12 Comments so far

1. yeshuaD January 24th, 2007 4:39 pm

   It’s shocking to see the United States Congress actually dealing with these issues. It’s almost like Graham is whispering a secret to the U.S. that rest of the world kind of already knew about. U.S. companies profitting from sweatshops? Education being held as a lesser priority? Our teenagers less wholesome than we thought? Come on, it doesn’t take someone much time reading the newspaper and online news sites such as these to see the things the U.S. does all over the world in the name of money. Does Iraq ring a bell anyone? Despite my frustration that this discovering was made too late, I must say bravo to the U.S. senate for starting to crack down on business giants. Let’s keep this streak going.

2. neater January 24th, 2007 9:49 pm

   Sadly enough, I have talked to many people who are either totally clueless, or in denial that U.S. companies are involved w/sweatshop dealings. Consumerism mesmerizes people like slot machines in Vegas: they see what they want and they purchase w/o giving any thought as to where/or who may have produced it.  I cannot tell you the number of times I have been in a conversation about this very issue in one breath, and the next moment the person talking about a sale going on at such and such store. It’s pretty surreal!

3. jconsult January 25th, 2007 6:13 am

   At last, the US Congress is opening its eyes to the dangers of outsourcing our industries to countries where children start working at ten or before, where working six days a week is a standard, where social protection doesn’t exist in the local vocabulary. This is the best way to help our country to keep its jobs and help foreign workers get a more decent life. If not, the tough competition between these poor countries will continue to the extent that slavery will be a future for millions of people. China is a good example of these abuses where millions of country people desert their land to come to work to mega cities where they will be dumped once there are not needed.

4. mariand January 25th, 2007 8:21 am

   I’m glad to see legislation being brought to bear here. But I’ve always wondered how we as consumers know how workers in given shops all over the world are being treated? For that matter, even the companies who buy the stuff have trouble making sure of working conditions in countries where they don’t even speak the language (witness the comment about the Chinese company buying papers to “prove” their improvements…)

5. bonnie flory January 25th, 2007 8:25 am

   What’s the name of the bill so that I can e-mail my local members of congress to ask for their support?

6. Editor/CommonDreams January 25th, 2007 8:37 am

   S.367

   Title: A bill to amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to prohibit the import, export, and sale of goods made with sweatshop labor, and for other purposes.

   Sponsor: Sen Dorgan, Byron L. [ND] (introduced 1/23/2007) Cosponsors (5)

   Sen Brown, Sherrod [OH] - 1/23/2007
   Sen Byrd, Robert C. [WV] - 1/23/2007
   Sen Feingold, Russell D. [WI] - 1/23/2007
   Sen Graham, Lindsey [SC] - 1/23/2007
   Sen Sanders, Bernard [VT] - 1/23/2007

   Latest Major Action: 1/23/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

7. rtdrury January 25th, 2007 12:44 pm

   Details of their regulation are important if you support giant global corporations dominating local economies. But it’s better that we let them display their natural destructive potential and react with strong support for small local enterprises supplying local markets, strengthening local economies and economic/political self determination everywhere. Small enterprises require regulation too. But it’s better to help establish them and diminish the domination of the giant global corporations first. Regulation, communication, organization are all more difficult when all the world is covered with autonomous small local enterprises. But that’s just the kind of challenge that we’re looking for. While the benefits of mass production and capital concentration are undeniable, we are unnecessarily sacrificing our local economic/political autonomy and diversity in local enterprise opportunities. If we focus our efforts, a greater prosperity for all is possible through strong local economies.

   The wasteful mis-allocation of resources by these large corporations go unreported. How many reports did we see over the decades that electric generation is wasting 3/4 of fuel consumed, half of which is completely unnecessary? In the industrial sectors that utilize sweatshops we find different problems, but of similar magnitude: These cause great damage to local economies by displacing labor to cities. The diversity and cultural aspects of the product are lost. Long distance shipping is very expensive, a newly exposed secret, and these large scale transactions steal the focus of our news and lure us toward empire dreams, and we find ourselves enslaved to these giant enterprises, and fighting wars in their name, as in the American Civil War, and the Vietnam and Iraq wars. The down side of globalization is under reported, isn’t it? Let’s build the wider infrastructure to facilitate strong local economies. One key challenge is to maintain this infrastructure as a positive force, i.e. preventing its infiltration and corruption. Local autonomy is key to preventing dependence on, corruption of, and domination by far flung institutions, organizations, empires.

8. Robert Goldsborough January 25th, 2007 6:33 pm

   The problem would be simply solved if we had a worldwide living wage of $25 an hour at the bottom for a six hour day. Everyone would be employed all of our needs would be met. People would not have to emigrate to get better paying jobs. They can stay in the land of their birth. The rest of the time they can go to school, read, write or play. Let’s have real globalization. We can also volunteer time to clean up the environment. It could be a real epiphany which would lead to a real rapture.

9. paschn January 25th, 2007 7:33 pm

   Unfortunately, there’ll be a watered down version, as is the “fine” of a whole $10,000 per offense, that the foul swine who practice that free trade curse on the world’s working folks will laugh a bit, and go ahead and violate it. Further, who gets the terrible terrible fine that’s imposed? Think about it. It’s quite like those American companies like say, Capitol One, that intentionally post on time payments as late and make tens if not 100’s of millions of dollars illegally, are caught and “crushed” by our wonderful legal system, fined a few thousand dollars, ( which goes to hands OTHER than the ones from which it was stolen), and NOT A SOUL spends time in prison. So before you gullible optimists rally ’round the flag on this one, look very very closely at the finished law, then wonder why they didn’t simply pass a bill making it a CRIMINAL ACT with a mandatory prison sentence.
   A nation of sheep, led by a cartel of whores, controlled by big business. Welcome, to the REAL Evil Empire.

10. jobson January 26th, 2007 1:05 am

    In Guangdong Province, China where most of Wal-Mart’s suppliers are located, the minimum wage is about US $75/month. But workers rarely receive the pay that they are owed. Cheating workers out of overtime pay is very common.

    If current Labor Laws and Trade Union Laws were enforced this would greatly improve work conditions for factory workers.

    Someone asked earlier how do we know what factory conditions are like. Well, China Labor Watch is an invaluable resource in tracking Wal-Mart factory conditions in China.
    http://www.chinalaborwatch.org/

    And it was also asked how do the Wal-Mart inspector know that he is not being lied to by the factory. Well, he should know that he is being lied to since it has been well documented over the years now that factories that supply Wal-Mart coach their employees to lie to the inspectors.

    So it proves the point that factory inspectors are not improving work conditions. Therefore, the answer proposed by many is to unionize the factories.

    All the Wal-Mart stores in China were unionized in 2006; now maybe the factories will soon go that way as well.

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12. bnnetovoxysy December 26th, 2007 9:27 pm

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