Sweat, Fire and Ethics - a Review of the Editorial

Sweat, Fire and Ethics

A Review of the Editorial

Bob Jeffcott

Pierce College

Author Note

This paper was prepared for English 103, taught by Professor Ron Schwartz.

Abstract

Sweatshops have been an issue for the past two hundred years. In this editorial piece, Bob Jeffcott informs his readers of the issues of sweatshops, gender inequality, and globalization. He gives a few examples of the working conditions of factories that ended in the death of hundreds due to poor working conditions and no one doing anything to end them. He expresses his opinion as to what he thinks should be done. Simply, we should continue to keep buying products produced in sweatshops to help these women and children.

Sweat, Fire and Ethics

A Review of the Editorial

In April 2007, "Canada's best-known sweatshop activists" (Watt,2009), Bob Jeffcott who works for Manquila Solidarity Network, a labor and women's rights organization brought to our attention the issues of world poverty and gender inequality. According to Jeffcott, the term "sweatshop" (Jeffcott) was used to "describe the harsh discipline and inhuman treatment employed by factory managers, to sweat as much profit from their workers' labour as was humanly possible." (Jeffcott, 2007) In New York on March 25, 1911, in New York there was a fire at the Asch building on the ninth floor. Over one hundred workers died due to crowded aisles because of the machinery that blocked the walkways as they tried to escape and to make matters worse there was only one stairwell leading to the buildings exit. In the years to follow "post world war two" (Jeffcott, 2007) there were improvements with the working conditions in these factories, that is until globalization and free trade began. On April 11, 1925, in Bangladesh, a nine story building collapsed and killed sixty four workers due to cracks in the buildings structure. There were four more factory accidents in February and March of 2006. Today, a few companies have what they call "company code of conduct compliance staff". (Jeffcott, 2007) These people answer complaints that employees have, investigate the complaint and then find a solution for the problem. Even with this addition, companies have not changed the conditions of the factories. Because these companies demand that products be made faster and cheaper they move to another country where their labor is cheaper and they can work the employees long hours and in harsh conditions. Jeffcott states "We should worry a little less about our shopping decisions and a bit more about what we can do to support the young women and girls...." (Jeffcott, 2007) I think this is very true because if we just stop buying those name brand items then we are not creating work for those women and children who work so hard already in those conditions.

I think after reading Bob Jeffcott's editorial anyone would say that he presented a rather interesting argument. It seems to me that Jeffcott's