Sweatshops

A sweatshop is a working environment that is characterized by hazardous conditions which are very dangerous towards someone’s safety and health. The workers in sweatshops have very few rights and little to no voice in order to address the horrible conditions they are under. Poor conditions can include exposure to harmful materials, hazardous situations, extreme temperatures, and abuse from employers. Sweatshop workers are demanded to work long hours earning little to no pay, forcing the workers into a struggle to feed and provide shelter for their families. The clothes people buy and wear, the toys children play with, and most store shelves are stocked with goods made in sweatshops. The key factor in sweatshops is finding cheap labor which causes fast production, and enables the management to not have to pay their workers that much money.

Source: Stop Sweatshops. Retrieved October 27, 2008, from AFL-CIO America's Union Movement Web site: http://www.aflcio.org/corporatewatch/stop/