Engl Outline

I. Introduction A. Extreme sweatshop morality advocates propose the elimination of sweatshops everywhere 1. Why eliminate them? Think of all the benefits you will be losing. Would it not be more beneficial to compromise by improving working conditions while still allowing the shops to stay open? 2. “There is a large gulf between concluding that the activities of sweatshops are morally evil and concluding that sweatshop labor ought to be legally prohibited, boycotted, regulated, or prohibited by moral norms.” B. Extreme sweatshop economic advocates propose that nothing be changed in the current system 1. The economic benefits are too good to ignore and outweigh the moral questions a) “Economists…point to the voluntary nature of sweatshop employment as evidence for the claim that Western governments ought not to restrict the importation of goods made by sweatshops”

b) “Kenya's June Arunga, who studies trade policy, doesn't think so. She said nobody in her country thinks about companies exploiting them. ‘When there's a new company opening a factory people are excited about it,’ she said.”

c) “Most economists agree that ‘sweatshops’ are what allowed people in now-thriving places like South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore to work their way out of poverty.”

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d) “The economic way of thinking views sweatshops from an exchange perspective in which both workers and employers when they voluntarily enter into a labor contract– no matter low the wages may seem to external observers.”

II. The Wages in Sweatshops A. Often, those who work at sweatshops earn more than the national average or at local factories 1. “Budd, Konings, and Slaughter (2001) find that as multinational profits go up, multinational firms share gains with Third World workers.”

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2. “In 9 of 10 nations, average apparel industry income exceeds the national average at only 50 hours per week. Apparel workers in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Honduras, and Nicaragua earn 3 to 7 national average.”

3. “Figure 2 shows that despite this bias, average apparel industry wages equal or exceed average income per worker in 8 of 10 countries. At 70 hours of work per week, apparel worker earnings in six countries exceed 150 percent of average income per worker, and they more than double the average in three countries.” III. Skill Development A. Sweatshops develop a business mindset in its workers and gives them the basic skills to eventually move on and provide for themselves

1. “Arunga said, ‘People get jobs in these places, their generation lives better than their parents lived. Most of them work for these companies for a while, go off and start their own businesses, it's a win-win situation for everyone,’ she said.” IV. Working Environment A. Common misconception that all sweatshops are filthy and dangerous work places

is why scrutiny.”

moral and of V. More Jobs

1. “Companies that establish factories with appalling work environments don’t stand a chance competing for workers in a free market. This arguments about poor working conditions don’t stand up to 2. “An agent's choice, or consent, is transformative insofar as it "alters the normative relations in which others stand with respect to what they may do" (Kleinig, 2001:300). This transformation can affect both the and the legal claims and obligations of both the parties involved, third parties.” (sexual relations analogy)

A. Sweatshops open more jobs for people and better opportunities to make a living 1. “Labor unions also obfuscate the issue by claiming that companies which establish operations in developing nations create unemployment in America. Such a claim is only half the story.” 2. “Over the past generation, for every job in the textile or auto industry that was lost in the United States, two or more have been created in technology or other advanced industries.”

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3. “They want jobs and are willing to work for a wage commensurate with their productivity in their economies.” Conclusion: A. Sweatshops have many benefits for local economies B. Wages and working conditions are not as bad as people perceive them to be C. Let’s reach a compromise and improve working conditions while still maintaining “sweatshops”, not eliminating them 1. “Yanasak said, "We're not trying to close down sweatshops, we're trying to change sweatshops.”