India

The Work Environment A Delicate Balance between Efficient and Cruel Thus far the paper has progressed well. Child labor, sweatshops, working hours, and worker compensation are all still hot topics online. There are not only dozens of articles written, but also many groups both formed and forming to help stop the use of sweatshops and inhumane treatment of workers. To counteract the hostility brought forth by human rights activist, both historians and businessmen have published writings supporting the use of sweatshops. There are many views and angles I wish to discuss in my paper. I will discuss articles describing the details of what unethical conduct is happening. Such as: recently factor suicides, factories and their safety procedures, length or the work day, and breaks during the day. More importantly I will look at how these impact business. Another point will be American companies and what they do to help and hurt the situation. What happens in third would countries rest mainly on the United States. America’s buying power, trade, laws, and tariffs are much more powerful then her weapons. Thus US companies can greatly help stop these poor conditions, or they can merely paint a picture they are doing their part as a PR move. I will also look into the laws countries establish to help protect their people. In China the laws are rarely enforced for the laborers. The pros and cons of government interventions will also be evaluated and reviewed. The paper will also discuss what actions the workers take to try and improve their situations. Here is an excerpt from the paper. This comes from one of the key points the paper will discuss; America’s corporate huge impact on working conditions abroad. BusinessWeek the magazine has published many articles about sweatshops and their abuse to workers in China. In the article Secrets, Lies, and Sweatshops BusinessWeek reports that Wal-Mart factories that have previously violated the law, still do not give their employees the rights they deserve. The factories are working their employees past the 40-44 hour workweek mandated by China. They also refuse to pay their workers overtime. Even worse, the factories won’t pay the federal minimum wage set by the Chinese government. Most companies such as Wal-Mart will send auditors to inspect the plants throughout the world to try and find these problems. However, most get tipped off in advance to help them prepare for the inspections. BusinessWeek reported that, “Chinese factories keep double sets of books to fool auditors and distribute scripts for employees to recite if they are questioned.”1 Factory owners and operators know how important it is to keep ties with Wal-Mart. According to Forbes, Wal-Mart alone accounts for 10 percent of China’s exports.2 Wal-Mart continues to seek ways to cut cost and be more efficient, leading to even more oppression in factories. As competition increases, businesses are forced to either come up with new technology or reduce their cost to beat their competition. This spirals the companies into a price war. The problem is then a battle between factories in China or India who produce the products for the entire industry to cut cost. “A compliance manager for a major multinational company who has overseen many factory audits says that the percentage of Chinese suppliers caught submitting false payroll records has risen from 46% to 75% in the past four years. This manager, who requested anonymity, estimates that only 20% of Chinese suppliers comply with wage rules, while just 5% obey hour limitations.”2 These fake audits show how deeply rooted the problem is. The problem is an industry problem rather then simply a specific American-chain’s problem 1. Roberts, Dexter, and Pete Engardio. "Secrets, Lies, And Sweatshops." BusinessWeek - Business News, Stock Market & Financial Advice. 27 Nov. 2006. Web. 2. Karlgaard, Rick. "Disruption High and Low." Web. 11 Oct. 2003.