labor16

It is certainly unfortunate that slavery still exists in the world. In reality, it
continues to thrive in many foreign company locations, despite supposed strict
measures taken to abolish slavery over the years. The smallest estimations
indicate that at least 27 million people toil in the utmost desolate forced bondage
conditions possible on this earth. The areas affected by this devastation include
places such as Nigeria, Indonesia, and Brazil. It is a shame to note that other
sources document the number referred to above to be as much as 10 times
larger (“In Ecuador”, 5). However, it is also imperative to note that slavery
statistics at times are particularly uncertain because there is a definite lack of
information on the precise number of those in bondage. The companies involved
in these tactics prefer to keep their operations masked. Nevertheless, as more
and more products are available in the United States and other more developed
countries, the truth is becoming increasingly accessible as well. In a more
intensely focused approach, there will now be a thorough examination of some
various examples of American-adored companies that exploit child slave labor for
their own advancement (“In Ecuador”, 7).
Those who shop at the retail store known as Wal-Mart know and love it for its
cheap and good quality products. This is just a mask disguising the company’s
true intentions. First, in January 2004, the New York Times reported on an
internal Wal-Mart audit which found “extensive violations of child labor laws and
state regulations requiring time for breaks and meals.” One week of time records
from 25,000 employees in July 2000 found 1,371 instances of minors working too
late, during school hours, or for too many hours in a day. There were 60,767
missed breaks and 15,705 lost meal times (“Wal-Mart”, 3-4). Second, according to
the New York Times report: “Verette Richardson, a former Wal-Mart cashier in
Kansas City, MO., said it was sometimes so hard to get a break that some cashiers
urinated on themselves. Bella Blaubergs, a diabetic who worked at a Wal-Mart in
Washington State, said she sometimes nearly fainted from low blood sugar
because managers often would not give breaks (“Wal-Mart”, 5). Next, a store
manager in Kentucky told the New York Times that, after the audit was issued, he
received no word from company executives to try harder to cut down on
violations: “There was no follow-up to that audit, there was nothing sent out I was
aware of saying, ‘We’re bad. We screwed up. This is the remedy we’re going to
follow to correct the situation” (“Wal-Mart”, 5).
Wal-Mart claims that their products are made in America, but this is entirely false.
Wal-Mart’s demands on suppliers that they cut costs have caused these
suppliers to move majority production overseas. Greg Palast reports that
Chinese dissident Hongda Wu discovered, in 1995, that Wal-Mart was contracting
prison slave labor in Guangdong Province (Miller, 10). Wu and Palast fight
together that numerous items at Wal-Mart are made by the Chinese People's
Liberation Army. Hongda Wu is a convicted felon who served 19 years in China.
Slave labor is hard labor prison in China. American prisons also make products
and hence continue slave labor. Michael Moore's recent documentary showed
American prisoners making jeans and providing travel advices for several states
(James, 6). In Bangladesh, Palast reported that in 1992 teenagers were working
in "sweatshops" approximately 80 hours per week, at $0.14 per hour, for Wal-Mart
contractor Beximco. In 1994, Guatemalan Wendy Diaz reported that, at the age of
13, she had been working for Wal-Mart at $0.30 per hour (Miller, 11).