Sweatshops Working Conditions

1200 Words3 Pages

The working conditions at the Indian suppliers of Britain’s reputed fashion brands which include Gap, Next and M&S is degrading to a concerning level. Factory workers are paid a meagre salary of 25p per hour and they do not receive any extra credit for working overtime. The companies have launched an inquiry into this grave issue that involves violation of Indian labour law and industry’s ethical trading initiative (ETI). GAP and Next use the same factory, House of Pearl, which pays its workers half the legal overtime rate. Upon scrutiny, M&S also admitted its suppliers were engaged in forced labour, a practice that is outlawed around the globe. Some labourers have interviewed with the Observer and revealed that when they refuse to work under …show more content…

This is referred to as employing sweatshop labourers, a practice that is unethical and illegal around the globe. Sweatshops are factories where cheap labour is employed. It is defined by the International Labour Rights Forum, as an organisation that violates two or more labour laws (2013). The working conditions in these factories are poor and the workers are forced to work with insufficient pay for hours longer than the legal limit. Cases of physical abuse are common in sweatshops where workers challenge the management. Big clothing lines are commonly accused of encouraging sweatshop factories in third world …show more content…

According to the ethical theories of Immanuel Kant, an activity is right only if it is universally moral. If the workers are put to all kinds of abuse, the management should also not refute to physical, mental, emotional and financial abuse. Kant’s views oppose the argument that human beings can be used as a means to an end if the end brings happiness to a majority. Humans are not the means but they are the in fact the end themselves (Kant 1971, p273). Any regulation must be judged on the basis of its impact on

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