Introduction to Module 5 - Sweatshops
The clothes we wear make us walking evidence of 21st century forced labour, with the vast majority of textiles being produced by workers not getting paid enough, in bad conditions, with little protection and even fewer rights. Men, women and children are affected. The sweatshop epidemic spreads much further than the much publicised campaigns against Nike and Gap. From the entire cities of low-wage factories scattered across China to the thousands of Mexican women working in cheap labour factories just south of the US border, sweatshops are the default setting for clothes production.
They are by no means a poor country feature: currently, 300,000 underpaid Australians are working in our national textiles industry, sewing the 'Proudly Made in Australia' tag. There is current legislation proposed in Victoria for greater transparency in the textiles industry.
In order to skirt international law concerning work and wage standards, 'Free Trade Zones'” have been set up by the International Monetary Fund. They are areas in countries free of government control where products can be manufactured en masse without interference: all in the name of export growth.
In this module, students will gain an understanding of how closely we are linked to people overseas through the clothes we wear and things we buy. The myth of unfair working conditions only happening overseas will be challenged in looking at sweatshops operating in Australia. Students will research which Australian companies have been accredited to use the 'no sweatshop' label, and will be challenged to think about people their age working in the textiles industry overseas.
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