The SweatShop Fashion Show

Clothing brand names:
West 49
Fia Miami
Lucky Brand Jeans
Nike
Old Navy
Zero
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West 49: Price$: $30-$100 Labor: Child Labor Wages: 5-10 cents
Fia Miami: Price$: Labor: Child Labor Wages: 6-40 cents 1/hGap: Price$: $20-$100 Labor: child labor Wages: 5-10 cents
Nike: Price$: 20-100 Labor: slavery, child labor, forced labor Wages: 5-12 cents
Old Navy: Price$: 20-40 Labor: Child Labor Wages: 10-20
Zero: Price$: 15-100 Labor: hired workers Wages: $8 an hour
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Working Conditions:
West 49: semi-good heating, poor floors, poor cleanliness, very poor structure.
Fia Miami: very poor workspace, dusty and dry air, hazardous.
Gap: Very poor, rough conditions, cheap building structure, floors covered in filth.
Old Navy: poor heating, weak floors, rusty conditionsNike: Poor, squalid living conditions, filthy
Zero: semi-good, semi-clean, good heating

Union Opportunities:
West 49: Not many are open
Fia Miami: not many are open
Gap: none are open
Nike: none are open
Old Navy: none are open
Zero: many are open

How the co. treats its workers:
West 49: pretty poorly
 Fia Miami: pretty poorly
Gap: pretty poorly
Nike: Very poorly
Old Navy: Very poorly
Zero: fairly good

Decent Comparing wages of the CEO and workers: 
West 49: wages of the workers: 5-10 cents a day and of the CEO's : 10 million a year
Fia Miami: W.O.W: 6-40 cents a day, CEO's: about 10 million a year
Gap: W.O.W: 5-10 cents a day, CEO: 9 million a year
Nike: 5 million a year (CEO) 5-12 cents a day (workers)
Old Navy: 10-20 cents (Workers) 8 million a year (CEO)
Zero: $3,000 a year (CEO) $1000 a year (Workers)

Benefits of salary paid to celebrities for ads:
West 49: salary: 15-20 an hour
Fia Miami: Salary: 5-10 an hour 
Gap: 10-15 an hour
Nike: 13-15 an hour
Old Navy: 10-12 an hour
Zero: 6-20 an hour
Co. ads to wages:
West 49: 40-50 a day
Fia Miami: 30-40 a day
Gap: 20-30 a day
Nike: 40-50 a day
Old Navy: 40-60 a day
Zero: 2-5 an hour



Script
Angel_Tears
Welcome to our Sweatshop Fashion Show! We have a real treat for you today! In just a few moments you will get a chance to see our models displaying some of the hottest fashions from your local mall! This show isn't all about looking good though. Today we will be taking you behind the scenes of your favorite brands. We are going to be looking at something the big clothing companies don't want you to know about: the truth about the conditions under which our clothes are made.So please get comfortable, and listen well because you don't want to miss a moment of our upcoming presentation.
If you take a look at our first model, you may notice she has many different brands of clothes on, very fashionable, very chic.But don't get ahead of yourself there; have you ever thought about behind the scenes of the fashion industry? For instance, notice she is wearing a hat made by Gap.
For many years GAP was infamous for its sweatshop abuses. After more than 10 years of campaigns and actions by students, and concerned citizens, GAP has begun to change its ways. In 2005 it released its second corporate social responsibility report, a document compiling information on their practices with regards to labor and the environment. Gap isn't the only company, those awesome Nike shoes she's wearing?
Think about a child younger than you, working on those shoes for a daily wage of 20 cents a day!Nike has spent many years as the poster child of sweatshops. Pressure and constant campaigning by people all over the world has seen Nike take on a great deal of initiative when it comes to labor rights in recent years. They are far from perfect, but in 2005 Nike set a great example by being the first major retailer to disclose a full list of the factories where their products are produced.
Oh my Gosh! Have you seen her jeans???? Those are really very chic, and the least expensive.
Wal-mart is also part of the sweatshop abuse cycle.The reason Wal-Mart is able to keep their prices so low, is that they pay as little as they can to the people making their products. In 2004, workers making products for Wal-Mart stores in China and Bangladesh were being paid as little as $.17/hr!
And that cute handbag? Made by Le Chateau.....Le Chateau is a publicly traded Canadian company, and yet it refuses to make any information regarding the production of its apparel public! In a recent report by the Ethical Trading Action Group, Le Chateau scored a whopping zero for not telling its customers anything about the conditions in which their trendy clothes are made.
Love the Lake Trail music hoodie; it's such a nice blend with her outfit.Wonder if her school was connected with sweatshop labor! Unfortunately, I don't think she was able to find anything...guarantee, because her school doesn't have a No Sweat policy.....
That awesome wristband with the Zero logo looks sweet! I want one now! Though Zero is a Canadian re-tailor, the workers are paid $8 an hour and are given a pretty good environment in which to work. It's better than most factories around the world.The conditions that children nowadays have a little bit better conditions then what they did back in the times of the Industrial Revolution. You get a little more wages then you did back then but food and clothing today is more expensive than it was back then.....and whole families worked in mills or factories, not just a single child. Today, most families sell there children for money or food, and the children are traded into workhouses.

And now I’d like to call our model up to the stage, all of these major apparel companies have a responsibility to ensure that all the workers who make their products are provided a living wage and decent working conditions, and that their right to organize to improve conditions is respected. Consumers have a right to know where our clothes are made and under what conditions. Companies must publicly disclose information on the name and location of their supply factories, and allow independent monitoring of factory conditions. I am not asking you to stop buying these clothes or reconsider on buying anything from a wide range of toys to food ever again, but I am asking you to support the efforts of garment, toy and shoe workers around the world to improve their wages and working conditions.
Thank you for watching today's show.



Have you ever really thought about where your clothes came from? Do you think these two Gaian's know?
What makes you think so? Now that you know what happens behind the scenes...does buying clothes make you guilty? (not picking on you Chris...)

Child Labor info

In the late 1700's and early 1800's, power-driven machines replaced hand labor for the making of most manufactured items. Factories began to spring up everywhere, first in England and then in the United States. The owners of these factories found a new source of labor to run their machines — children. Operating the power-driven machines did not require adult strength, and children could be hired more cheaply than adults. By the mid-1800's, child labor was a major problem.

Children with a factory job might work 12 to 18 hours a day, six days a week, to earn a dollar....which isn't very much these days, but alot back then.
By 1810, about 2,000,000 school-age children were working 50- to 70-hour weeks. Most of them came from poor familes with little money. When parents could no longer support their children, they sent them to work for a mill or factory owner. One glass factory in Massachusetts was fenced with barbed wire "to keep the young imps inside." The "young imps" were boys under 12 who carried loads of hot glass all night for a wage of 40 cents to $1.10 per night.

Today all the states and the U.S. Government have laws regulating child labor. These laws have cured the worst evils of children's working in factories. But some kinds of work are not regulated. Children of migrant workers, for example, have no legal protection. Farmers may legally employ them outside of school hours. The children pick crops in the fields and move from place to place, so they get little schooling.

Child labor may be banned in many countries today, but it still goes on in the rest of the world.
Like China and Japan.

Questions:

1. Which job is shown?

Various picture of children in workplaces.

2. What was the daily work schedule in this job that they had to follow?

Get up very early, eat breakfast and go to work at a certain time....you don't get lunch, and some workers get their dinners brought to them.

3. Were their any penalties for not meeting expectations on the job site?

Probably a beating, most likely kicked out, and a noification to the local police.

4. What were the physical challenges of the job?

Yes, textile machine's could chop off one's finger, or while fixing the underside of a machine, could have its dangers as if it was to start up, while you were still under it.

5. Was this job dangerous? How?

Yes because you could end up getting yourself killed.

6. Do you think that it was fair that children worked during this time period?

No, because in most incidents at the mill, the children either starved, were crushed by machines, or worse. And they never got an education that would get them very far.

7. In what parts of the world do children work today? Find a picture and put a caption on it to post to the blog.

Children are still sent to work in places like Africa, china, Japan, South America, Denmark, Russia, Germany, India, Korea (Both North and South side), and various other places.

This Boy is working in India, probably making darts or something else, I couldn't quite tell, and the caption underneath the picture said nothing. But he is most likely making your ideal board game. Think about that.

Fashion and Design for boys

The boys wore simple clothing like the girls, overalls, sometimes no shoes, these newsboy type caps, collared, white shirts and if they did have shoes, it would be black or brown heavy duty and uncomfortable boots.

Fashion and design

Fashion for the girls and women were simple. They wore plain shawls (usually brown or another dark color), patterned dresses, lace up, brown boots (which were usually really tight and uncomfortable), and had their hair tied up in a bun.

The Agriculture Age

How were things done before the fast food service was created?

Farming was a big one, harvesting, using human labor to harvest your food, and alot of farmers liked to make a profit off of their food by selling it in the marketplace to eager buyers.

The early fast-food service

Industrial Age

What was it's function?
To bring food to others, when it was needed or when people were hungry.

Who invented it?
We can't be sure who invented the first 'fast food' service, but it could have been started in the early farmer's markets or by children staying at home, while their parents and siblings worked in factories and mills.

Why was it a good idea?
Well now-a days, its good good for when people don't want to cook, or they are too tired too and need something quick and fast to eat. Back then, it was good because working long hours in a mill or factory, given no food, and no lunch break, you would get mighty hungry.

What were the working conditons for the average worker using this invention?
During the industrial age, the food service would be long, you would have to cook it, then place in buckets and carry it many miles, trying to keep the food warm to deliver it to your family and sometimes neighbours. You would have to arrive at a certain time, to early and you could risk having a dinner go cold, and too late, and you could risk with a very unhappy family. And then you would have to go back home to finish the rest of the chores.


Digital Age

How was it simular and different from the industrial age?
It's simular because fast food is made by hand, and then delivered to the ones who ordered the food. But it is also different because instead of walking from place to place delivering food, we now use cars and other ways of transportation.

How has the invention changed society positively?
Positively, it has made fast food service easier, creating more pay and giving food to anonymous people who are hungry for a good and greasy feast.

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Last Entry 5

I am healing and ready to go back to work. When I go with my family this morning, I shall bring Pauline some flowers. I hope she will be pleased. I heard from Katie that Pauline and her sister are now getting along nicely, which that makes me happy. When I go to Breakfast, nobody acknollodges me when I go to the table, nor work. Pauline and Edwin smile nicely and I smile back. The before Pauline turns back to her work, I produce a bouque of flowers from behind my back. She is surprised so I add, "I'm sorry," and I nod to her foot. She then smiles and Mr. Goldbod yells at us to get back to our work. We both turn and get onto work.

On the inside I am Happy.

Journal Entry 4

I sit at home still, and news has gotten around that Mrs. Harrell has given birth to healthy baby boy, named Aaron. I am happy, but i know of some who aren't. Like Mr. Harrell; who doesn't care much for his children or his wife. And that makes me a little iff edge and sad. I am glad my father isn't like that. Miss Bertha comes to see me, and she became very alarmed when she saw my finger. Then she put some disgusting smelling salve on my hand and over top of my finger. It stung and I squeezed my eyes shut against the pain. She then wrapped up my finger again and told me to not use that hand for a week. Naturally I obeyed, and sat in my bed all day, with nothing to do.

When the family cam home that evening, I listened as Katie started to tell me the Pauline's sister, Arlene; would be taking my place as the sweeper. I felt bad for Arlene and felt even worse when Katie told me that I had injured Pauline's ankle severly, making it impossible for her to work or move on that foot. Later when the flowers are out, I will send her a bunch with a note, telling her that I am sorry. For now, i will pray to God that she will be okay.

Journal Entry 3

I am at home, resting. The rest of the family is up and about, getting breakfast and hurrying out the doors. My mother is yelling at Katie to finish her breakfast and wash up. I hear Katie grumble something and a hard slap of flesh on flesh. The silence in the kitchen as the whole family leaves.

I stay in bed, listening to the birds who had awakend early, and rolled over to the window to let in a faint stream of light peaking through the window behind the closed cloth. I lifted my injured hand to the window and examined it.

The bandage was crusted over with blood, so I unrapped it. I gagged at the sight of my own hand, for it was black, and swollen.....and where my finger had been lopped off, there was bone sticking out slightly. I turned away from my finger, only to turn back and try and wrap up my hand again. Oooo the pain! I flinched and made a mental note to myself to send for Miss Bertha.