Nike Child Labor Essay

668 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Academic essays on nike using child labour

For many years people around the world have argued over whether or not the U.S. should buy products that were manufactured using child labor. Many companies such as Nike use child labor. Young children are having to work very hard, sometimes just to get by. United States companies should not buy products made with child labor because it is not safe for the kids and they are not being paid fairly. While many people say the U.S. should buy these products because it helps with child poverty, no company should be allowed to buy these types of products. United States companies shouldn’t be able to buy products made by using child labor, mainly because of all the safety and working condition hazards. Many companies, such as Nike, use heavy machinery in their factories, in order to get their products produced. As stated by John Cushman “Footwear factories have heavier machinery and use more dangerous raw material, including solvents that cause toxic air pollution.” These working conditions have been causing many people to get sick and in some cases die. Young children don’t …show more content…

Many of the child workers are paid very little, places such as China and Vietnam pay less than $2 a day, and in places such as Indonesia, workers are being paid as little as $1 or less (Cushman). These workers are not being paid fair enough amounts of money, especially because it is pennies on the dollar to make the products,and then the products are turned around and sold for a lot of money. The company owners are making a big profit, simply for selling the products which were made by hard working children, who were being very underpaid. Companies think that the cheaper they employ and pay their workers the more profit they will make, this is extremely unfair to the children, showing yet another reason as to why they should not be allowed to buy products made by child

Show More
Related

  • Nike Sweatshops Research Paper

    695 Words  | 2 Pages

    The first reason why it should be a matter of a concern to Green Plc is that the workers are underpaid and are forced to be in a harsh working condition. To illustrate this issue, Nike factory workers in Tangerang, Indonesia were paid basic wage of 1,250,000 rupiah (73.94 pounds) and this

    Read More

  • Sweat Shops are an Economic Stepping Stone

    1215 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many people in our society today are constantly asking, "Why do sweatshops exist?" The answer to this question is that companies like Nike and Wal-Mart use sweatshops to produce their goods for a much cheaper rate, to reduce the cost of their products. The problem with sweatshops is that the workers are subject to hard work in often times poor conditions for minimal pay. But although many people may condemn sweatshops, there are some advantages that many people overlook when arguing against sweatshops and their practices.

    Read More

  • NIKE's Labour Troubles

    1415 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... strongly suggest that awareness of sweatshop abuses is turning consumers away from Nike.” (International Nike Mobilization - www.haleokala.com).

    Read More

  • Sweatshops

    1059 Words  | 3 Pages

    When people think of a sweatshop, images of people assembling items in a hot and crowded factory somewhere in a “Third World” country tend to come to mind. However, the first few sweatshops were located in both New York and England, becoming established in the late 1800’s. The term “sweatshop” originated from the term “sweating”, which described the contractual agreements between workers and designers to produce clothing. In these workshops, there was a “sweater”, an individual who monitored garment making (“Origins Of Sweatshops”, 2017). The term sweatshop is more so currently used to describe the working conditions rather than the type of workplace itself. Even back then, these workplaces were unsanitary, were sources of safety hazards and extremely crowded. Throughout the years, poor people and immigrants filled up the sweatshops in desperate search for work. This eventually spread beyond the United States and U.K., and became a commonplace practice in developing countries ruled by dictators. With this spread quickly came the employment of child workers, especially in places such as Indonesia, and India. Like the adults, they are subject to treatment that violates their human rights. They are left without protection from any other adults, making them more susceptible to abuse. Despite this, major corporations and brands such as Wal-Mart, Adidas, Aldo, Victoria’s Secret, Urban Outfitters and so on use sweatshops for affordable labor. One of the more prominent cases is the incident involving Kathy Lee Gifford and Wal-Mart, in which both Gifford and Wal-Mart “suffered as a result of the negative press surrounding the manufacturing of Gifford’s clothing line distributed by Wal-Mart” (Radin & Calkins). Gifford’s clothing was produced in a factory in Honduras, where female workers constantly suffered “cruel and inhumane treatment” (Radin &

    Read More

  • Child Labor History Essay

    1316 Words  | 3 Pages

    Within months of the arrival of the early settlers on American soil, they were faced with the bitter cold of winter. These settlers were unprepared for winter. They were still in the process of building their houses, they had not gathered enough food to survive through the season, and they had no means of keeping warm during these dangerous months. Many of the early settlers died during these harsh cold months. With so many dead the use of child labor was necessary to survive for the colonist. In American history, this is often the case. In extreme times, when parents are unable to provide for their children on their own, the use of child labor is often

    Read More

  • The Secretary Chant Analysis

    608 Words  | 2 Pages

    Can you imagine going through stressful, exhausting, and depressing days repeatedly everyday? This could potentially ruin futures and also great opportunities in life. Marge Piercy’s poem, “ The Secretary Chant,” uses despondent vocabulary and a depressed tone to express her feelings on how your work could be the downfall of your life. The poem takes place in a secretary’s office where the secretary feels she is a tool in our society. Her body parts are being compared to a bunch of office supplies, thus making her seem like a tool not a human being. After a firm analysis on the Marge Piercy’s “ The Secretary Chant,” I have come to the decisions that people are tired of doing the same stressful work consistently without

    Read More

  • Child Labor Essay

    1266 Words  | 3 Pages

    England was a society dominated by children. During the reign of Queen Victoria one out of three of her servants were under the age of fifteen. Child labor was a prominent issue, because there were no systems to ensure the safety of children. During the start of the industrial revolution, there was a “high demand” for labor (Robson 53). Many families moved from rural areas to new, industrialized cities. After a while things weren’t looking as “promising” as they did before (Boone 23). In order to maintain, families had to put almost all of their family members to work. This led to a rise in the number of child labor. Children were “mistreated, underpayed and overworked” (Kincaid 30). Using children to do all of the hard work, the mining companies believed, was the most sensible and efficient way to get the job done. Because the children were a lot smaller, it was easy for them to “maneuver through tight spaces” and on top of that the children demanded little or no pay at all(Boone 43 ). These wages were enough to persuade companies to use children for all sorts of dangerous jobs such as coal mining and chimney sweeps. Children were called to do many other “horrible” jobs, jobs that adults in this era could not bear, just so long as the bills were paid (Robson 18). The working conditions and treatment of young children during this era was horrible and a lot was done to put an end to it.

    Read More

  • Child Labor Controversy Essay

    1806 Words  | 4 Pages

    Child labor laws need to be enforced more because governments are paying little attention to those who abuse the laws; therefore children are being abused physically by long hours and economically by low pay. Farmers and many businesses in third world countries are accused of taking major advantage of these laws. This topic is highlighted as one of the highest controversial issues in labor politics. Child labor is a major issue in countries such as Africa, Argentina, and Bangladesh. For example, in Africa, some children do the work of a grown man for as little as one dollar a day. On the other hand, in the United States some studies show that child labor is a bigger problem in the U.S than some third world countries (Barta and others). Many farmers are facing a huge problem; the government is attempting to keep children from working long hours on their family farms.

    Read More

  • Child Labor Essay

    893 Words  | 2 Pages

    Child labor refers to work that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; interferes with their schooling by depriving them of the opportunity to attend school; obliging them to leave school prematurely or by requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work (International Labor Organization). Child labor has been a big problem ever since the Victorian Era. Many counties worldwide have used and still to this day use child labor. Though there are many laws that have been implemented against using children to work, many countries tend to ignore them. In my paper I will be discussing countries where child labor is present, push to stop child labor, companies that use child labor, the effects on children, and the reasons for child labor.

    Read More

  • nike and child labor

    342 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Nike Case Study

    866 Words  | 2 Pages

    1.     Should Nike be held responsible for working conditions in foreign factories that it does not own, but where sub-contractors make product for Nike?

    Read More

  • Nike Manufacturing In Bangladesh Case Study

    639 Words  | 2 Pages

    American companies manufacturing at cheaper costs in foreign companies is not a new practice. Companies have been using overseas factories to produce goods for years due mainly to cheaper manufacturing costs. Not only are labor and material costs less expensive, foreign countries often do not have as strict of labor laws as the ones enforced in America. They also do not have a sense of responsibility to the community. Companies can come into a remote area in another country and provide substandard pay and working conditions to underprivileged workers who typically do not have many opportunities for work. In such cases, there is usually no local regulation enforced and global companies like Nike can take advantage of impecunious workers while increasing their profits.

    Read More

  • Nike: The Sweatshop Debate

    1361 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Boycotting Children Research Paper

    867 Words  | 2 Pages

    For instance, a major company in Pakistan called Saga Sports would be a corporation affected by all of this. To take case in point, when writing the article “Nike’s Dilemma: Is Doing the Right Thing Wrong? A child labor dispute could eliminate 4,000 Pakistani jobs” David Montero states “But it’s also likely, observers agree, to sink Saga, a corporation giant that makes 6 million of Pakistan’s annual production of 40-million soccer balls.” In other words, when boycotting products, a major company who makes a lot of money for Pakistan could end in this dispute.

    Read More

  • Nike's Is Doing The Right Thing Wrong

    218 Words  | 1 Pages

    “80% of the world soccer balls are made by Nike in Sialkot (Pakistan), a city of 3 million people”, according to David Montero in Is Doing The Right Thing Wrong ?( page 108). Nike’s contract with Saga Sports in March of 2007. Nike fears that Saga hiring children will violate laws,so Nike will not have Saga work for them. This will cost about 4,000 pakistani jobs. Also affects more than just the workers but their families.Although some say children are working in dangerous environments, people should buy products manufactured by child labor because children work so hard to make that product.

    Read More

More about Nike Child Labor Essay

Open Document