Big companies with sweatshops

skiizy

skiizy

Active member
wow, i can picture that too, all those ceo's smoking cigars, while the little workers are breathing in the same air over and over...

i have a q... if theyhave little chinese slave kids sewing together shoes for cheaper, then why are we paying so god damn much? like 110 for some b-ball shoes, and my football cleats cost 130, and thats pretty cheap some of our players had $180 cleats. so honestly... what the fuck is the deal?
 
companies like nike, target, mcdonalds, arbys, sketchers, and dunder mifflin all have sweatshops. trust me on this one
 
^ oh i dont doubt that i got dunks for so much, all i am saying, is that i wouldnt mind paying so much, if they didnt have slaves, but since they do and they will continue to, then stop charging so damn much! they should not be allowed to have it both ways. greedy fuckers, thats why i am going with moments next year, american made
 


Probably can't find it online, it seems its been removed, but Nicholas D. Kristof, "Fair Trade Crushes the Poor" New York Magazine
Basically just says the jobs we provide them, though unfairly low are better than any other options available to the poor residents in Malaysia.
http://people.cis.ksu.edu/~ab/Miscellany/globalism.html

Amartya Sen, "How to Judge Globalism"

We read this in our Making Ethical Choices class and they put it in good perspective
 
i guess i can understand that, but i dont agree that children are allowed to work there, as well as the fact that we are still paying probably 10x the amount it cost them to pay for the materials and labor...

^^^ and to you i would not doubt that k2 uses factories with kids in it, even though i currently ski k2s
 
They charge so much because people will pay for it. If you made a product that cost you $1 to make, would you rather sell it for $50 or $100 dollars if people would pay for it either way? It's as simple as that.
 
It's not about needing the money. They certainly don't need it. It's about wanting the money and being able to get it, which they can.
 
thats how they make all there money they make there products for really cheep and sell them for expensive
 
Not only are thrift consumer goods manufactured in "sweatshops", there's an increasing trend of supposedly luxury labels resorting to chinese, or more broadly asian and central american, factories to crank out large quantities of product at a lower cost. My dad recently introduced me to a few of his clients from beijing who own a factory, and apparently just in the last year, they've handled contracts for gucci, h&m, armani, and several other luxury brands, those are just the ones I remember as rather shocking to know that they have their supposedly hand-crafted european wares made in a chinese factory.
apparently each corporation just shops around to find a factory that'll make their shirts or pants or what have you, at the cheapest cost. They don't own the factories, and probably actually during peak production times, have their lines manufactured in 15 or 20 different factories owned by different individuals. There is a loophole in the system that allows companies based in different countries to still have their nation's name on the "made in __" tag, its crazy how globalization works and how little of it we actually know about
 
Slightly off topic, but I hate how people generalise about this. Any time you see a factory with asian workers working in a production-line type environment, it seems to get frowned on. There is a fine line between taking advantage of lower-cost labour, and exploitation of labour.

I certainly don't promote any company that has a manufacturing plant with bad safety standards and working conditions. Cheap labour is one thing, but having no regard for Occupational Health & Safety and working cond's is where the line gets drawn for me.

People need to remember that generally speaking the primary goal of a business is to return value to it's shareholders. If that involves moving production offshore to take advantage of a reduction in labour cost, then so be it. An average pair of Nike shoes costs $6 to make.

If it wasn't for cheap labour generating these massive economies of scale, then it would have to be another part of the supply chain instead.

As for why they charge such massive money (relative to the production costs), it's been covered above, and it's because they can.
 
it's all a huge marketing ploy, so they can make shit really cheap and sell it for the price that people will buy it for. just like skis, it probably costs them a little bit of money to make them and they sell some skis to gapers for like 800 bucks. if what they're selling is good quality and people know that, they will pay for it and make a ridiculous profit. the only case i've heard of this not working is with xbox 360's. i read an article saying it cost more to make them than to sell them so they lost money off the consoles but sold the games for 60 bucks and made such ridiculous profits off those that completely replenished and then added on to the money lost off the consoles. it probably costs them under a dollar to make a copy of gta 4 yet 2.5 million copies were bought on day 1 for 60-80 bucks a piece let alone the rest, i myself just bought a copy haha. if people will pay, the companies will sell it for as much as they will pay regardless of how much they made it for
 
it costs nike 75 cents to make a pair of dunk highs. then they flip em for 75 DOLLARS. its like sellin crack perfected.
 
Just because a shoe costs 6 dollars to manufacture doesn't mean the shoe costs 6 dollars to make. How many people work on the design of a shoe? How much money is spent paying those people to do research and development? Then theres the marketing of the shoe which is obscenely expensive. You also can't forget the money it costs to distribute the shoe around to different stores. So that 6 dollars of materials and labor becomes way more when you factor in everything that goes into a shoe.

Its not really our fault that China allows such shitty standards for manufacturing. They could require higher minimum wages. Now we can try and get them to improve but we can't just stop making things in chinese factories. At least not without angering the entire nation when the price on everything goes up.

 
The term "unfairly low" is relative. Although we may consider it to be unfairly low here in the U.S. or Canada or other first world countries, the term is not applied the same way in 3rd world countries. The wages are competitive in those countries and that is what matters. We are giving them jobs that they wouldn't normally have. If you want something to gripe about talk about working conditions, not wages.
 
exactly... i am glad that they are giving work to people... but you cant live on pennies a day in china, if you could i would move there and be able to live there for the rest of my life without working
 
Everybody needs to watch The Corporation. It's a sick documentary that covers this and much more about he sliminess of many different types of large corporations. I knew corporations stooped pretty low in order to get their exuberant amounts of money but this documentary brought them to new lows.
 
then im not sure if i want to watch it.... im already angered enough by this... if i watch that i may end up protesting buying shit thats imported from eastern asia in general... which includes K2 and other companies whos gear i love... but hey moment skis are american made!
 
K2 owns everything

Product lines

K2 Lines


Marine and Outdoor


Team Sports


Action Sports


Footwear


Apparel


 
I also think Rossi gear is probably made in sweat shops, considering its owned by quicksilver and all there shit is made in sweat shops.
 
But who's standard of 'better' are we using here, ours or theres? You have to remember that context is key and that by us saying they are better off doesnt always mean they are...

Would you rather work on your own farm feild or in someone elses sweaty factory?
 
i love how you've basically already decided K2 is using sweatshop labor, when there's no evidence AT ALL to support such a ridiculous idea. there's a difference between being pissed about sweatshop labor and just being an uninformed douche who assumes everything to come out of Asia was made in an unethical environment. do some fucking research before you start a campaign of libel against a company that has done nothing wrong.

and grow a fucking spine. just because an asian works long hours in a hot factory DOES NOT make it a sweatshop- there's a legal line that is drawn and the majority of large corporations (Nike, Gap, etc) are within the legal boundaries. furthermore, they often don't even OWN the factory, but rather commission the factory to make certain shit for them. with this in mind, although they're obligated to do their homework and ensure it's a safe facility, they have very little control of what actually happens in those factories.

i hate how people bitch that there are teens in the third world working 60+ hr weeks for low pay and there seems to be some kind of problem there. i've been working long ass hours since i was 16, often for minimum wage. don't think some of the shit i've done compares to what they do? how about cleaning outhouses on golf courses that are often covered in shit and puke? what about working in a kitchen for 14 hrs straight? i've gotten up at 4:45am to work a 14-hour day at minimum wage, and i did it because i HAD to. sure, we make more money here, but everything costs a lot more. people have to bust their ass to make a living no matter where you go, it's just the standard of living changes from place to place.

and for fuck's sake, we GAVE them jobs! they could be out in the rice paddies with their hats all day long, making even less money and receiving no kinds of benefits (Nike provides healthcare for employees at the facilities they own and pay a higher wage than the majority of the companies in the area... and still take shit for unethical business practices), but instead their government has allowed corporations to invest in the local economy and bring thousands of jobs to the area.

i guess some people will never undersatnd globalization, though. but be careful what you bitch about- if you actually do research (which it's clear, thread creator, you have not), you'll quickly find how big of a hypocrit you are. by now, even shit like your heating and air conditioning units are being produced overseas, often in worse facilities than the peoples' favorite target, Nike. by now, globalization is impossible to avoid... well, unless you want to make all your own shit from stuff you grew or produced yourself.
 
That just happens to be just soooo convient too huh? Its almost like theses large corporations foster an illegal manufacturing industry to keep their own hands clean...weird!

I'm not saying its just the corp fault for dirty work conditions because there are asian businessmen who are sacrificing the wellfair of their own citizens for profit as well. So who is worse off then, the big corp who force companies to provide less then stellar work environments in order to land a big contract or the big wig asian business men providing it for them at the cost of his people?

As much as I love to hate on dirty politics and trading, I acknowledge that trying to tackle JUST the big corporations is not the only 'solution' to this issue. You people need to think about other causes and effects of situations like these...
 
Everyone in here that thinks the only solution to this problem is to go after big corps and that the only cause/effect relationship here is that asians are not on rice paddies but in 'better' factory jobs.

 
if you wanna bitch about something worthwhile AND get to complain about big corporations, why don't you take a look at the pharmeceutical industry? that shit makes anything your favorite punching bag (Nike) does look harmless...
 
well, i certainly don't think the corporations are solely to blame, but i definitely think i'd rather be working in a factory for more money than out in a rice paddy not making shit... and that comes from personal experience in the agricultural field and experience slaving away over a hot stove for 12+ hrs. i'm not here to say working conditions are absolutely fabulous, but it's a step up in pay.
 
I'm pretty sure that a) i havent ragged on Nike in ages and b) that my favorite 'punching bag' is big oil....duh, noob :P

As for 'bitching' I could go on for ages ragging on shit like this (sweatshops), pharmaceuticals, big oil, etc, but its worthless if everyone else just nods there heads and accepts them 'because they already exist'. Until society as a whole decides they wont stand for this, nothing will change since there is no real pressure to. Its all hot air...
 
now, now, i was talking mostly to the thread creator... who appears to be an uneducated middle schooler based on his posts here.

your favorite punching bag is nigs, as we've already established.
 
lol at you comparing some kitchen job you had to sweatshop labor and being serious. you're a fucking joke.

and did you see all the companies K2 owns; tons of shoe and clothing subsidiaries. and you honestly think it's a ridiculous claim? pull your head out of your ass
 
it's not a matter of freedom or choice; it's a matter of survival.

also, one point that hasn't been made yet...transport and middleman costs need to be taken into account, but it's largely the marketing and r&d that jack the prices up
 
Please don't compare you life to someone who makes pennies a day, you sound so ridiculous right now I don't even know what to say
 
And please don't ever think you work as hard as other people, I realize that at the tender age of 16 you think that cleaning dishes is hard. But maybe if you actually went over there and saw what real work was, you would realize how much of an ignorant fuck you are. Sorry
 
Ok so let me get this straight, you say that I am undereducated because you assumed i said K2 was using sweatshops... when i reality i was saying that i want to start buying mainly American made products, just to ensure that i am not supporting sweatshops, so please educate YOURSELF enough to realize that a.) I did not say what you said I did. and b.) you shouldnt put words into other peoples mouths.

Also, I have been to china, specifically Hong Kong, and it was one of the most shocking and depressing things in my life how, when i was up late with my family and i saw young children leaving in a group, when i asked what they were doing i was informed they were going to work, it was 2 in the morning. they appeared younger than me and i was only 11 at the time.

oh and also, I'M NOT IN FUCKING MIDDLE SCHOOL.

thanks for your time. :)
 
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