Gina Negrete

AG 1010

Professor Nardo

11/1/20

Reaction Paper #2

The use of sweatshops in the garment industry is extremely controversial. Because of the

demand by consumers, many clothing companies look for ways to produce cheap clothes while

lowering their costs. One way that companies cut costs is by outsourcing labor in the production

stage. There has been an influx in the use of supply chains that employ people in developing

countries. While companies sometimes feign ignorance about the way that their chosen supply

chain cuts costs, sweatshops are often used to produce their clothing. The idea behind

sweatshops is that they not only cut costs for the companies, but help developing countries by

providing them with employment. The reason that they are called sweatshops is very literal. The

nature of the work is known for its repetitive physical labor and long hours. Because of this,

sweatshops have proponents along with an increasing call for reevaluation of this practice in the

clothing industry.

There are benefits, as well as negative aspects to the use of sweatshops. As stated above,

the clothing companies benefit from using sweatshops as a low cost means of production. They

have the ability to mass produce fast fashion items that customers gravitate to due to the low

prices. Another benefit is that sweatshops offer employment in developing countries. The

country of Bangladesh has 5,000 garment factories that employ 4 million people overall. Also,

the clothing industry accounts for 80% of all exports from the country, making it a major
contributor to the economy (Kates, 2019). With that said, there are so many negative aspects to

using sweatshops that there is now an anti-sweatshop movement. The people who work in

sweatshops are severely underpaid, making about 50 cents to $2 a day. While the garment

industry does offer a lot of jobs in these developing nations, the rate of pay is the same as other

jobs in the country. This is so controversial because sweatshops make the employees work very

long hours every day for such a low rate of pay. The working conditions are often times dismal

and unsafe. In Bangladesh, a factory collapsed due to lack of safety measures by the employers.

Furthermore, it is very common to see child labor being used in sweatshops. At times, children

are forced to work 16 hour days for very low wages. For these reasons, I am against the use of

sweatshops as they exist today.

Plenty of academic research has gone into this topic and the consensus seems to be not to

abolish sweatshops completely, but to improve them. If the sweatshop is run by a foreign

investor, it generally has worse working conditions than if it was run by a local firm (Ballinger,

2009). A foreign investor controlling the supply chain is more distant physically from both the

sweatshop and workers. They do not know what happens day to day, and cannot see whether

certain programs are being implemented. A sweatshop being run by a local firm is more likely to

make provisions for the workers, identifying what is necessary for their own region. Raising the

minimum wage is a huge factor that can change the ethicality of sweatshops in general. Workers

deserve to earn a living wage and not be taken advantage of as the lowest rung of the supply

chain. Garment companies warn that paying the sweatshop workers more would cause the supply

chain to shift back to domestic labor due to affordability. However, it has been shown that

increasing the minimum wage causes a surge in workers. An example of this is in Indonesia,

Nike raised the minimum wage from 87 cents to $2.47 daily. This resulted in the number of jobs
jumping from 20,000 people employed to 110,000. In this case, not only are more workers

employed, but at a more livable wage.

The global economy plays a major role in the use of sweatshops in the garment industry.

Clothing companies use these supply chains as a way to keep up with the consumer demands

(Heintz, 2004). We as the consumer have all the power to change that. There are numerous ways

to make more educated decisions about the clothing that we buy. Many of the clothing

companies that employ the use of sweatshops are selling what is known as fast fashion. This

means that the clothing item is cheaply made and sold for cheap prices. The need for sweatshops

in developing countries is apparent in producing fast fashion. Companies need to cut their costs

in order to sell it to the consumer for so cheap. As consumers, we can lower the demand for fast

fashion by buying higher quality, more durable clothing. We also have the ability to do more

research about the clothing brands we buy and see if they are fair trade. This certification

determines that the clothing producers are not being exploited by paying them a living wage and

providing safe working conditions. Our buying habits may seem insignificant, but they control

the global economy and can make a difference in the lives of many of these exploited workers.
 Works Cited

Ballinger, J. (2009). Finding an anti-sweatshop strategy that works. Dissent, 56(3), 5–8.
https://doi.org/10.1353/dss.0.0058

Heintz, J. (2004). Beyond Sweatshops: Employment, Labor Market Security and Global
Inequality. Antipode, 36(2), 222–226. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8330.2004.00403.x

Kates, M. (2018). Sweatshops, Exploitation, and the Case for a Fair Wage. Journal of Political
Philosophy, 27(1), 26–47. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopp.12155