One of the more controversial issues in economics these days is the proliferation of American multinational corporations.  Some of these companies have been accused of not providing adequate working conditions or wages to indigenous peoples.  One of those companies is NIKE, INC.  After watching a 20/20 program highlighting the situation, students were asked to provide an editorial, voicing their opinion about this issue.  Here are a few.
 
 

Editorial

    This sounds to me like people don’t like their job, well why don’t they quit and find a better job. QUIT. Stop blaming the celebrities and start blaming the manufacturers. It’s their fault, not the celebrities!
    Now people that are bought, that’s wrong. If they are hired, then they can quit if they want to or be fired. People complain and wine, why? They have jobs and are getting paid. If they don’t like it then they can quit and find another job! These are just my opinions, Whether they are right or wrong!
by
Jesse Rice

I’m also sick of everyone carrying about other countries, and forgetting about our own!!!
 
 

In a booming market economy we often forget that there are people in other countries who are not receiving a living wage for the products that we are guilty of buying and American companies are guilty of selling.  Big name companies are selling their designer labels making huge profits off of the sweat of under paid workers.  Children are working as adults and receiving even lower pay than the adults.

 Every day name brands such as Nike, Reebok, and Kathy Lee Gifford products are being manufactured in sweatshops.  These companies are paying their workers unfairly.  For example, In a US sweat shop workers were paid 18-20 cents per blouse then these blouses were sold for 20 dollars a piece.  This is robbery!  These workers deserve their fair share of the profits!

The companies claim that they are paying the workers a legal wage.  The problem with this is that in some countries the legal wage is not a living wage.  These companies move their factory to whichever country has the lowest legal wage.  For example, in Haiti Disney pays its workers only 28 cents an hour!  Disney products are not sold cheap; to say Disney workers in Haiti are cheap labor is an understatement.  They are practically enslaved! The Haitians probably aren’t receiving enough money to feed their families sufficiently while Disney is making millions/billions in profit by cheating their workers.

 Nike has went so far as to employ bonded workers who are children to work in their Pakistan factories.  They hire children because children are the cheapest labor they can possibly find.  The children are paid a child’s wage for a man’s job.  It is wrong that any company would employ a child because children should be learning in schools and should not be made to worry about adult problems ahead of their time.  Nike should be paying their parents more than a living wage, so their parents will be able to support their family comfortably and will not force their children into bondage.  I think Americans should boycott Nike until it is made public that they have stopped cheating their oversees workers and no longer have any children employed.  They should give their former children employees scholarships to make up for steeling their childhood and keeping them out of school.

 These companies like Nike and Disney should not be taking advantage of the third world labor force.  Instead they should be paying their third world workers well above the living wage in their country so they will be able to escape a life of poverty.  I believe these large companies would still be profitable and that this would be a lot more humane.  These companies should give the same benefits to the workers as they give their US factory workers.  If we in the US accept slave labor in other countries then we will see more US sweat shops, and clothing manufactures not paying workers the salaries they deserve to try to meet the same prices.  In a world where companies are driven by profit and consumers want bargains the problem of sweatshops will not go away.  Consumers need to boycott sweatshop products and let companies know they are not a good deal.

BY
REBECCA TRACEY

 I feel guilty.  Right now I am wearing a pair of Nike running shoes.  I also have a number of different Nike sweatshirts, shoes, T-shirts, and pants.  But I make excuses just like everybody else.  Oh, it can't be that bad, or they're trying to improve, or Nikes are the only shoes that I can run in.  I also complain about school sometimes, just like everybody else.  I complain that Christmas break was too short, or I don't feel like going today.  While there are kids who want to go to school more than anything in the world, but can’t.
 I can't imagine working in a factory at the age of 12, and sometimes working an 11-13 hour day.  Getting yelled at and hit, and not being able to complain for fear of losing your job would be just too much.  After putting up with all of this, you would only earn $.28 an hour in Haiti.  And that’s minimum wage.  I was shocked to hear that each garment costs the manufacturer about $.18-$.20.  I had hoped that their products cost them at least a few dollars to produce.  These companies would rather hire children because they don’t complain about these terrible conditions.  Some companies and countries have outlawed child labor, but this hasn’t stopped them from paying unlivable wages to adults.
 Some people argue against raising the wages in these factories because they fear that it will raise prices in the U.S.  I agree with the experts when they say that this wouldn’t happen.  If the owners of the firms would only pay their employees livable wages, production would actually go up.  The people would be well fed, less desperate, and all around happier.  They would be able to work more consistently and the managers would have made a good investment.  I hope that companies like Nike and the Gap can improve their ways.  If they did, I’m sure a lot of customers would return to them.

By
Anne Knudtson