Sweatshops Modern Day Slavery Essay

Sweatshops: Modern-Day Slavery

Zunairah Shahzad

CLN4UI

Mr. Eason

January 31, 2023

Introduction

Sweatshops are manufacturing facilities where workers are forced to toil for hours under unfair and unsafe conditions. Workers are often deprived of their hard-earned wages, face daily abuse and denied their basic rights. Historically, the word "sweatshops" was initially used to refer to the production of garments and apparel. Shortly after the start of the industrial revolution, rising living standards resulted in increased consumer demand for garments and an increase in sweatshops. In the face of economic prosperity, textile companies across the world started exploiting vulnerable workers, often due to the lack of fundamental institutions of

Beginning in the United Kingdom, sweatshops employed largely immigrant women and children who were in need of work and had few job alternatives. Due to no concept of labour unions, child rights and other laws for labour ethics, managers would exploit workers by disregarding basic rights like sick leaves, safe working conditions and more. Furthermore, workers were frequently underpaid and robbed of their rightfully held income, but due to no alternative means of income, labourers worked silently. The "sweat system" was developed in response to the poor working conditions of garment labourers, giving rise to the term

Being the oldest organization of the UN, the ILO mandated and outlined workplace fairness and workers' security. The standards are outlined in 189 agreements and treaties, of which eight are classified as fundamental according to the 1998 Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. Some of these fundamental rights include elimination of forced or compulsory labour, abolishment of child labour, elimination of discrimination in employment, and others, which greatly occur in sweatshops. In 1969, the ILO received the Nobel Peace Prize for its efforts in improving work ethics and providing assistance to other developing nations. ILO conventions are considered international labour standards regardless of ratification and employers are to follow. Every year, the International Labor Organization (ILO) evaluates a variety of international labour standards, and states are expected to submit reports describing their compliance with the commitments. If these laws are broken, investigations are held and recommendations are made, however, these recommendations do not have the binding force. Thus, every year, incidents of injustice in sweatshops emerged. However, no consequences were faced by states involved other than