Thai Barbies

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At a Barbie factory in Thailand, workers are getting sick just from doing their jobs. But Mattel, the corporation reaping the profits from Barbie, does not have its hands directly in the dirt.

Mattel subcontracts its labor to outside companies who own factories like the ones in Thailand. It is here that they do the nastiest of the labor, making Barbies' clothes, bleaching her hair, and working with the lead paints that poison so many workers.

In the end, these shadow companies sell the intermediate products to Mattel, who can perform some of the cleaner work of processing, finishing, and boxing the Barbies at slightly less Hellish facilities.

For many of the workers in the Thailand factories, sweatshop labor is the alternative to sex slavery. If the Thai government gave corporations like Mattel even the smallest reason to leave, they would, going elsewhere for higher profit margins, and leaving the factory workers to become streetwalkers. It really isn't a good situation for anybody.

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