I love to wear NIKE clothes, but when I learned that they use sweatshops it really got to me. Basically they treat their employees like slaves, don’t give them the safest working environment, and don’t care about their overall health. Nobody likes the ideas of sweatshops, and in our modern society even some popular cultural icons have spoken about sweatshops. For example Kanye West on “Facts” he says, “NIKE NIKE ,treat employees just like slaves”. He is basically talking about the Nike sweatshop scandal; where they were exposed for mistreating their employees and running sweatshop like factories. This shows how big companies are being exposed for their actions. Nike is a very big well known brand, that was bought by millions, and still is today. It was one of the first mainstream brands that was busted for using sweatshops. Mostly because no company wants to be associated with sweatshops, and most companies are not required to disclose that kind of information. There are thousands of brands in our nation that are probably very similar to Nike. However we will never know who exactly they make their clothes unless they get caught too.
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Many people have tried fighting against sweatshops, thus creating organizations and groups. These have been strong activist groups that have helped bring awareness to sweatshops. One of the most common and famous anti-sweatshop organizations would be United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS). Their missions states;
“United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) is a grassroots organization run entirely by youth and students. We develop youth leadership and run strategic student-labor solidarity campaigns with the goal of building sustainable power for working people. We define “sweatshop” broadly and consider all struggles against the daily abuses of the global economic system to be a struggle against sweatshops.” In other words this group of young people are fighting not only for those in sweatshops, but those who suffer global economic abuse. This is also an organization that is an by young people and is in many college campuses across America. This proves that our nation is creating activist groups to help people become aware of sweatshops. They even have option for people to donate or even bring their organization to their own campus. If you've ever checked the tag on a polo shirt, wondering where it was made, and whether workers there are treated fairly, Charles Kernaghan has touched your life. He heads the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, a New York-based group that campaigns against sweatshops and for workers' rights worldwide. It has taken on some of the biggest names in the nation's apparel and clothing industries. College campuses not too long ago shook with student protests based on the group's overseas work. It's a tiny operation, but Kernaghan, a graduate of Chicago's Loyola University, seems to have the drive of 100 workaholic CEOs. Labor unions and the clergy closely support the group's work." |