As critics of the sweatshop economy contend, and just as its negative connotation implies, sweatshops lie in conjunction with human trafficking and sex slavery under the forced labor umbrella. Sweatshops, as defined by the US Department of Labor, are factories that violate any two fundamental US labor laws, including “paying a minimum wage and keeping a time card, paying overtime, and paying on time” (US Department of Labor, 1997). In a sweatshop, working conditions are extremely exploitative - laborers paid a low wage are forced into unhealthy environments performing dangerous duties, and a bathroom break can only be dreamed of. These egregious labor factories exist in third-world countries such as Bangladesh, China, Honduras, India, and Vietnam, which are otherwise known as newly industrialized countries (NICs) due to their globalization. Beginning with the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City in 1911, to the more modern-day tragedy in Bangladesh which killed two hundred thirty people in 2013, a wide array of laborers have been constantly …show more content…
Globalizing NICs is undoubtedly an advantage to not only the underdeveloped country but the global economy as well. Sweatshops can provide a kickstart to developing a poor nation by creating jobs, tending toward wealth equality (whether that takes a decade or centuries), and establishing partnerships with the economically stable host country. It is in this context that stakeholders of the sweatshop economy can be illustrated either in positive light (with regard to the economy) or easily on the negative side of the spectrum (with regards to