FAQ's
Often times, people have many misconceptions about sweatshops and we are here to answer your questions.
Q: What is a sweatshop?
The U.S. Department of Labor defines a sweatshop as a factory that violates two or more labor laws. For example, many sweatshops around the world violate laws such as low wages, very long hours, and workplace safety.
Q: Aren’t low wage jobs helpful to the economy?
A: Low wage jobs are not the same as the pay in sweatshop jobs. Sweatshop jobs do not pay enough to raise its workers out of poverty. Because of this, there is no progression for workers to advance from.
Q: Do companies track their products to keep out sweatshop affiliation?
A: A completely sweatshop - free company is unfortunately nonexistent given how massive the work is. A good tracker of limitations to this would be unionized organizations or companies. Verité, a non profit organization, inspects companies on behalf of their client organization. Verité performs audits and assists correction programs for those who violate.
Q: How could sweatshops be removed?
A: Sweatshops are an issue that will be difficult to remove due to how integral they have become to industry. However, human rights issues are slowly but surely becoming less and less in the workforce. Awareness to the consumer has pushed this tremendously. Simply put, sweatshops will take a generation to dislodge from the hands of greedy corporations, but the effort put in now has and is showing effect.
Q: What is a sweatshop?
The U.S. Department of Labor defines a sweatshop as a factory that violates two or more labor laws. For example, many sweatshops around the world violate laws such as low wages, very long hours, and workplace safety.
Q: Aren’t low wage jobs helpful to the economy?
A: Low wage jobs are not the same as the pay in sweatshop jobs. Sweatshop jobs do not pay enough to raise its workers out of poverty. Because of this, there is no progression for workers to advance from.
Q: Do companies track their products to keep out sweatshop affiliation?
A: A completely sweatshop - free company is unfortunately nonexistent given how massive the work is. A good tracker of limitations to this would be unionized organizations or companies. Verité, a non profit organization, inspects companies on behalf of their client organization. Verité performs audits and assists correction programs for those who violate.
Q: How could sweatshops be removed?
A: Sweatshops are an issue that will be difficult to remove due to how integral they have become to industry. However, human rights issues are slowly but surely becoming less and less in the workforce. Awareness to the consumer has pushed this tremendously. Simply put, sweatshops will take a generation to dislodge from the hands of greedy corporations, but the effort put in now has and is showing effect.