Sweatshops

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In class today we talked about fashions of past decades. In department stores like Wanamakers, the manufacturers were located on top floors of the building, separated from the rest of the store. I began thinking of sweatshops that currently operate within our industry. The department stores of previous decades employed citizens and the work was manufactured within the country. Manufacturers began to realize that products could be produced at a quicker rate and a lower cost, thus providing a larger profit for them, if they established the factories overseas. There will always be someone willing to work for less- and this is the theory that manufacturers embraced and ran with. So, instead of employing US citizens to create clothing and products, companies began creating factories in third world countries where labor costs were significantly cheaper. Unfortunately this is still a practice that is very much prevalent in our current industry. Companies that endorse products made in such factories often reject the accusations of unethical procedures or avoid the touchy subject all together. I work at a children’s shoe store and we have annual vendor sessions where representatives come to introduce the products we will be selling that season. One of our lucrative vendors is Nike; however, as almost everyone knows Nike is one of the most publicized companies charged with unethical practices in their manufacturing. Several customers ask me about practices about someof the companies as I am trying to sell them shoes, so I decided to ask the representative what Nike would like us to say in response. Personally I am against the practices of Nike, yet it is my job to simply refer customers to their website which apparently explains their side of the issue. I can see how sweatshops get around certain requirements of labor codes, but I also think part of their success is as a result of our industry who supplies a demand for such products. My own job, as well as sooooo many other people's, relies on their products. There is such interdependence among businesses in our industry, which makes it so much harder to put an end to practices such as ones that take place in sweatshops and factories.

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