Working Conditions in China

In America a full time job is a 40 hour week, with time and a half pay for any overtime hours. Our minimum wage in New York State is six dollars an hour, and that is soon to be raised to $6.75 an hour on January 1, 2006. We are provided, for the most part, with healthy and safe working environments. In Chinese society it is nothing like this. Since the difference between the rich and poor is a lot greater in China than it is here, many of the poor jump at the opportunity to work in a factory or sweatshop job. They are very low paying and are not provided with a safe and healthy environment to work in. Often times the terrible environment is accompanied with abuse provided by the managers. It is not getting any better either because of corrupt government officials and also because poor people want and need these types of jobs. In the sports shoe industry it began about thirty years ago because American workers bargained for higher wages and in turn the companies production costs rose (Asia Monitor). In response to the rise in prices shoes companies such as Nike and Reebok, and many more, moved their factories to more ideal locations, the most popular being in Taiwan and South Korea. In turn these countries became the largest shoe producing countries in the world. But yet again the shoes companies encountered a problem. The workers formed unions and started to demand higher wages along with better working conditions. The shoes companies reacted just as they had before, they relocated their factories to other countries without strict labor laws, or even better, enforced labor laws. Many of the companies moved to China. Today, "China is the biggest shoe producing country in the world, producing over one-third of the world's top brand-name sports shoes (Asia Monitor)." The shoe companies are making a ridiculous amount of profits because the difference in their very low cost production and the high amount that they charge for their products. Nike