A video in defense of Sweatshops

[Jack Rabbit]

10. This advocacy for sweatshops suffers from a lack of imagination

This lack of imaginations is evidenced by the lack of alternatives to the status quo in which, no matter what, working people are screwed.

Let's try to imagine ways that workers can get justice, not just close down the factories.

First, let's try discouraging entrepreneurs who can't imagine how they can ever pay a worker a living wage and still make a profit from opening a sweatshop in the first place. Paying sub-minimum wages should be made a criminal offense with stiff fines and penalties, as should repeated violations of health and safety codes.

Now let's get some restitution for the workers, who are theoretically owed back wages that constitute the difference between what they were paid and the established minimum wage. Hopefully, the local government isn't so corrupt that the minimum wage is below subsistence, but, of course, that could be the case. The factory itself should be held in escrow pending the outcome of the trial of the accused slave masters, and if they are found guilty then title to the factory should pass to the workers themselves. Hey, I'll bet they can figure out how to pay themselves a living wage and make a profit. If the workers don't think they can make a go of it, then the factory can be sold to an honest businessman, something that no sweat shop owner can claim to be.