carmela porreca & elizabeth powell edre 623: co-ordination in religious education sweatshop...

Carmela Porreca & Elizabeth Powell

EDRE 623:Co-ordination in Religious Education

Sweatshop Labour &Profits for

Multinational Companies

What is a sweatshop?

A sweatshop is a shop or factory in which employees work for long hours, at low wages and under unhealthy conditions.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary Definitionhttp://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary

What is a multinational corporation?

A multinational corporation is a corporate enterprise that either manages production or delivers services in more than one country.

Wikipedia Definitionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multinational_corporation

They are large companies that:- reduce competition and free enterprise- they exploit countries for their natural resources- limit the wages earned by their workers- erode traditional cultures [among other things]

Wikipedia Definitionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multinational_corporation

EXPLOITATION

NO CHOICE

ABUSE

DISGUSTINGCONDITIONS

NO

ESCAPE

NO HOPEVIOLATION OF

HUMAN RIGHTS

EXPLOITATION

NO CHOICE

ABUSE

DISGUSTINGCONDITIONS

NO

ESCAPE

NO HOPEVIOLATION OF

HUMAN RIGHTS

What is theREAL cost of

your NIKEshoes?

NIKE

Case Study:

About Nike...Nike is a major publicly-traded company based in the United States. It is the world’s leading supplier of athletic shoes and apparel, supplying clothing, footwear, sportswear and equipment to billions of customers all around the world.

The brand alone is valued at $10.7 billion, making it the most valuable brand among sports businesses.

In 2011, Nike made a gross profit of $9.87 billion dollars.

About Nike...Despite being the most popularsports brand in the world, foryears Nike have been doggedby allegations of sweatshops andchild labour. 0

Think about this...12 billion dollars profit wasmade by Nike in 2008 alone.

NIKE - Wikipediahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nike,_Inc.

NIKE - WIKI-investhttp://www.wikinvest.com/stock/Nike_(NKE)/Data/

Gross_Profit/2011/Q1

About Nike...Compare this to the wages earned by workers in Nike factories overseas...

10-20c per hour.

YOU DO THE MATHS!

Facts and Figures...Powell, B. & Skarbek, D. [2004]. Sweatshops and Third World Living Standards: Are the Jobs Worth the Sweat?. extracted from: Independent Institute Working Paper [Number 53] September 27, 2004

Facts and Figures...Powell, B. & Skarbek, D. [2004]. Sweatshops and Third World Living Standards: Are the Jobs Worth the Sweat?. extracted from: Independent Institute Working Paper [Number 53] September 27, 2004

Facts and Figures...Powell, B. & Skarbek, D. [2004]. Sweatshops and Third World Living Standards: Are the Jobs Worth the Sweat?. extracted from: Independent Institute Working Paper [Number 53] September 27, 2004

Because of the limited wages that workers earn, they are stuck in a vicious cycle of 16-hour-days, earning barely enough money to stay in budget accommodation and feed themselves. They will never be able to better their situation.

And to make matters worse, the children of these workers remain uneducated and fall into the same negative cycle of their parents.

Would you be smiling if this was what the

future held for you?

What about the factory conditions?

A strict “no-talking” policy had been enforced in many of the factories investigated.

What about the factory conditions?

Access to toilets, clean water and breaks are limited, even prohibited, in many factories.

What about the factory conditions?

Every Nike sweatshop that was under investigation found that verbal and physical abuse were both used to force workers to be more productive.

Consider the work itself...

Workers in Nike sweatshops completed repetitive tasks over and over again, working 10-16 hour shifts every day.

Consider the work itself...

An anonymous worker was quoted as saying that she was expected to stitch one pocket in a pair of pants every 33 seconds. If she was to work a 16 hour shift...that equates to her making 1745 pockets every shift!

Daily Mail News Article:Nike workers ‘kicked, slapped and verbally abused’ at factories

making Conversehttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2014325/Nike-

workers-kicked-slapped-verbally-abused-factories-

making-Converse-line-Indonesia.html

Behind the Swoosh

Behind the Swoosh: NIKE Sweatshops. http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=M5uYCWVfuPQ&feature=related

Please watch from 3:18 minutes to 11:29 minutes.

It’s not all bad though...More and more groups are fighting for the rights of workers in sweatshops in third-world countries.

In Honduras, Nike paid owners of two sweatshops compensation for closure [although it was rumoured that none of the compensation was passed on to workers]. Nike also agreed to provide one year of health care to all workers and opportunities for vocational training.

Activists celebrate Nike Compensation to Honduran Workers

July 26, 2012

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?CategoryId=23558&ArticleId=361197

After 11 months of negotiations, Indonesian workers have had a win. A Nike supplier factory has agreed to pay $1 million to workers for 593 468 hours of unpaid overtime. For the 4 500 workers concerned, this means that they will each receive an average of about U.S. $220 each.

Although this doesn’t seem like a lot, when the average hourly rate of sweatshop workers [10-20 cents an hour], this compensation goes a long way towards improving working conditions.

JUST PAY IT: Wage Compensation for Indonesian Nike Workers

January 12, 2012

http://www.cleanclothes.org/news/just-pay-it-wage-compensation-for-indonesian-nike-workers

Resources - Nike SweatshopsNIKE Information* author unknown. [d.u.] Wikipedia: NIKE http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nike,_Inc.* author unknown. [2011] WIKI-invest: NIKE http://www.wikinvest.com/stock/Nike_(NKE)/Data/Gross_Profit/2011/Q1* Powell, B. & Skarbek, D. [2004]. Sweatshops and Third World Living Standards: Are the Jobs Worth the Sweat?. extracted from: Independent Institute Working Paper [Number 53] September 27, 2004

NIKE Videos* Behind the Swoosh: NIKE Sweatshops. [2011]. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5uYCWVfuPQ&feature=related

* Human Trafficking in Nike’s Sweatshops in Malaysia. [2008]. Channel 7 News Report. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9ZktmrGGMU* NIKE Sweatshops and the Sydney Olympics. [2008]. Sky TV.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVpspsAq0N4* Try Not To Cry - NIKE Sweatshops. [2007]. Inspirational Video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVuScVCF1Ws&feature=related

APPLE

Case Study:

About Apple Inc...Apple Inc. is an American multi-national corporation that designs and sells consumer electronics, computer software and personal computers. Some of the company’s best-known products are the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad. 

About Apple Inc...By July 2011, Apple had 364 stores located in 13 countries around the world.

It is the largest technology company in the world by both revenue and profit. Its world-wide annual revenue in 2010 totalled $65 billion, growing to $108 billion in 2011. 

Apple - Wikipediahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc.

Apple and SweatshopsIn 2012, Mike Daisey and Nicholas Kristof worked with PRIs “This American Life” to film a special highlighting the abuse of workers in third-world countries.

Foxconn, a contractor for Apple, was the focus of an investigation into the work and living conditions of its workers.

Foxconn has a factory in Shenzhen, China, that employs 430, 000 people.

Some interesting discoveries from the investigation showed that:- workers as young as 12 are used to polish the glass of new iPhones- the factory floors are vast rooms filled with somewhere between 20, 000 and30, 000 workers- the standard shift is 12 hours long

[despite the official work day in China being 8 hours], and this

often extends to 14-16 hour days- the workers live in 12-by-12 cement cubes that contain at least15 beds, all stacked up like drawers

One man interviewed got his hand crushed in a metal press. He received no medical attention from the company and after his hand healed, he could no longer use it. Foxconn fired him.

Conditions in the factory were so bad that 11 workers at the Foxconn factory committed suicide in 2010.

Is this acceptabl

e?Blodget, H. [2012]. Apple’s Sweatshop Problem: 16 Hour Days, ~70 Cents An Hour.

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/apple-sweatshop-problem-16-hour-days-70-cents-

172800495.html

Blodget, H. [2012]. Apple’s Sweatshop Problem: 16 Hour Days, ~70 Cents An Hour.

For full report: http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/apple-sweatshop-problem-16-hour-days-70-cents-

172800495.html

Is THIS acceptabl

e?

Click the image above if your interested in watching the video. It

goes for 6:22 minutes.

Resources - Apple SweatshopsApple Information* author unknown. [d.u.] Wikipedia: Apple http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc* Blodget, H. [2012]. Apple’s Sweatshop Problem: 16 Hour Days, ~70 Cents An Hour. Retrieved from: http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/apple-sweatshop-problem-16-hour-days-70-cents-172800495.html

Apple Videos* Apple’s Sweatshop Problem: 16 Hour Days, ~70 Cents An Hour [2012]. http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/apple-sweatshop-problem-16-hour-days-70-cents-172800495.html* Foxconn grapples with wave of worker suicides. [2010]. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st09Cc_9Lss&feature=related

* iPhone Factory Suicides. [2010]. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddU8rV7_Qis&feature=fvwrel

Child LabourChild labour is not uncommon in sweatshops. Children are often employed because companies can get away with paying them even less than adultworkers!

Human Rights

Human RightsHuman rights are about recognising and respecting the inherent value and dignity of all people. Human rights standards are contained in internationally-agreed human rights treaties and declarations.

Australian Human Rights Commission [2012]. Human Rights.

http://www.hreoc.gov.au/human_rights/index.html

UN Declaration of Human RightsThe United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a common standard of achievement for all nations, promoting respect for the equal rights of all people.

The United Nations [2012]. UN Declaration of Human Rights. http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/

Human RightsConditions in sweatshops around the world do not give workers the respect and dignity alluded to in accepted human rights treaties. They are exploited and their dignity is stripped from them on a daily basis.

Human RightsOrganisations like Amnesty International are in a constant battle with multi-national corporations and their overseas contractors, fighting for improved conditions and treatment for these workers in third-world countries.

Amnesty InternationalAmnesty International is a global movement of over 3 million people committed to defending those who are denied justice or freedom.

Amnesty International Australia. [2012]. Amnesty International. http://www.amnesty.org.au/

Click here to see what you can do to Get

Involved

What about the Catholic Church...

Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why do we humble ourselves, but you do not notice?

Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day and oppress all your workers.

Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?

Isaiah 58: 3, 6

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. 

John 13:34-35

What about the Catholic Church...

Catechism of the Catholic Church

Part 3: Life in ChristSection 1: Man’s Vocation Life in the Spirit

Chapter 2: The Human CommunionArticle 3: Social Justice

What about the Catholic Church...

Catholic Church. [1994]. Catechism of the Catholic Church [official edition for Australia and New Zealand]

Homebush, Australia

Social justice can be obtained only in respecting the transcendent dignity of man.

Respect for the human person proceeds by way of respect for

the principle that "everyone should look upon his neighbour

[without any exception] as 'another self', above all bearing

in mind his life and the means necessary for living it with

dignity”.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

Part 3: Life in ChristSection 1: Man’s Vocation Life in the Spirit

Chapter 2: The Human CommunionArticle 3: Social Justice

What about the Catholic Church...

Catholic Church. [1994]. Catechism of the Catholic Church [official edition for Australia and New Zealand]

Homebush, Australia

Created in the image of the one God and... ...redeemed by the sacrifice of Christ, all are called to participate in the same divine beatitude: all therefore enjoy an equal dignity. Respect for the

human person entails respect for the rights

that flow from his dignity as a creature.

ConclusionUsing poor, third-world countries for labour to gain profits for multi-national corporations...

To this day, sweatshops are still in existence. They continue to deprive many people of their basic human rights, stripping away the dignity of some of the world’s most susceptible people.

ConclusionMany people, groups and international organisations argue against the use of sweatshops.

Others believe that the use of sweatshops is key to economic growth and development.

What do you think?

FOODFOR

THOUGHT

FOOD FOR THOUGHT...

FOOD FOR THOUGHT...

FOOD FOR THOUGHT...

FOOD FOR THOUGHT...

FOOD FOR THOUGHT...

FOOD FOR THOUGHT...

FOOD FOR THOUGHT...

FOOD FOR THOUGHT...

FOOD FOR THOUGHT...

FOOD FOR THOUGHT...

FOOD FOR THOUGHT...

FOOD FOR THOUGHT...

FOOD FOR THOUGHT...

EXPLOITATION

DISGUSTING

CONDITIONS

ABUSE

NO HOPE

NO CHOICE

NO ESCAPE

VIOLATION OF HUMAN

RIGHTS

Slave Labour and Global Consumerism:

Is itworth

the cost?

Bibliography* Amnesty International Australia. [2012]. Amnesty International. http://www.amnesty.org.au/

* Arnold, D. & Hartman, L. [d.u.]. Beyond Sweatshops: Positive Deviancy and Global Labour Practices.

* Australian Human Rights Commission [2012]. Human Rights.http://www.hreoc.gov.au/human_rights/index.html

* Encyclopaedia of Management. [2009]. Sweatshops. Retrieved from: http://www.encyclopaedia.com on July 10, 2012.

* Powell, B. & Skarbek, D. [2004]. Sweatshops and Third World Living Standards: Are the Jobs Worth the Sweat?. extracted from: Independent Institute Working Paper [Number 53] September 27, 2004

* United Church of Christ: Justice and Witness Ministries. [d.u.]. What to do about sweatshops. Cleveland, Ohio: United Church of Christ.

* The United Nations [2012]. UN Declaration of Human Rights. http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/

* United Students Against Sweatshops (usas) [2012]. Anti-Sweatshop. http://usas.org/campaigns/anti-sweatshop/