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Should We Buy Products That Have Been Manufactured Using Child Labor I disagree that it is okay to buy products that have been manufactured using child labor. The reasons why we should boycott these products is, because it can cause severe harm to these children because they undergo dangerous conditions in factories, two the Nike company pledges to get put an end to child and labor, and three the children are too young to make these items.. Today we will talk about why we should boycott these products made from the children. We shouldn’t buy these products because it can cause severe harm to children that undergo labor. In factories children are too young to work in there because the text says “Footwear factories have heavier machinery and …show more content…
Nike decided to make the conditions safer to children by the text says “... it would raise the minimum for new workers at show factories to 18 and the minimum workers at other plants to 16” and “... the company said, it would tighten air-quality controls to insure that the air breathed by the workers meets the same standards enforced by the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration” (lines 17-19 John H. Cushman Jr.) (lines 24-28 John H. Cushman). This evidence shows that Nike is doing many things to stop the child labor from occurring and that we should support the company, because of how much they put in their time saving lives of children from child labor. We should help support Nike by boycotting other companies products that use child labor because they don’t like child labor as much as we do. Nike not only wants to make conditions safer, but also the text says “Nike, in a statement today, cited a report it commissioned in 1997, which said that its factories in Indonesia and Vietnam pay legal minimum wages and more” (lines 38-40 John H. Cushman). This evidence is another reason why Nike wants to stop child labor because the children aren’t getting paid
The lives of large section For the first time in history children were an important factor of the economic system, but at a terrible price. The master of the factories employed children for two reasons. One, because of their small body which can get inside the machines to clean it and use their nimble fingers. Second, the masters use to pay low wages to the children who could be easily manipulated. The average age for the parents to send their children to work was ten.
Places like Pakistan, places with high percentage of poverty, children are being forced to work extreme numbers of hours making soccer balls for the rest of the world. It is ironic that almost all around the world children are playing with soccer balls but in high poverty areas like Pakistan children are not going to school but rather making soccer balls all day long. “About 7,000 children between the ages of 5 and 14 have no time for school because they work full-time manufacturing soccer balls, earning about 50 cents for each ball they produce” (CNN). A child does not wake up excited to make soccer balls every day. They are forced to do it because the family with those children belong to are generally poor and that is why they have every person in the family working to help each other bring food to their table. During the 1998 world cup sales for soccer balls increased “25 percent” (CNN) because of the hype that is drawing attention to the upcoming World Cup. Even though the world cup games were held in France and a lot of money was generated by FIFA not much was passed down to the families who worked on the equipment that was essential for a soccer game to be conducted. From the player’s outfit to the footwear everything was being generated by poor families that are getting paid less than minimum wage. This kind of situation spreads like wildfire. “Efforts in the 1990’s to expose abuses in the assembly of soccer balls in Pakistan pushed businesses into India, where children continue to work in this industry. The report shows that industry initiatives have failed to improve the lives of thousands of children forced to work in Meerut, India to pay off the debt of their parents. For years, companies have said that they have extensive monitoring programs to make sure child labor is not used in the production
Many businesses and factories hired children because they were easier to exploit; they could be paid less for more work in dangerous conditions. Plus, their small size made many children idea for working with small parts or fitting into small spaces. Children as young as four could be found working in factories, though most were between eight and twelve. Despite the economic gains made by the business that employed them, many children suffered in the workplace. The industrial setting caused many health problems for the children that, if they lived long enough, they would carry with them for the rest of their lives. Children were also more likely to face accidents in the workplace, often caused by fatigue, and many were seriously injured or killed. Despite efforts by reformers to regulate child labor, it wasn’t until the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 that children under 14 were prohibited from
Nike publicizes itself as one of the leading industries in corporate responsibility. However, they do not comply with several human rights obligations overseas in countries like Thailand, Pakistan, China, Vietnam and Indonesia. In these countries, production facilities called sweatshops have been running for almost 35 years employing workers as young as 13 years of age. The conditions of these factories are adverse to say the least and deprive workers of the moral human rights they should be entitled to. Sweatshops are unethical, immoral and demonstrate Nike’s ignorance towards their social responsibilities abroad. Within these facilities, workers endure stressfully long days under undesirable conditions, often with no breaks and very little pay. While this is going on overseas, sponsored athletes are being paid million dollar salaries here in North America. Although Nike’s reputation has been foiled through the tabloids regarding this issue, they have been making a substantial effort to “clean up” production messes in the East.
Pittman, B. (2012, September 14). Nike sweatshop history: Should action be taken?. Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/site/americanlaborcrises/labor-crises/nike-sweatshop-action
Nike has been accused of using child labor in the production of its soccer balls and shoes for Nike in Pakistan. While Pakistan has laws against child labor, the government has taken very little action to terminate it. It is said that only a boycott by the United States and other nations will have any impact on child-based industries. In addition, the U.S constitution states that child labor is an illegal and inhumane practice and any U.S. company found guilty practicing and encouraging it will be prosecuted. The World Trade Organization (WTO) prohibits member nations, like the United States, from discriminating against the importation of goods made by children.
Nike does not merely sell products these days. They spend billions of dollars for advertising contracts with famous athletes like Tiger Woods to increase the value of the brand by associating the factor of lifestyle to their products. The company's image has been damaged many times by press releases as well as a variety of NGOs who have long pointed out the inhumane working conditions in the production facilities of sporting goods manufacturers. This leads to the question whether should Nike orientate the regulations of the suppliers to the labor standards in their respective countries or those in the United States? The labor conditions are so inhumane that Nike at least should try to converse to the US standard to improve the situation. The following analysis of an abstract of Nikes’ Responsibility Concept, including SHAPE and their Code of Conduct, should give an insight into the difficulties of the Sweatshops.
Phil Knight started his shoe company by selling shoes from the back of his car. As he became more successful in 1972 he branded the name Nike. In the 1980’s Nike Corporation quickly grew and established itself as a world leader in manufacturing and distributing athletic footwear and sports' attire. The Nike manufacturing model has followed is to outsource its manufacturing to developing nations in the Asia Pacific, Africa, South and Latin Americas; where labor is inexpensive. It quickly became known for its iconic “swoosh” and “Just do it” advertisements and products. Its highly successful advertising campaigns and brand developed its strong market share and consumer base. But, the road has not always been easy for Nike; in the late 1990’s they went through some challenging times when their brand become synonymous with slave wages and child labor abuses. During this period, Nike learned that it paramount that the company understands its stakeholders’ opinions and ensures their values are congruent with their stakeholders. Nike learned that their stakeholders were concerned with more than buying low cost products; their customers were also concerned with ethical and fair treatment of their workers. Because Nike was unwilling to face the ethical treatment of its employees, the company lost its loyal customers and damaged its reputation. Nike has bounced back since the late 1990’s and revived its reputation by focusing on its internal shortfalls and attacking its issues head on. Nike nearly collapsed from its missteps in the late 1990’s. They have learned from their mistakes and taken steps to quickly identify ethical issues before they become a crisis through ethics audits. This paper is based on the case study of Nike: From Sweatsh...
Nike has suffered attacks from a number of agencies and organizations throughout the world that claim that the workers who manufacture Nike shoes are denied the basic essentials of living—a fair wage and decent benefits. All that occurs while several sport megastars are reaping in multimillion dollar contracts to promote Nike shoes. Over the years, Nike formulated tactics to deal with the problems of working conditions and compensation in subcontractors. It hired a strong consultant (Andrew Young), commissioned an independent audit of its subcontractors, and spelled out initiatives to improve those working conditions. Still, Nike’s critics were not satisfied. They protested on university campuses and accused Nike of continuing to hide the conditions of workers.
Research can be defined as a systematic method through which new knowledge is discovered. No matter what topic is being studied or analyzed, the value of research lies in how well it is designed and carried out. There are several types of research which include: surveys, interviews, content analysis and focus groups. As an advertiser it is important not only to be aware of your surroundings, but what goes on in people’s minds. Individuals’ needs and wants are not only essential but the base of an advertisement’s success. The purpose of this essay is to conduct my own research about a company that has transcended barriers such as race, disabilities, and gender with a phrase that has sparked interest, innovation and motivation all over the world: “Just Do It”. Since the 1980’s Nike has not only become one of the leading sports brands, but a corporation that learned just how to convey a message and reach their target consumers through successful advertisement. The question is: What is portrayed through Nike’s advertisement and slogans? How has this helped sales, and how far has advertisement pushed its success? The objective of this research paper is to find and understand in-depth answers to these questions that bring a
With the increasing awareness and publicity of poor working conditions in subcontracted factories in East Asia, Nike has stimulated an uprising of activist and watchdog groups working toward seeing these conditions changed. With Nike in the negative spotlight, various organizations have revolved around generating a negative outlook on Nike’s practices of social irresponsibility. Certain campaigns such as the “National Days of Consciousness” and “International Day of Protest” were organized to educate people on the deplorable working conditions in Nike’s Asian manufacturing plants, and were designed to get more people involved in global employment issues.
In my point of view, the most unethical Nike’s decision is not to take the responsibility to ensure at least minimum and humane standards that it should offer to its work force. For example, in Vietnam, Nike paid its workers less than the cost of three meals of rice and vegetables and tofu. It treated workers no better than in sweatshops with only two drinks of water and one bathroom break in an eight hour shift. Also Nike let its contractors in developing countries to use child labor under sub-standard conditions. On the other hand, the least unethical Nike’s decision is to have a TV commercial featured a Manchester United player explaining how spitting at a fan and insulting a coach won him a Nike contract.
Moreover, the letter elaborates how there were several female child workers that died due to the working environment. To extend further, the letter informs, "Last Thursday one girl fell down and broke her neck which caused instant death." Apparently the girl that died, fell due to the ice on the mill. There were also several other cases in which people had died because of the dangerous working conditions. Along with dangerous working conditions, the uncleansed factories also are inappropriate and should not let any human beings work in.
Also I think the writer is trying to get the consumer to write to the companies and tell them, to remind them, what their subcontractors is not right or fair. " The workers are lucky - One senior Nike employee told researchers: I don't think the workers in our factories are treated badly… Working conditions are
Contrary to popular belief, some parents want their children to endure harsh work conditions and the like in order to accumulate hard working skills. In many cultures, even in the U.S., kids work growing up. For example, “Different from other children in the U.S., the Amish are allowed to leave school and start working at the age of 14,” as stated in “This Company Is Employing Children?. That is not out of financial need, but because those parents believe their children should learn how to work hard and provide for themselves. When people boycott products manufactured by children, they are interfering with the parenting of some children.