One of the factors of production is labour.
Labour cost is extremely low in the underdeveloped countries, making the cost of production very low as well. For example, labour costs in China and India.
Do you know why labour costs in these countries is so low?
Because they employed child labour, work them so hard and pay them so little, and not even giving a decent place to sleep and proper food to eat.
Born into a life of extreme poverty, these poor children had no choice but to work to eke out a living doing jobs like this.
Have you heard of Swarovski Crystal? I won't look at them the same way again.
In India, child labour as young as eight-years old work for 16 hours a day, sewing the Swarovski crystals onto dresses. Some are paid pathetic sums like US1 per day.
Each night the boys bunk down on the roof of the building where they work 16-hour days, sleeping amid a filthy tangle of cables and pools of oily stagnant water. The factory owner's dogs also sleep up here, biting at the fleas infesting their mangy fur.
'We treat them well,' Krishnan (hahaha, yeah right !!!) says as I look around at the filthy matted bedding. A late lunch is brought in metal bowls: clumps of potato floating in murky curry, a few chapattis. The boys greedily slurp it down before carefully washing their hands and getting back to work.
read the artcle
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1764531,00.html?gusrc=rss
Who uses/wears Swarovski crystals?
Swarovski's has collaborated with fashion houses such as
Coco Chanel
Christian Dior
Yves Saint Laurent
Gianni Versace
to produce for the rich and famous!!!
In Britain, these crystals can be found on Camilla Parker Bowles's wedding hat and P Diddy's crystal-encrusted mobile phone.
In India - Swarovski has partnerships with nine of India's top fashion designers, including JJ Valaya and Tarun Tahiliani, whose clients include Jemima Khan, the Duchess of Kent and Bollywood stars Aishwarya Rai, Simi Garewal and Kabir Bedi
According to the report, Swarovski crystals can be found on iPods and mobile phones. (wizzerd:really?)
Guess what, for what what they paid the children, these crystals are sold for obsene sums of money.
ISN'T THIS EXPLOITATION??
2 comments:
Okok...
Don't buy Swarovski...
Switch to De Beers for diamond.
there are still many products that r produced by child labour.
Eg. nike, adidas, reebok, coke, monsanto, levis...
in malaysia also got child labour..
I agree that they abuse child labour.why they use child labour?
they want to have the lowest cost n the highest profit.
why got child labour? yeah, they r poor. bsides, they might not have chances to receive education. The attitude of parents also related to this issue. on top of that, child labour are not united. if all child labourers united cross borders, firms cant abuse the child labour.Besides, we s consumers, do not have enuf consciousness about child labour. if all consumers protest child labour and dun buy products made by them, this will b eliminated eventually and gradually.
but from another point of view, dun buy their product doesnt make difference. those firms will not employ child labour bcos of protest from child labour. then, the child is workless. they r even poorer. they will go and find another way to get money, eg. child labour switch from sewing clothes to break stone. so, this may harm the child labour more.
can government help in curbing child labour?? government maybe couldnt prevent it. when government restricts regulation of labour rights and wages, the MNCs will intervene. they could threat them, eg. stop subsidies fud supllies in the country. MNCs may pull out investment from that country and do it in another country. those countries are already poor. the investment is gud for the country cos can raise the GDP in its country.so, wad can government do?
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