Slavery in Worldwide Sweatshops

Sweatshops or “shops or factories in which workers are employed for long hours and low wages under unhealthy conditions” are present in many different places around the world.  And all businesses share one common goal, making the most money possible.  A common scheme of saving money in the present day is by paying workers less.  Countries like China, India, Indonesia, Haiti, and Vietnam all search for the cheapest and easiest workers availiable.  Unfortunately, this group of people consists of young, uneducated women.  These women are forced to work for up to 14 hours with little or no pay.  Unsafe working conditions are also a given.  Between the ages of 15-25, 90% of the workforce is consisted of women.  On top of these problems are the dangers involving coal mining.  Coal mining is a very dangerous occupation in the country of China.  Coal mining accidents took 7.2 lives a day on average, which is completely unacceptable.  These numbers are haunting.  This is not just a problem is these few countries though, it is a worldwide catastrophe. 

This current issue relates directly back to the Industrial Revolution.  Both instances include long hours, low pay, bad working conditions, and horrible treatment.  Back in the days of the Industrial Revolution, business owners expected their workers to keep the machines running for unbelievable amounts of time.  Also, the average worker works for 14 hours a day, 6 days a week.  Any injuries resulting from disfunctional machinery were ignored, and unfortunately, accidents happened regularly.  Even though factories were very dangerous, coal mines were actually much worse.  Children were sent to work in the coal mines, which turned out to be the most dangerous occupation of that time.  The problems of today regarding women and child labor were also present in the time of the Industrial Revolution. 

In my own opinion, the continuation with sweatshops resulting from the Industrial Revolution is a major crisis and needs to be stopped.  Children and women are cheap workers and easy to manage, but it is not fair to pinpoint a group of people when they are most vulnerable.  By hiring workers who need the job, or even workers who want to work in the factories, profit will increase, and unfairness will come to a hault.  With the current conditions of factories in the above countries the way they are, it proves that really nothing has changed from the days of  the Industrial Revolution.  I believe changes need to be made, eliminating long hours with no pay, getting rid of beating and verbal abuse, and allowing more time to enjoy the daily meals that all of the workers really need. Changes need to be made now, before it is too late.

If factory life continues to stay the way it is, it could present horrible outcomes in the near future.  Factories will take control over the lives of people, making working in a factory the only option availiable.  Obsessed with making money, businesses will continue to practice terrible treatment, making the lives of the workers miserable.  Children and women will continue to be taken advantage of the status of their health will also diminish.  My solution to this problem would be to get the government involved.  With the government overseeing the factory operations, treatment would have to improve.  This is just an idea, but it just might work.

Overall, sweatshop labor has to be haulted NOW!  Factories in some countries will continue to worsen unless something is done.  It is important to think of people, not just ourselves sometimes.  Try telling that to a factory owner in the above countries though, and you might get a different answer.