sweatshop

10 Stories

Paula Deen Linked to Sweatshop Labor

Radar investigation uncovers unsafe conditions at factories

(Newser) - The latest bit of awful publicity for Paula Deen: Radar accuses the celebrity chef of partnering with companies that use sweatshop labor. An investigation by the gossip site finds that at factories making Deen-branded products, there have been deaths and life-threatening injuries, fires caused by unsafe conditions, and dismal salaries...

I Went Undercover at a Bangladesh Sweatshop

Canadian reporter goes undercover alongside 9-year-olds for $25 a month

(Newser) - With the safety (or lack thereof) of Bangladesh sweatshops in the headlines , Canadian journalist Raveena Aulakh decided to experience the conditions at factories that make our clothes firsthand, in a report for the Toronto Star . The first surprise? The worker showing her the ropes, Meem, was a 9-year-old girl, who...

This Is What Your Jeans Really Cost
 This Is What 
 Your Jeans 
 Really Cost 
OPINION

This Is What Your Jeans Really Cost

Bryan Walsh thinks the Bangladesh factory collapse should be a wakeup call

(Newser) - At last count, at least 362 people were killed in the Bangladesh textile factory collapse making it the worst disaster in garment industry history—worse, for example, than the famous 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire that prompted a drastic overhaul in American factory safety laws, observes Bryan Walsh at Time...

9th Apple Plant Worker Commits Suicide

China suicide cluster baffles manufacturer

(Newser) - A 21-year-old man who jumped out a window to his death Saturday marks the ninth suicide of a worker at Foxconn, the Taiwanese-owned manufacturer of iPhones and iPods. The deaths of young employees—combined with the fact that the company says it has prevented some 30 suicides in the past...

Wisconsin First to Cut Nike Off Over Labor Concerns

School OK with losing $50K per year in deal

(Newser) - Concerns over Nike’s overseas labor practices moved the University of Wisconsin to cancel its contract today with the sportswear giant. The school is the first in the US to do so, though the move will cost it $50,000 a year. “Nike has not developed, and does not...

Developing World Needs More Sweatshops: Kristof
Developing World Needs
More Sweatshops: Kristof
OPINION

Developing World Needs More Sweatshops: Kristof

Yes, they're ugly by US standards, but many nations' poor toil in much uglier conditions

(Newser) - Before Barack Obama follows through on tough talk about global “labor standards,” Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times wants to take him to a certain garbage heap in Cambodia. Here, where families live in shacks, scavenging in the hot sun, a sweatshop job is “a cherished...

Made in Italy — in a Chinese Sweatshop

Italian luxury goods made by Chinese labor cost 90% less

(Newser) - For consumers of luxury goods, the "Made in Italy" designation remains so prestigious that it can add 300% to an item's price. But the days of artisans plying their trade in little workshops are largely over, the Los Angeles Times reports, replaced by thousands of Tuscan factories employing Chinese...

Sweatshop Crucifixes Stir Up Unholy Mess for Church

Religious gifts made in appalling conditions

(Newser) - Revelations that crucifixes in their gift shops are made in a Chinese sweatshop has shocked officials at New York's St. Patrick's Cathedral and Trinity Episcopal Church, who removed the crosses from stores, reports Newsday. Young workers at the crucifix factory reportedly work 15-hour days in poor conditions for only 26...

Child 'Slave' Laborers Fall Into the Gap

Kids seen making Gap garments in New Delhi sweatshop

(Newser) - Ten-year-olds were found stitching Gap apparel in a filthy New Delhi sweatshop, some without pay, in an investigation by the Guardian. The kids interviewed by the paper reported long hours of unpaid work, threats and beatings. Serial numbers on the beaded blouses they were working on were ID'd by the...

Report: Top Retailers Pay Poverty Wages

H&M, Gap, others mislead public about plight of garment workers in Bangladesh

(Newser) - On the eve of London fashion week, a new report blasts clothing retailers for turning a blind eye to the poverty-level wages of their workers. Marks&Spencer, H&M, the Gap, and others are singled out for paying garments workers in Bangladesh such low wages that the workers must rely...

10 Stories