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Isabel Reyes, a worker in a Honduran clothing factory, whose
main customer is Wal-Mart, explains, “The goals are always
increasing, but the pay stays the same.” She sews sleeves
onto shirts at the rate of 1,200 garments a day – two
shirts a minute, one sleeve every 15 seconds, for only $35 a
week. (Los Angeles Times, 11/24/03)
Workers in Wal-Mart supply factories in Africa have reported
they are paid poverty wages, forced to undergo humiliating strip
searches, have restricted use of the bathrooms, and are forced
to work excessive hours of compulsive overtime. One woman in Swaziland
described her working conditions by saying, “They take us
like slaves. They are always doing things with force.” (Clean
Clothes Campaign, 1/6/03 and UNITE, 6/04)
One worker from a Wal-Mart supplier factory in China said,
“We knew it was a Wal-Mart factory, and the conditions
were really bad, so we tried to appeal to the government to
help but the government always sided with the boss. So I and
members of my unit decided we needed to organize a union. The
factory fired all of us who spoke up, me and 2 other leaders.
Even if they didn’t fire us, the way they always treat
people who speak up is the same. They give them the worst jobs,
the most bitter and difficult, and they do the work of two people
every day, but for only a few 10s of Yuan.” (Note: 30
Yuan is approximately minimum wage.) (United Students Against
Sweatshops, 7/24/2005)
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