• Slavery and sweatshops

    • Slavery is unfortunately NOT a thing of the past. There are more slaves today than at any other point of time in the history of the world.

    • Slavery_and_sweatshops

  • Wage of a sweatshop worker

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  • income in US dollars
  • for low paid sweatshop worker, so far this year

    • What is a sweatshop?

    Sweatshops are factories where workers work long hours under poor conditions, and for very low wages. Sweatshops produce many different goods including toys, shoes and furniture. Most of the world's clothing is manufactured in sweatshops - including many designer brands.

    Extremely low-paid

    Sweatshop wages can be so low that they barely cover essential needs. Some people work for as little as 1 US cent per hour, often more than 100 hours per week in conditions of poor air quality and extreme heat.

    It can be really bad

    In the worst forms of sweatshops people are forced to work up to 72 hours straight, without sleep. Those complaining are beaten and abused. Cases of physical, sexual, and verbal abuse are common and well documented.

    But not all sweatshops are bad

    If workers’ rights are respected sweatshops can actually help poor countries. For example, in Honduras, the average clothing “sweatshop” worker earns 13 US dollars per day, yet 44 percent of the country’s population lives on less than 2 dollars per day.

    What to do?

    Look for fair trade labeled products. Fair trade labels ensure higher salaries and better working conditions as well as higher social and environmental standards.

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  • OK, I get it. Bad things are going on
  • Now what?