Some things are not always as they seem particularly in economics, where social justice concerns are at play. Workplace safety is a straight forward and well supported concept. But an individual’s economic need complicates the issue of workplace safety. It is important to keep employment, business, and safety in mind when developing market policy.
If a person chooses a job with poor working conditions, it probably means that there aren’t many other options available. For those people, this may be the only way to put food on the table. Over regulating businesses can mean that companies cannot provide even menial jobs. Which means that adding safety regulations may harm an individuals’ wages. The job itself is beneficial to both the worker and employer. In the poorest nations, wages are low and sweatshops are one way for these people to survive. It is important to regulate when wages become too depressed — and in China, there exists an excellent example of how workplace safety regulations can destroy lives. Harold Maass wrote in The Week magazine that tens of thousands of people die directly because of the horrid safety regula- tions in the country. And when that happens, there should be a financial and institutional crackdown. Companies such as Foxconn are the most notable for their monstrosities and must be stopped. But first we must realize that it takes time to move workplace safety in the right direction.
I’m not defending sweatshops, but unfortu- nately, there are worse things than working in a sweatshop. Scavenging and begging in the streets could prove a worse alternative. Some workers in developing countries have to make tough decisions. Workers in low-wage earning nations have to make the choice to work in a job like the one Heather Timmons described in The New York Times. She wrote about a company in India that makes manhole covers and ships them to cities in the United States.
“Seemingly impervious to the heat from the metal, the workers at one of West Bengal’s many foundries relied on strength and bare hands rather than machinery. Safety precau- tions were barely in evidence; just a few pairs of eye goggles were seen in use on a recent visit. The foundry, Shakti Industries in Haora, produces manhole covers for Con Edison and New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection, as well as for departments in New Orleans and Syracuse,” Timmons writes.
“Seemingly impervious to the heat from the metal, the workers at one of West Bengal’s many foundries relied on strength and bare hands rather than machinery. Safety precau- tions were barely in evidence; just a few pairs of eye goggles were seen in use on a recent visit. The foundry, Shakti Industries in Haora, produces manhole covers for Con Edison and New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection, as well as for departments in New Orleans and Syracuse,” Timmons writes.
However, when New York’s Department of Environmental Protection got word of the lax safety precautions, they demanded better working conditions. Those working condition regulations could cost people their livelihoods and contracts to be pulled because of
negative publicity.
This is the paradox of sweatshops — they are often harmful in many ways but still better than the alternative. Remember, developed nations once had low-wage poor working con- dition jobs. It took time to progress. England, the U.S. and others had to get their institu- tions in order so wages and working conditions could improve. For them it took centuries.
In a global economy, we must strive to be better as we move into the future. We should strive to get everyone a safe and secure work- place. But it’s a process that takes time, and we should keep all factors into perspective. Because while we should all realize that work- ing in sweatshops is unbelievably difficult, it might still better than the alternative.
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negative publicity.
This is the paradox of sweatshops — they are often harmful in many ways but still better than the alternative. Remember, developed nations once had low-wage poor working con- dition jobs. It took time to progress. England, the U.S. and others had to get their institu- tions in order so wages and working conditions could improve. For them it took centuries.
In a global economy, we must strive to be better as we move into the future. We should strive to get everyone a safe and secure work- place. But it’s a process that takes time, and we should keep all factors into perspective. Because while we should all realize that work- ing in sweatshops is unbelievably difficult, it might still better than the alternative.
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