...Title : “Exploitation of workers” Introduction Ethics can be defined as going beyond what is legal and doing what is right, even when no one is looking. While unethical behaviours at the workplace, are actions that don’t follow the acceptable standards of business in operations. Exploitation in general terms can be defined as taking unfair advantage of someone else’s weakness. A person, who is being exploited, accepts voluntarily the deal offered because it makes them “better off”. There are different forms of exploitation such as forced labour, child prostitution, human trafficking for sex work and the abuse of migrant workers. Exploitation at the workplace is largely considered as an unethical behaviour on the part of the employer. Exploiting...
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...that these young women encountered while migrated to Beijing such as labor exploitation from a local employer( pay less than the standard wage, work in a sweat shop and long hour), gender discrimination, and sexual violence. Rural women are the target of the labor exploitation because they are lack of capital resources to be independent on their own, lack of education, and the traditional patriarchal society. Some other major disadvantages that these rural women are facing are the risk of losing their jobs anytime after they pass twenty five year old and being deported by local authority( due to the big volume of migrant workers in the city and a the unwillingness of a local owner to employ an employer who passes twenty five). There is no doubt that rural Chinese Women have more freedom in making their own decisions compared to the past, but the question is at what cost does this come? It is hard to believe that women nowadays have given the full legal protections but still have to pay a high price to prove their abilities. Their contributions are being unrecognized by the society and families. China has the competitive advantage benefits other consumerist countries like the United States because of their crowded labor force, in one estimated claims that “products made in China have saved the average American family $500 a year.” With the China Price, China’s “share had grown to 12.1 percent, making China the world’s third-largest producer...
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...Globalization can be defined as the global integration of different worldviews, economic outlook, cultural values, and in many cases vast exploitation of workers. Women of color and women of the Third World are highly subject to globalization and the exploitation it causes. Women in Asia are greatly affected by Globalization, both politically and economically. We see in many cases in Asia how this occurs such as, corporations’ exploitation of women, challenges for the women’s movement, and the issue of sex workers and foreign brides. With the issue of exploitation of workers in corporations it becomes clear that Globalization is a huge factor in the livelihood of women in these countries. The idea of work for women has changed, we are now seeing a shift of the type of work women are doing. Before “women’s work” entailed mainly work around the house or reproductive labor. Women are becoming a main part of the productive work force and are now a part of the formalized economy. We have seen a major shift in Malaysia where there has been a huge increase of women’s participation in the formal economy. Women have taken on manufacturing jobs, government jobs, and service jobs. Globalization and Global capitalism has encouraged industrialization in Malaysia and women have been forced out of their homes to move into the more urban areas where the Free Trade Zones are (Ariffin27). According to Ariffin, women made up about thirty-eight percent of the labor market in the 1990’s. Although...
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...and traveled to other countries such as China and Taiwan. This trend has erected numerous questions including the structural integrity of this country’s economy. A lot of other disturbances arise from this conversation. Chinese currency manipulation and overall lack of oversight are creating a volatile mixture that could erupt at any moment. One topic that needs to be examined further is the sweatshop labor dynamic present in many of these manufacturing nations. Horrendous conditions and low pay make the cost of labor insanely cheap. Low to no tariffs as well as tax loopholes make this “offshoring” a no brainer for corporate executives looking to cut their bottom lines. The ethical and legal ramifications are still to be evaluated by society and the courts alike. To begin, there are many perceived incentives for decision makers offshoring their operation. Asia’s large population allows for a massive demand in the labor market . China in turn can provide a small wage and bad conditions to its workers. Numerous networks interact in China to lower barriers and make entrance easier for industries (i.e. the tech sector) . Goods from China also receive exemption from import taxes. The most interesting of all these incentives is the fact that Chinese companies are known to not comply with labor and wage laws. This again cuts costs, because the company doesn’t receive any negative consequences if it decides insurance for workers is unnecessary. All of these factors combined...
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...journal will provide 6 different news articles in regards of labor strike in different countries in Asia Pacific region including that of South Korea, China, India , and one from the western country, United States. The relation of the topic and the literature will further be explained in the later part of this research journal, analysis, solution, and recommendation will be stated in each article and combined together in conclusion. Literature Review Labour dispute can be related to theories of comparative industrial relation such as the impact on international labour standards, development and changes in unionism, collective and individual bargaining, and worker empowerment and conflict management. Impact on International Labour Standards (ILO), development and changes in unionism In order for collective bargaining to be successful, there are several conditions that needs to be fulfilled, there must be a freedom for both workers and employee to form their own associations to represent their interests, and stability of union must be maintained in order for collective bargaining to be effective, and for union to be able to honor the agreement. Thirdly, employer must recognize the presence of union, after recognition of union; collective bargaining then can be made (Anita Chan, 2002; David M. Trubek, 1997). Worker Empowerment and Conflict Management There are three union models according to Hyman 2001, market oriented unions where economic actors are in pursue...
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...Industrial Relations in China :A Case Study of Foxconn Suicides Abstract As globalization affected the whole world, the contradiction between leaders and labors has become a world-wide problem. In China, a series of employees’ suicides attracted the public and media’s concentration to consider this problem. A Taiwanese electronics corporation, is acting as the protagonist in this issue and now earning an internationally notorious reputation of running sweatshops. This paper analyze the cause of ongoing trend of exploitation of workers in China with the example of Foxconn, and examine the reasons behind those suicides from the perspective of management, workers and related laws. Based on the fundamental information of China, to illustrate my own analysis about this case from ethical and legal point, and to criticize Foxconn’s management strategy, industrial relations and the gaps of Chinese laws. Keywords: workers’ exploitation, China, Foxconn, suicides, inustrial relations 1. Introduction 1.1 Background and significance of the topic With the rapid development of Chinese economy and the increasing globalization of business competition, the various types of enterprises in China have been booming development, rapid increases in the number and size of foreign investment in China to hire to do business, and further reform of state-owned enterprises increase, the private sector, the number and the number of employees of private enterprises in recent years, is also...
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...virtue ethics; fairness, honesty and justice. Then I will apply deontology, “always act in such a way that you can also will that the maxim of your action should become a universal law. Public concerns about worker exploitation and environmental degradation arose with the expansion of outsourcing and production in emerging economies where poverty, abundant labor, and need for job creation provided unprecedented opportunities for large multinational corporation (MNCs) to shift production from high-wage countries to low-wage countries. Starting with isolated complaints from civil society organizations, human rights groups, and organized labor in the mid-eighties, the anti-sweatshop movement became a major force by early nineties in the United States, Canada, Europe, and other industrially advanced countries. Global companies were under fire for operating factories with working conditions that violated basic human rights and labor laws in terms of wages and working conditions. Instances of worker exploitation and employment of underage workers were widespread. Mattel was in the middle of all of this and had also taken steps to respond to public concerns with regard to sweatshop-like conditions and worker exploitation in toy manufacturing factories in China and other developing countries. These efforts were quite similar to those of other industries in that codes of conduct were created with tremendous fanfare but with insufficient effort to improve and monitor actual working...
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...main economic differences between the two partners, one is that China is willing to work at a very low return on investment which is 5 percent, while the U.S doesn’t deem the 5 percent enough they want to increase the return on investment to 20 percent. Another economic difference is that China workers will work for a lot less money than the U.S workers. The legal-political difference between the two partners is that the company has moved in onto Chinese soil, which seem to the U.S as exploitation and grounds for foreign attempts at domination, although the company causes job creation China and also helped the Chinese economy. The sociocultural difference is being that Chinese workers will work for less, there are more Chinese landing jobs with the company, and the U.S partners think that it is not fair to have hired more Chinese than U.S workers in the company. 2. Shui’s core problem is the sociocultural differences between the two partners. Both countries have very different cultures; China isn’t concerned too much about the return on investment, as this seems to be then main focus of the U.S. Also another sociocultural difference is that employment where the U.S is concerned about the number of U.S employees in the country they feel as if there should be more U.S workers, but the conflict with that is that the Chinese are willing to work for a lot less so its is easier to find Chinese work than U.S workers. I would handle the conflict with my boss, by trying to explain...
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...society that established the base on which Marxism was formed. His critique of the philosophies of other theorists and critical analysis of capitalism has influenced economic perception, and contributed largely toward the current understanding of capital and labour and the relationship that exists. In Karl Marx’s criticism of capitalism, he discussed many social matters such as ‘alienation’, the dominance by the ‘bourgeoisie’ over the ‘proletariat’; issues with regard to labour, such as the de-skilling and dehumanisation of workers as technological advances came about and capitalists strived to maximise ‘surplus value’ through the ‘exploitation’ of human labour. Although times have changed and this type of work environment is not as common, it is still an ever present situation in places such as China and India where cheap labour is employed to maximise the return for those in ‘control’. Advancements in technology continue, to the extent where the duties of workers can be performed just as efficiently if not more, by automated robots. Even though this brings about efficiency in the production of goods and contributes to the economy, there are ethical implications relating to the economy such as unemployment; does it maintain the idea of sustaining for future generations? Marx also put forth the idea of ‘objectification’, whereby “humans create external objects from their...
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... the horrors of this extremely profitable organized crime. Human trafficking is defined as the recruitment, transporting, or harboring of people for the purposes of slavery, forced labor, or sexual exploitation. There are two different types of human trafficking: labor trafficking and sex trafficking. Sex trafficking is the sale of women and children for prostitution and other forms of sexual exploitation. Sex trafficking is a lot more common than labor trafficking; labor trafficking is recruiting, transporting, or obtaining a person for labor or services. Human trafficking is a serious problem all around the world. In this paper I focused on trafficking in India, China, and the United States....
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...Poor working conditions have been a persistent problem for centuries. Over the last 50 years, large corporations from the United States have moved a large portion of their factories overseas to circumvent the strict working regulations within the United States. The third world countries such as india, Bangladesh, Vietnam, China, South Korea, and Taiwan provide access to readily abundant cheap labor. These corporations could now reap the benefit of the United States consumer market, while keeping their costs extremely low in offshore production. The media has awakened the public to this fact and several prominent corporations have come under fire lately for the malpractices. The term “child labor” is often defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical-mental development. It refers to work that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children, and interferes with their schooling by depriving them of the opportunity to attend school, obliging them to leave school prematurely or requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work. There are an estimated 186 million child laborers worldwide. The 2001 national census of India estimated total number of child labor aged 5–14 to be at 12.6 million. Small-scale and community-based studies have found estimated prevalence of 12.6 million children engaged in hazardous occupations. The culture...
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...unfortunately let down investors by their unethical conducts. Apple has come under fire since around 2006 as details emerged surrounding the workplace environment at Apple's Chinese suppliers. An article in The New York Times exposed unsatisfactory work conditions that included exhausting 24-hour shifts, exposure to toxic chemicals, overcrowded housing, and horrendous explosions. Foxconn Technology Group operates many of the plants in question in Chengdu, China. According some Apple product users, Apple is said to be a trendy innovator that leads the industry and forces competitors to follow. Nevertheless, when it comes to its supply chain management and treatment of workers in the Chinese factories, Apple hides behind the constraints of prevailing industry practices. The fact that these practices are in violation of not only local and national laws, but also of Apple's own, self-imposed code of conduct. The majority of Apple's worker-related problems was directed towards Apple's manufacturing partner Foxconn and its subsidiaries. Apple's China operations first caught international attention in June 2006 with a long story in Britain's Mail on Sunday.1 This was followed by a series of similar stories in other leading international news media, and has continued to this day.2 Because of Foxconn's secrecy, it...
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...Later, more cases went to Wang Keqin’s desk. Then he realized it is such a severe issue that there must be someone or some groups to help those hopeless people with the disease. Finally, he decided to help those helpless workers and established the charity group – Da Ai Qing Chen. Brief Introduction Dust lung (pneumoconiosis) is the most serious occupational disease in China. According to the statistics from the department of public health, nearly 90% of the occupational disease is dust lungs and the death rate is as high as 22%. Based on the research, in China, there are at least 6 million dust lung patients. Almost all of them are from lowest class. They do not have a penny to spend on hospital so to their data, currently China has at least six million peasants with the disease. In order to help those people, Da Ai Qing Chen was set up in order to help pay their hospital bills with the public donations. Everything happens for a reason, and so is the widely spread of Dust Lung in China. In recent years, no one can ignore the rocket-like booming economic development of China. Nearly all the economists and investors are talking about China nowadays. However, due to this rapid development, many constructions are held by either government or individuals because China is still a developing country anyway. Therefore, millions of...
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...Turkey for Denim and Acrylics to Indonesia for embellished dresses their range also covers accessories, shoes and handbags. Therefore they are going to need several different countries to cover the sourcing of the entire of their range. So, for the Purpose of this report I am going to look at the countries Turkey, China and Romania as they were the most prominent among the supply base. In the last 10 years Turkey has been steadily producing more and more clothing for the UK Highstreet. It is regarded as a great maker of Denim and currently owns a 21.8% share of the UK textile exports. The advantages of using a supplier based in Turkey include Short lead times, meaning repeat orders can be quickly processed should the demand for a particular product increase dramatically. Large Cotton supply, where other countries supplies of cotton are scares due to the 2010 Cotton Crisis, turkey produces around 900 000 tons of cotton annually placing themselves 6th in the world. This means that whilst other areas are still trying to recover from the effects Turkey found an increase in demand of work. Turkey is a first world country with lots of schooling and freedom, their workers are much less likely to be exploited than other countries in the middle east who are not as well developed. Also, the Turkish textile industry is known for good reputation for producing quality garments with excellent attention to detail, and as Marks and Spencer is expected to produce good quality long lasting garments...
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...found out, the company and its shareholders suffer. A controversy involving the Nike Corporation shows how a company can be affected by situations they may not be able to fully control. The athletic apparel industry in which Nike is involved is a major money maker in the United States, but the fact that none of the factories are located in North America has brought some heat to the company. “Nike controls more than 40 percent of the U.S. market for sports related goods, but doesn’t have a single sneaker factory in this country” (Miller, 1995). Nike continues to make millions of dollars yet exploits workers overseas by paying them very little, while requiring long hours without overtime pay in factories that are not up to American standard. “Nike subcontractors employ nearly 500,000 workers in plants in Indonesia, China and Vietnam” (Saporito, 1998). The exploitation of workers in Third World countries, where the majority of Nike’s labor is done sparks a controversial issue. People question why Nike continues these practices. According to “Just do it, Nike,” Nike seems especially fond of doing business in...
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