Walmart in China

[flibulzbuth]

http://www.nlcnet.org/report00/walma...Mart_discloses

14-hour shifts, 7 days a week, 30 days a month. Average take-home pay of 3 cents an hour, $3.10 for a 98-hour workweek. One worker earned 36 cents for an entire month’s work. 46 percent of the workers earned nothing at all and were actually in debt to the company. Housed 16 to a room and fed two dismal meals a day. Physical and verbal abuse. Held as indentured servants, identification documents confiscated, allowed to leave the factory just 1½ hours a day. 800 workers fired for fighting for their basic rights. Wal-Mart audits a total farce.

[True_Moose]

Pretty dismal, eh? That's what happens when you combine
1) The capitalist system, which cares about nothing but profits and
2) The chinese "communist" system, which cares nothing for human rights
Unfortunately, there is no incentive for anyone in this situation to change anything. Wal-Mart is in heaven from an economic standpoint, and China couldn't care less, in fact they're probably happy for the investment. Short of international outcry (which should happen theoretically) nothing's going to change. Although you'd think in Wal-Mart's case that a company that's so big on giving to charities and such in the US that morals might be important somewhere along the line.

Similar to a company, Talisman Energy, that's been taking oil from Sudan, and also sponsoring an incredibly bloody civil war there. Don't know where to find articles on this, but check it out. It's remarkably similar.

[/)eathKiller]

*sigh* It's hard to belive that things like that can even exist on this world, but with such an overcrowded nation and poor regime, what can you really expect to happen when you mix it with Capitalism?

[LennonCook]

And it isn`t only WalMart that does it.
As alot of people would know, MOST multinational companies have factories in the middle east, where there are no enforced laws about suitable working conditions and minimum wage.
Add to that the fact that the companies have safeguards built up, such as not actually *owning* the factories, but rather hiring their services; and giving the factories working conditions to abide by (the companies give them working conditions, so it isn`t their fault if the factories don`t follow them ); and suddenly you have quality goods at inexpensive prices, and profit for the owners of the companies, and not one bit of it is in any way criminal.

Originally posted by LennonCook: And it isn`t only WalMart that does it. As alot of people would know, MOST multinational companies have factories in the middle east, where there are no enforced laws about suitable working conditions and minimum wage. Add to that the fact that the companies have safeguards built up, such as not actually *owning* the factories, but rather hiring their services; and giving the factories working conditions to abide by (the companies give them working conditions, so it isn`t their fault if the factories don`t follow them ); and suddenly you have quality goods at inexpensive prices, and profit for the owners of the companies, and not one bit of it is in any way criminal.

So the real question is...who is to blame? Is it the company that puts a factory there thus giving the people SOME way of making a pittance....who other wise would have no way of earning anything? Or is it the government of said country that represses its people and keeps them in poverty? And just who are WE to tel them to change their "culture"? Seems to me that your kind of damned no matter what you do...all you can change is which group damns you.

[ 09-30-2002, 09:56 AM: Message edited by: MagiK ]

[Sio]

Well either way it just makes us think how lucky we are compared to many other countries, I know I wont be moaning as much as normal today

Originally posted by Sio: Well either way it just makes us think how lucky we are compared to many other countries, I know I wont be moaning as much as normal today

I agree. Anyone living in the US really should not complain too loudly. For the most part, even the poorest of our poor are living a better life than the poor in the third world countries.

[Timber Loftis]

I dunno, there's this one guy who sleeps on a small patch of dirt right outside my building. He's probably better of than the folks in the Chinese factory, but not by much. He sleeps a lot - and if you've ever been hungry, you know how it makes you tired. I don't know if I've got a lot of input on this, just *sigh*

I do wonder what the money is worth in China. Not to be contrite, but how far does 30 cents go there? I don't think I can understand the meaning of the wages until I understand this.

Originally posted by Timber Loftis: I do wonder what the money is worth in China. Not to be contrite, but how far does 30 cents go there? I don't think I can understand the meaning of the wages until I understand this.

Yeah thats what I said. You really need to know what the comparative wages are for the area to know how "bad off" the workers are.

As for your The guy who sleeps on the ground. He is there because he chooses not to utilize the suppport systems we have available in this country. There are shelters, and there are places he can go to get food. Where exactly does he sleep and live when it get ICY cold outside? Im not saying his life is a picnic, but he has it better than the peasents in most of the third world nations.

[Timber Loftis]

Originally posted by MagiK: quote: Originally posted by Timber Loftis: I do wonder what the money is worth in China. Not to be contrite, but how far does 30 cents go there? I don't think I can understand the meaning of the wages until I understand this.

Yeah thats what I said. You really need to know what the comparative wages are for the area to know how "bad off" the workers are.

As for your The guy who sleeps on the ground. He is there because he chooses not to utilize the suppport systems we have available in this country. There are shelters, and there are places he can go to get food. Where exactly does he sleep and live when it get ICY cold outside? Im not saying his life is a picnic, but he has it better than the peasents in most of the third world nations.[/QUOTE]I don't know, but I'll report back when it does get ICY and let you know what I see. I hope he has somewhere to go. Even for the stone-hearted, it's hard to look at someone who's cold and hungry first thing on your way to work every morning. I swear, coming from a rural area, this is the one thing I've never gotten used to about cities.