked. The companies could not afford many bathroom breaks so the women were held to work even if they had to use the restrooms. The women would also be in pain because of the repetitive tasks that were assigned to them. It was a very saddening film to watch because you seen how hard the women worked and they still lived in poverty. The women were like puppets by the way the men were controlling them. There were only women workers and their bosses were men. They did not have time or could not afford to mess up because they had to get things done fast. The sweatshops were like set ups for the killings. By the time the women were out of work it would be really late at night and the women did not have cars. Tired and restless the women were taken after their long extensive hours working. There is much more to these killings in Ciudad Juarez, I am just stating that the sweatshops provided an easy way for the women to be attacked. I feel that the companies that these women work for should provide ways for women to be protected.

Sweat Shops 1

This topic is vary difficult for me to answer because of my career path. I do not agree with the way that sweat shops have been operating, but I ask myself what other way could they operate. I know that there are sweat shops that do believe in protecting their workers. I know some companies that do believe in providing good quality service to their workers such as housing, lower hours and in somecases medical care. Then again there are still companies out there that still require long extensive hours, low pay, and are inhumane. I also think that globalizing is a hurting not only foreign countries but the US as well. Globalization could be more job opportunity for many Americans. The low pay hurts many foreign countries and leaves many women away from their homes. I feel that companies should not worry about making high profits but worry more about the lives of those who help make their companies a success.