INTRODUCTION

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Term Paper Title	INTRODUCTION
# of Words	1438
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	5.75

INTRODUCTION

     The goal of all corporations is to increase shareholder wealth.  Shareholder wealth is increased is by increasing the corporation’s profit.  In a corporation involved in manufacturing, reducing the cost of the factors of production is essential for growth.
     One of the major components of production costs is labor.  When in comes to labor costs, the corporation and the worker usually have very different goals.  The corporation wants to pay the worker as little as possible, while maintaining the productivity and quality required by its customers.  The worker, on the other hand, seeks to increase his or her personal wealth by demanding the highest possible wages and benefits.
     Because of this somewhat adversarial relationship, corporations and labor have developed strategies to strengthen their positions.  One of Labor’s main defenses is to organize in unions.  The existence of unions can be an effective method of gaining a position of strength, especially when dealing with power corporations.  Depending on the size of the corporation, they might have the power to employ methods which are difficult for the workers to prevent or counteract.
     One tactic used by corporations to reduce labor costs is the utilization of  “sweatshop” labor.  A sweatshop is a manufacturing facility that operates below minimum standards of safety and/or wages and benefits.  Sweatshops flourished in the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
     This paper will examine the re-emergence of sweatshop manufacturing in the U.S. and abroad, and its impact on how manufacturers do business.  Two U.S. corporations will be discussed in detail.  And the issue of utilizing low cost labor domestically and offshore, including arguments for against this practice, will be discussed.

ISSUE BACKGROUND

     Since, by definition, sweatshops violate the basic rights of workers, a brief discussion of the history of the labor movement is a necessary element in understanding the use of sweatshops.  This section is intended to give a brief outline of some of the events leading to worker’s rights laws.  The following information was excerpted from NBC News Online.


June 3, 1900

Garment workers form the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union to protest low pay,                                      fifteen-hour workdays, no benefits, and unsafe working conditions. While weak at the ons...

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