Trading goods and jobs
Wal-Mart Stores Inc is one of the leading fortune 500 multinational corporations that specialize in a chain of discount departments stores and warehouse stores in different countries around the world. The company also operates one of the largest online shopping platforms for electronics, home furnishings, food products, video games and baby gears among other products. Being a multinational company, Wal-Mart Stores Inc acquires different supplies form different countries such as China, Bangladesh, Thailand, some countries in Africa and even the United States (Burke 32).
The success of the company does not only emanate from its ability to acquires low cost raw materials from the countries that form part of its global supply chain but also in its ability to produce high quality products in different that are in agreement with the taste and preferences of their target customers (Gillan 41). In addition, Wal-Mart also claims to be in the process of realizing everyday low prices to its consumers making it one of the best destinations in the US and in other countries around the world in terms of acquisition of different products on the retail chain (Burke 35). Despite the perceived advantages related to the success of the company, questions have been raised concerning the ability of the company to abide by the international labor laws that protect the right of the workers in their supply chain to receive salaries and wages that are in agreement the quantity of work done (Gillan 43). In addition, there have been claims that in some of its sweatshops that form part of the company’s supply chain, the working conditions are deplorable as workers are subjected to mediocre lives characterized by different forms of exploitations. The suppliers provide the company with low cost raw materials which when processed or used in the manufacture of finished products generates millions of dollars as profits for the company (International Labor Rights Forum 1).
The shrimp industry in Thailand has been responsible for the exportation of thousands of tons of shrimps that are worth billions of dollars into the United States. These shrimps are grown in Thailand farms, peeked, and peeled cooked and packed in the country by lowly paid workers (Burke 36). The workforce that is subjected to this kind of treatment is often migrant workers arriving in Thailand from to escape harsh living conditions in Burma and Cambodia among other countries in Asia (Institute for Global Labor and Human Rights 1). Most of these workers are trafficked into the country by labor brokers whose intentions have been characterized by labor exploitation and the bondage of debt. The horrible working conditions of the migrant workforce include under payments or in some instances non-payments (Gillan 44). These have been perceived by the International labor Organizations (ILO) to be in violation of the minimum wage laws. In addition, the harsh working conditions often involve inhumane overtime working hours, systematic disavowal of the liberty of association and shared bargain of rights (International Labor Rights Forum 1). Thailand is yet to ratify essential ILO conventions and this can be used in developing the argument that migrant workers do not have any legal right for freedom of association (Gillan 44).
Instances of forced labor and child labor are also common in Thailand and in other countries in Asia and especially the Middle East that form part of the long supply chain for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. In Bangladesh the Harvest Rich Factory has been accused of employing more than 200 children aged 11 years and below of to sew clothing for Wal-Mart and other multinational companies such as Puma and Gap (Burke 36). Other than being subjected to low wages, Children working for the factory are often subjected to beatings and they suffer from exhaustion to the long overtime hours of working. These activities have been perceived to be in violation of the tenets of different ILO conventions advocating for the rights of children and the eradication of child labor in different countries (International Labor Rights Forum 1). The evidence that children have been working in most Wal-Mart supply chains can be traced back to 1996 where the clothing line in Honduras had recruited hundreds of children to aged 12 and 13 years to sew its clothing (Gillan 44). The resulting scandal and negative publicity against Wal-Mart should have been used as a platform for advocating against child labor in all exporting companies that make products intended for transportation to the United States (International Labor Rights Forum 1).
In conclusion, Wal-Mart may argue that it is dedicated in ensuring safe working conditions of its employees and the provision of just wages and salaries in accordance with the requirements of the international labor laws. However, the company can be accused of applying double standards considering that Companies in Thailand and Bangladesh that form part of their major suppliers of the company’s raw materials are responsible for extensive violations of the tenets of ILO (Burke 37). This is in relation to the decision by these companies to employ and exploit migrant workers and children. It is the responsibility of Wal-Mart to engage its suppliers in the implementation of laws that protect the workforce (Gillan 46).
Works cited
Burke, Mary. Human Trafficking: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Cambridge University Press:
Cambridge, 2013
Gillan, Michael. Trade, Labour and Transformation of Community in Asia. Basingstoke,
Hampshire [u.a.: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. Print.
International Labor Rights Forum. The Wal-Mart Effect: Child and Worker Rights Violations at
Narong Seafood. International Labor Rights Forum, 2013
Institute for Global Labor and Human Rights. Children Found Sewing Clothing For Wal-Mart,
Hanes & Other U.S. & European Companies. Labor and Work life Program at Harvard Law School. 2
Protection children and the rights of the migrant population
Wal-Mart’s best source for low cost raw materials and clothing line are Thailand and Bangladesh. In Thailand, majority of the workforce are migrants trafficked from Burma and Cambodia. The growth and popularity of Wal-Mart in the retail industry is related to its ability to provide high standard products (Vedderer et al 23). The need to ensure that it is engage in constant supply of the products can be used as reason to explain the need for more raw materials. This translates to the subjection of the migrant workforce to harsh and long hours of working. The need for more products in a short period also connotes that more migrant workers will be hired to provide additional services (Institute for Global Labor and Human Rights 1). In some situations, Thailand and Bangladesh supply companies recruit children to cut cost on labor force. This is due to the absence of regulations that details the wages and salaries that children should be provided with in situations where they are engaged in industrial activities. Wal-Mart may be providing quality products to its customer base. However, it is possible to ask questions ion the role of Wal-Mart in ensuring that countries which form an essential part of its supply chain adhere to different regulations in advocating for the rights of workers and the eradication of child laborers (Vedderer et al 23).
In Thai’s shrimp industry, Wal-Mart is not the only export destination for the shrimps. Nevertheless, the company is the largest export destination for these shrimps and this can be used to provide possible explanations of the leverage that the company has in ensuring that these companies implement the requirements of labor laws (Institute for Global Labor and Human Rights 1). As the largest export destination Wal-Mart has the ability to introduce different sanctions related to the purchase of the products. If such a move would make it impossible for the company to acquire raw materials at relatively low prices, then it would require an introduction of cost cutting strategies by Wal-Mart (Institute for Global Labor and Human Rights 1).
The consumers of products from Wal-Mart also have a responsibility of ensuring that the company adheres with different workforce regulations. This can be through the decision by consumers, with evidence on the levels of workforce exploitation and child labor, to boycott the products by the company until the necessary measures are established in areas where they have been practiced for different durations (Vedderer et al 25). If child labor and exploitation of the workforce is illegal in the Unites States where Wal-Mart originates, then it would be illegal for the company to source its raw materials from companies and countries which subject migrant population and children to harsh working conditions. the United States may be addressing these challenges using legal proceeding and the ratification of conventions buy the ILO, butt source its products from countries where the exploited population provides labor for the production of these products (Institute for Global Labor and Human Rights 1).
While the American population and companies such as Wal-Mart portray their concern for their employees and the children, Children and migrants in Bangladesh and Thailand face more serious and hazardous working environments. One way through which different labor organizations have been able to ensure that major corporations such as Wal-Mart are exposed for application of double standards is by smuggling photographers and videos showcasing the violation of different labor laws. Wal-Mart for instance has been accused of unfair practices such as the use of child labor in countries where these laws are yet to be enforced. In addition, the company has also been accused of subjecting workers in its supply chains to long working hours while at the same time paying them less than the requirements of the minimum wage (International Labor Rights Forum 1).
In December 2003, non-0governmenstal organizations advocating for the rights of workers in Bangladesh documents what they claimed to be labor violations and abuse in different factories in the country in responsible for the production and supply of good to Wal-Mart, including child labor (Institute for Global Labor and Human Rights 1). In response to these claims, Wal-Mart official claimed that the allegations were in aan process of intense investigations and that it would provide a detailed report on the findings of the investigations. In addition, the company claimed that those responsible for such violations would be subjected to trail and imprisonments if found guilty (Institute for Global Labor and Human Rights 1).
At Wal-Mart, food products and clothing are relatively cheap. This is synonymous to the lives of the young migrant workers in Thailand and Bangladesh who have the responsibility of making these products. When customer purchase products branded by the company, does it reflect the living conditions that different members of the Thai and Bangladesh workforce are subjected to? This question attempts to understand the relationship between the pride of the worker at Wal-Mart in the United States and that of workers in Bangladesh who live and work in deplorable conditions (Carroll & Buchholtz 60). The products by workers in the supplying countries are often used to help enhance the lives of the end consumer. The consumer and the supplier divided created by this multinational company can be used to explain the role of different economic conditions in the development of an imbalance in economic development on the global platform. This form of economic divide has been propelled by among other factors the desire by the companies for developed countries such as Wal-Mart to exploit the weak and impractical laws available in developing and in some cases developed countries (Carroll & Buchholtz 61).
After a series of accusations ion its role in propagating different forms of exploitation of the workforce on the international platform, the management at Wal-Mart has been able to acknowledge well documented problems related to the working conditions and labor rights violations endemic to its supply chain (Norman 11). The reason why Wal-Mart appears on the limelight is because it is almost twice as large any other food retail industry in the United States. Any form of violation to the lives of those responsible for the production of raw materials is considerd to be some form of violation propagated by Wal-Mart (International Labor Rights Forum 1). A continuation of these events sin different regions within the Asia and the Middle East can be evidence that the company is in a constant denial of its responsibility towards its workforce (Carroll & Buchholtz 69).
The scandals of child labor that Wal-Mart finds itself are related to the demand that the company continues to make to the companies in Thailand and Bangladesh. Children of the migrant workers are often subjected to different forms of mistreatments for failing to meet the production goals of these companies (Loomis 13). Wal-Mart fails to adhere to its objective of realizing comfortable and improved living conditions of its customers by locking children who belong to school in sweatshops (Carroll & Buchholtz 69). This explains why the international community through the National Labor Committee has viewed it as important for the company together with its supply chain to develop a plan that would ensure that they are focused towards the provision of stipends to replace the limited wages that the company has been allocating to these children (Carroll & Buchholtz 67). An additional ay through which the international community seeks to ensure that the children are well remunerated from the labor that they provided to the organization is by ensuring that the stipends given by the company cover all the necessary expenses that would ensure that children are able to afford and pay their school fees (Tirman 40).
During the period of investigation at Harvest Rich factories, one of the companies in Bangladesh responsible for employing children was threatening about half of its child workforce with firing. During this period Wal-Mart, which had commissioned Harvest Rich to supply it with clothes failed to act in support of the rights of the children and the unfair working relations that the factory was implementing (Norman 10)? It is noteworthy that such children do not have the ability to form of join workers organizations and this makes it relatively difficult to have a body that support their decisions or their rights to realize certain aspects within the society (Tirman 50). The failure by Wal-Mart to act in defense of the voiceless children can be used as evidence of failure of corporate monitoring (Tirman 31).
Harvest Factory was certified to as part of the supply chain of Wal-Mart Company and other companies in the United States. It is possible to question the experience and knowledge of the Worldwide Responsibly Apparel production (WRAP) monitoring group on matters related to the ways by which Harvest Rich factory operated (Institute for Global Labor and Human Rights 1). It is difficult to understand how US companies with massive investment could have failed to notice child workers, the excessive overworking hours and the deplorable working conditions in Bangladesh and Thailand. In addition, it is also possible to question how Wal-Mart and other American companies failed to notice the absence of workers unions for the migrant population (Tirman 48).
Ignorance on the part of Wal-Mart cannot be used to justify the operations of the Shrimp factory in Thailand of the Harvest Rich factory in Bangladesh. Instead the company must be held responsible for failing to support the rights of the migrant workforce and the child laborers that characterize the workforce of this company (International Labor Rights Forum 1). In addition, it is also possible to accuse Wal-Mart of negligence and lack of the desire to ensure that its operations in foreign countries provide these countries with benefits related to the efforts they put in helping the country realize its mission and objectives (Tirman 34).
It is important for Wal-Mart to act immediately as part of its corporate social responsibility to its workforce. This is the only way through which the company and guarantee to its workforce and the customers that it is dedicated towards ensuring that they lead sustainable livelihoods (Institute for Global Labor and Human Rights 1). In addition, it will also be important for the company to involve other labor organizations such as the Global Labor and Human Rights to institute successful campaigns against deplorable working conditions and the institutionalization of child labor in these countries. This will be through sanctions against companies and countries which fail to implement laws that protect children and the migrant population from exploitation (Institute for Global Labor and Human Rights
Works cited
Burke, Mary. Human Trafficking: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Cambridge University Press:
Cambridge, 2013
Carroll. A & Buchholtz, Ann. Business and Society: Ethics, Sustainability, and Stakeholder
Management.New York University Press: New York, 2014
Gillan, Michael. Trade, Labour and Transformation of Community in Asia. Basingstoke,
Hampshire [u.a.: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. Print.
International Labor Rights Forum. The Wal-Mart Effect: Child and Worker Rights Violations at
Narong Seafood. International Labor Rights Forum, 2013
Institute for Global Labor and Human Rights. Children Found Sewing Clothing For Wal-Mart,
Hanes & Other U.S. & European Companies. Labor and Work life Program at Harvard Law School. 2013.
Loomis, Erik. Out of Sight: The Long and Disturbing Story of Corporations Outsourcing
Catastrophe. New York: The New Press, 2015. Internet resource
Norman, Al. The Case Against Wal-Mart. Raphael Marketing. Atlantic City, 2004.
Vedder, Richard K, and Wendell Cox. The Wal-Mart Revolution: How Big-Box Stores Benefit
Consumers, Workers, and the Economy. Washington, D.C: AEI Press, 2006. Print.
Tirman, John. 100 ways America is screwing up the world. New York University Press: New
York,2006