Richard Appelbaum's paper Fighting Sweatshops: Problems of Enforcing Global Labor Standards explores the solutions to the growing issue. One of the best ways to end this injustice is through institutional regulation. Organizations such as the ILO, WTO, World Bank, and the UN are already working towards equal rights for workers everywhere by pressuring large corporations to implement strict codes of conduct and fund programs for economic development.
Though they have done well to raise awareness, more still needs to be done, and the national governments are needed to step in to ensure these policies are followed. Developed nations must collaborate to enforce penalties on companies which fail to abide by these codes. Trade agreements would have to include a clause for fair treatment of workers. The hardest task, however, is monitoring each and every factory in the world and prosecuting all of the individual cases; a country as large as China would be a tough task to handle. Nevertheless, policies need to change in order to bring about equal rights.
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What Needs To Change:
Editorial:
One of the biggest problems of the factory workers’ rights movement is the lack of attention it receives. Extreme cases like Bhopal and Raza Plaza are not widely reported in the media, and therefore not many people know about the constant life struggles of these foreign laborers. Their voices have been suppressed a countless number of times; we must speak up and be heard in their place, and help those who cannot help themselves. Each one of us has the power to change the lives of thousands of workers, and although it will be gradual, we all must do our part to work towards a better future for all.