Exploitation of Labour

Kofi Annan, former United Nations secretary general, said, “It has been said that arguing against globalization is like arguing against the laws of gravity”. This quote depicts that globalization is inevitable in a manner that, no matter what individuals do, it doesn’t change. Globalization is making the world flatter, which allow businesses to operate across nation-state boundaries. To some individuals, globalization is an opportunity for all nations to reduce poverty and raise living standards through interaction and exchange of commodities, services and information. While others, perceive globalization as a strategy used by developed countries to exploit nations that are economically and politically weak through multinational corporations. In this executive summary, I will be analyzing the impact upon developing nations based on economic, social and environmental factors when multinational corporations outsource their manufacturing operations.

Numerous garment multinational corporations outsource their manufacturing operations from Bangladesh because of easy availability of low-cost labor, less social and environmental restraints. However, they create sweatshops, where the workers are exploited by being paid unconscionable wages with long working hours and impoverished working conditions. According to the Economist, the workers are paid less than US$38 per month. This indicates that sweatshop workers are trapped in a poverty cycle due to exploitation and are unable to access basic necessities such as shelter, nutrition, education and health care

On the other hand, in Bangladesh the garment industry accounts for 80% of total exports and employs more than 3.5 million people, in which 80% of them are women. The sweatshops have led to an increase in employment and pays them a better wage compared to other available jobs in Bangladesh. Furthermore, such opportunities give the workers a chance of alleviating out of the poverty line as some job is better than no job. In addition, it also provides an opportunity for Bangladesh to grow its economy. (Andrew Inkpen, 2013)

To add on, the literacy rate of Bangladeshi women is 58% (CIA, 2015). A study published in the Journal of Development Economics, described that Bangladeshi women who are in close proximity to the sweatshops are able to stay in school longer, avoid early marriages and childbirth. (Peter Kelley,2015) This indicates that such opportunities are aligning with two of the Millennium Development Goals, achieving universal primary education and empowering women.

On the contrary, sweatshops have poor working conditions and low safety protocols. For example, not enough emergency exits, exits are blocked by storage materials or no provision for emergency lighting. In Bangladesh, thousands of sweatshop workers are victimized of factory fires. In November 2012, a factory fire killed 112 people, which was owned by Tazreen Fashions