Posted on 05/05/2006 7:37:37 PM PDT by A. Pole
Propelled by a free trade agreement with the United States, apparel manufacturing is booming in Jordan, its exports to America soaring twentyfold in the last five years.
But some foreign workers in Jordanian factories that produce garments for Target, Wal-Mart and other American retailers are complaining of dismal conditions — of 20-hour days, of not being paid for months and of being hit by supervisors and jailed when they complain.
[...]
"We used to start at 8 in the morning, and we'd work until midnight, 1 or 2 a.m., seven days a week," said Nargis Akhter, a 25-year-old Bangladeshi who, in a phone interview from Bangladesh, said she worked last year for the Paramount Garment factory outside Amman. "When we were in Bangladesh they promised us we would receive $120 a month, but in the five months I was there I only got one month's salary — and that was just $50."
[...]
In recent years, Jordan has become a magnet for apparel manufacturers, helped by the privileged trade position that the United States has given it, first because of its 1994 peace accord with Israel and then because of a free trade agreement signed with Washington in 2001.
[...]
Mohammed Saiful Islam, 30, a Bangladeshi who was production manager at Western Garment, said that several times the workers had to work until 4 a.m., then sleep on the factory's floor for a few hours, before resuming work at 8 a.m.
"The workers got so exhausted they became sick," he said. "They could hardly stay awake at their machines."
[...]
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
No pesky unions - no spoiled uppity workers!
Are they forced to work at gunpoint? What's keeping them from sending their resume elsewhere?
The whole d@mn country is a "sweat" shop!!
Well said, o wise one!
Well nothing as evidenced by Nargis' statement. Apparently he took advantage of the free market in Jordan and decided on another job. But logic or economic theory doesn't enter into new 'conservatism'
Quite frankly... who gives a rat's patootie about this or any other Islamic hell-hole!
Hey, that Capitalism in action...
But it could be these folks would be jailed if they didn't work...Hopefully they get fed...
It's the NYSlime man!!
Apologists to socialism and anointed truth disseminators. Truely a bloody waste of time. Funnuy how they discuss economics without talking about well, economics!!!
I can't figure out how free trade figures into the article. Is the reporter insinuating that in a protectionistic trade regime, dishonest factory bosses are more likely to pay their workers? The New York Times used to be a quality paper decades ago. When I read dreck like this, I can only shake my head.
If you support a different concept than capitalism, just come out and say it.
The NYT never seems to get around to disclosing that working in these factories is voluntary. These are not slave endeavors. If you're unhappy, quit! Simple. Problem solved.
Oh no! Not the evil sweatshops!
Just remember, it wasn't all that long ago that sweatshops were all too common in the United States too!
Jordan is a theocracy, anyone that believes anything else is looney. I work with a Jordanian, what he tells me about what goes on there is of their own making. Like my daddy told me years ago " every man digs his own grave" .
If the employees were subject to arrest, they were there illegally in the first place, and it's not the employers responsibility to feed any employee.
When my employer does it voluntarily, it's usually something inedible.
They're making freekin clothes! Haven't we trained monkeys to do that yet?
As an aside, if your workplace competition is a machine, don't expect a fabulous benefits package.
I'll bet you my passport has at least 25 more country stamps than yours does.
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