This confirms the stuff I read Factory Girls, a book that follows the lives of several teenage girls that left the countryside to seek factory jobs. The girls report that factories don't allow them to leave on their (once monthly) day off if the guards suspect that they won't return. If a worker can't leave when the conditions are intolerable, then they are slaves. (You say involuntary labor, I say slaves.)
There's so much else I want to talk about, but I don't have time.
Follow these links instead:
- Victoria’s Secret Revealed in Child Picking Burkina Faso Cotton: involuntary labor used to produce "fair trade" cotton without labor-saving technology, which the farmers cannot afford at the prices they command for their organic cotton.
- How many slaves work for you? a slavery footprint calculator
- Making it in America: Maddie Parlier in Greenville, South Carolina and the girls in Shenzhen have one thing in common--they owe their jobs to the fact that they are cheaper than a robot.
Human rights leaves much to be desired in China, just one of the reasons I do not buy "Made In China" goods... (and I'm still waiting for your to cite your references! the mysterious Australian scientist you said declared a permanent weather change for our country??)
ReplyDeleteFactory Girls was an interesting book and really made me think about labor and the price of good and expectations. I had already come to the conclusion that cheap consumer goods probably aren't worth the actual cost. Increasingly I wonder what is worth it and try to me more mindful, not always successfully.
ReplyDeleteIn case you haven't seen this recent development:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/mike-daisey-responds-to-this-american-life-retraction-of-apple-supply-story/2012/03/16/gIQAddRqGS_story.html
@Penny
ReplyDeleteI wish he made the distinction between Dramatization and Journalism from the get-go. This terrible lapse in ethics can't help his just cause.