THIS SUMMER while most of us will be working internships, profitable summer jobs, traveling abroad or attending summer school, other young people our age in developing countries around the world also will be working. These summer jobs don't build a resume or make a lot of money. Instead, these young people will be working in unhealthy, exhausting sweatshops.
Maria Subieta, a 20-year-old single mother in southern Mexico, just got such a summer job. She'll be manufacturing sweatshirts for a prominent apparel company based in the U.S. She'll be working for about 10 to 15 hours a day, six and often seven days a week. She may make the Mexican minimum wage, maybe a little more, but even that doesn't add up to more than about three or four dollars a day. She sees it as a necessary investment, not for her future, but for her survival and the survival of her child. Unfortunately this won't be enough money to buy sufficient food and clean water, pay rent or get decent health care. This isn't just a summer job for Maria, it's what she'll do for years, and what others have done for years.
No one really denies that sweatshops exist. We know that while we live our comfortable lives this summer, there will be others in developing countries, and even here in the U.S., manufacturing cheap goods for the rest of the world.
These people work under horrid conditions, working hours of overtime without pay in hot, dusty factories. They hardly make enough to survive. There are no health regulations to speak of, and workers hardly get breaks, even to go to the bathroom. There is frequently harassment of workers, especially when they do not manufacture up to par. Some of the workers are children, and in many cases, they're under some kind of forced labor. These are all conditions that were mostly eliminated in the U.S. early in this century, but continue throughout much of the world.
But what can students at the University do to change such situations? These are conditions that happen in countries all over the world and college students don't have the influence to change things, right? That is actually very far from the truth.
The United Students Against Sweatshops at U.Va. has been active in fighting global labor abuses by trying to make all licensed University apparel free of sweatshop labor. It has been encouraging the University to sign a code of conduct for U.Va. apparel manufacturers to follow, and is pressuring the University to join a labor rights initiative group to investigate possible labor rights abuses in such factories.
Other college anti-sweatshop groups have experienced great successes in these areas. College students across the nation have indeed made a difference in the lives of workers overseas. While collegiate apparel accounts for only 1 percent of the industry, sweatshop-free college apparel makes a significant difference, since collegiate apparel is made side by side with other apparel across the industry.
Some may argue that sweatshops are an unavoidable part of globalization, and we can't really do anything to end such practices and shouldn't get in the way of global economics. In fact, some may argue that in closing sweatshops, already poor people would become even poorer.
Opposing sweatshops is not a debate about global trade but about human rights. While global trade can benefit many in developing countries, it shouldn't be at the expense of common people. Sweatshop activists are not seeking to close down factories but to improve the working situations within them, thereby preserving the jobs and raising the quality of life of the workers.
Tonight the University community has the unique opportunity to hear about sweatshop conditions first-hand. At 7 p.m. in Wilson Auditorium, two Americans who spent last summer in Indonesia living on a Nike-sweatshop wage will be sharing their experience. In addition to sharing their story, they will also address feasible ways to oppose sweatshop labor and help workers. Come and begin to make a difference in the lives of workers worldwide.
(Ross Kane is a third-year College student and coordinator for the United Students Against Sweatshops.)
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