Why do sweatshops exist?
Contrary to what the largest and most powerful multinational corporations would have us believe; sweatshops are not a necessary by-product of economic growth. Nor are they an inevitable consequence of free markets. They are not the result of consumers’ demand for low price goods. There is no ultimate truth to the claim that they provide jobs that would exist otherwise. The real reason that they exist is a direct consequence of corporations’ single-minded goal of maximizing profits at the cost of marginalizing the ones who can’t afford to be marginalized any more.

What factors drive the demand for sweatshops?
Corporate greed
The multinationals based in the US and other countries are finding that they no longer need to operate their own factories. Instead they look for subcontractors where regulation are weak and labor and operating costs are the lowest.

International Policies
Governments, international trade regulatory agencies like the World Trade Organization, the World Bank and other foreign lenders create international trade laws and lending policies that require developing countries to bolster their economies by creating export industries regardless of the implications for social justice and environmental sustainability. Third World countries desperately need the foreign money, but these policies create a glut of manufacturing plants and plantations in countries with poorly developed environmental and labor laws. The result is that US corporations dictate labor standards and purchase prices.

The Lowest Price Wins
Retail giants (such as, but not limited to, Target and Wal-Mart) put pressure on their suppliers to keep costs down and encourage their customers to buy more at discounted prices. The suppliers are thus forced to decrease production costs, often resulting in more hours and less wages for workers. What they don’t tell you on the commercials is that Wal-Mart’s “Slashing Prices” campaign is slashing the rights that workers all around the world have to a living wage and decent working conditions.

The Middleman
The number of contractors, importers, agents and other middle merchants are also trying to get on the profit train. They have shifted the playing field overseas and consequently factories may not know where their goods are headed and similarly, US manufacturers often don’t know the product’s source.

The Squeeze at the Bottom
All these factors put great pressure on factory owners to cut costs. Where does the price squeeze end? At the very bottom, of course. The laborers are forced to produce goods as quickly as a possible. The result is forced overtime, low wages, punishments and fines for slow work and mistakes, child labor, and other abuses that should make us all cringe.

Organizations Created to Help
International Labor Organization (ILO): The ILO is a specialized agency that was created in 1919 to promote justice and internationally recognized human labor rights. The ILO is composed of representatives from government, business, and labor of its member countries. The ILO drafts conventions, which when ratified, becomes a legally binding obligation. The ILO also publishes recommendations and declarations, which are not legally binding but express its views on a subject.
Fair Labor Association (FLA): The FLA, a voluntary monitoring initiative developed by NGOs and apparel companies.
Social Accountability International (SAI): The SAI is an organization that oversees the implementation of its SA-8000 workplace standard. SAI works to certify factories.
Workers Rights Consortium (WRC): The WRC monitors compliance with the apparel manufacturing codes of conduct of approximately eighty-eight colleges and universities and undertook two investigations in 2001, one in Mexico and the other in the U.S
What YOU can do
Use your purchasing power to pressure companies to work to reinforce government, corporate and nonprofit efforts to end worker abuses, improve living and working conditions everywhere and promote fair trade. Put your economic power to work by making wise choices.
See this page for letter writing campaigns:
http://www.coopamerica.org/sweatshops/ssaction.htm
See this page to test the companies that you buy from:
http://www.responsibleshopper.org/
You don’t have to make sure that everything you but is not made in factories. Instead, choose one of the products that you regularly buy and buy it only from a responsible company. Write letters, they really do help. A little resistance to the status quo can go a long way.