Editor,

In the Nov. 13 issue of The Post, an editor wrote a column titled “Third world people lucky to have sweatshops.” He cited the June 28 issue of the New York Times article, “Let them sweat.”

In the June 25 issue of the Times, the author of “Let them sweat” jokingly suggests that members attending a summit on economic growth in third world countries adopt an “international campaign to promote imports from sweatshops.” He then alludes to the children’s stories of how they “dream of a factory job.”
In the stories in the Times and the column in The Post, regardless of presentation and motive, unfavorable

sweatshop practices are not disclosed. Although the Post editor mentioned the living wage and the lack of one in sweatshops, he failed to mention the unfair labor practices of these companies. The ethical standards for companies running sweatshops... Oh wait, there are no standards in sweatshops. In addition to mandatory overtime and what adds up to pennies a day, workers are subjected to an array of issues. Managers routinely curse at, belittle and sexually harass employees. Ambitious workers eager to form workers’ unions and fight for rights are hindered, physically if necessary, by local government officials or mafia that profit from the sweatshop. With no environmental regulations, scraps and trash are burned, sometimes in the factory. At one site in particular, Tangerang, Indonesia, scrap rubber from defective Nike shoes is burned in heaps. When burned, this rubber has been found to release products causing cancer when inhaled. Exploitation, threats, torture and embarrassment come along with the “dream factory job.”

— Matt Rainsberg
rainsber@helios.phy.ohiou.edu