2008 Woodie Awards
The Cost of Cool
John Kelley
Issue date: 9/13/06 Section: Opinion
She's only 20, and already she looks like a
grandmother. The sweat from the 90 degree heat stings her eyes as her stomach growls. She hasn't been able to eat since six in the morning. The needle of the sewing machine nicks her hand causing her to cry out in pain. There is no
bandage, only a beating from her foreman.
Finally she sews the label on the pair of jeans she has been working on. She can finally clock out at eight p.m. and collect her $28 per month wage.
The label on the jeans reads "Abercrombie & Fitch". What's worse is that the label reads "Made in the U.S.A" It actually was made on a little island called Saipan out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Technically, it is a U.S. territory, but the working conditions would make anyone think they were in a third world country.
Abercrombie isn't the only clothing company that keeps their employees locked behind barbed wire with armed guards. Gap, Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger all have factories in Saipan. Other clothing companies that don't care about the "made in the U.S.A." tag have their clothing made in sweatshops in Sri Lanka, India and China to name a few. Most people however will think that these atrocities only belong to giant corporations like Wal-Mart, but in reality it includes Sean John, Nike and, Victoria's Secret.
Nearly everything found at the mall was made by enslaving other human beings to create the comfort of being trendy for spoiled rich American kids. Let's face it, nobody cares that the sexy images of Wet Seal are created by people who are starving and abused in every way. Primarily the victims are young women between the ages of 18 and 25. It's kind of ironic when you consider that 18 -25 is also the target age group for people buying those clothes.
However, sweatshops are not just a third world or far off island phenomenon. Some of the worst sweatshops are located right in California. The piece shops usually employ illegal immigrants and are hidden in back allies in places like China Town, San Francisco and the garment district in L.A.
And yet the government does not punish the companies that own the "death shops" or try to protect their workers. Hurray for the Land of Liberty! At least the workers can organize, right? Wrong! Most garment companies still have their employees sign "yellow-dog" contracts. Governments (i.e. the United States) tend to look the other way because they are making a killing or they're afraid to be passed up even more in the global economy (by everyone else).
There is an alternative to having all your cloths made by the human right violators of the mall. Nosweatsneaker.com is a website dedicated to providing clothes made by people that are paid union wages and benefits. While it might not be "super-fly," it saves lives. More information about these sweatshops can be found at behindthelabel.org.
If people start buying clothes from places like these, it will put pressure on the larger companies to improve working conditions.
grandmother. The sweat from the 90 degree heat stings her eyes as her stomach growls. She hasn't been able to eat since six in the morning. The needle of the sewing machine nicks her hand causing her to cry out in pain. There is no
bandage, only a beating from her foreman.
Finally she sews the label on the pair of jeans she has been working on. She can finally clock out at eight p.m. and collect her $28 per month wage.
The label on the jeans reads "Abercrombie & Fitch". What's worse is that the label reads "Made in the U.S.A" It actually was made on a little island called Saipan out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Technically, it is a U.S. territory, but the working conditions would make anyone think they were in a third world country.
Abercrombie isn't the only clothing company that keeps their employees locked behind barbed wire with armed guards. Gap, Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger all have factories in Saipan. Other clothing companies that don't care about the "made in the U.S.A." tag have their clothing made in sweatshops in Sri Lanka, India and China to name a few. Most people however will think that these atrocities only belong to giant corporations like Wal-Mart, but in reality it includes Sean John, Nike and, Victoria's Secret.
Nearly everything found at the mall was made by enslaving other human beings to create the comfort of being trendy for spoiled rich American kids. Let's face it, nobody cares that the sexy images of Wet Seal are created by people who are starving and abused in every way. Primarily the victims are young women between the ages of 18 and 25. It's kind of ironic when you consider that 18 -25 is also the target age group for people buying those clothes.
However, sweatshops are not just a third world or far off island phenomenon. Some of the worst sweatshops are located right in California. The piece shops usually employ illegal immigrants and are hidden in back allies in places like China Town, San Francisco and the garment district in L.A.
And yet the government does not punish the companies that own the "death shops" or try to protect their workers. Hurray for the Land of Liberty! At least the workers can organize, right? Wrong! Most garment companies still have their employees sign "yellow-dog" contracts. Governments (i.e. the United States) tend to look the other way because they are making a killing or they're afraid to be passed up even more in the global economy (by everyone else).
There is an alternative to having all your cloths made by the human right violators of the mall. Nosweatsneaker.com is a website dedicated to providing clothes made by people that are paid union wages and benefits. While it might not be "super-fly," it saves lives. More information about these sweatshops can be found at behindthelabel.org.
If people start buying clothes from places like these, it will put pressure on the larger companies to improve working conditions.
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