Editing Sweatshop (section)

==Anti-sweatshop movement==
{{main|Anti-sweatshop movement}}

===History===
====19th and early 20th centuries====

Some of the earliest sweatshop critics were found in the 19th-century [[abolitionism|abolitionist]] movement that had originally coalesced in opposition to chattel [[slavery]], and many abolitionists saw similarities between slavery and sweatshop work. As slavery was successively outlawed in industrial countries between 1794 (in France) and 1865 (in the United States), some abolitionists sought to broaden the anti-slavery consensus to include other forms of harsh labor, including sweatshops. As it happened, the first significant law to address sweatshops (the [[Factory Act 1833]]) was passed in the United Kingdom several years after the slave trade (1807) and ownership of slaves (1833) was made illegal.

Ultimately, the abolitionist movement split apart. Some advocates focused on working conditions and found common causes with trade unions [[Marxism|Marxists]] and socialist political groups, or [[Progressivism|progressive movement]] and the [[muckraker]]s. Others focused on the continued slave trade and [[involuntary servitude]] in the colonial world. For those groups that remained focused on slavery, sweatshops became one of the primary objects of controversy. Workplaces across multiple sectors of the economy were categorized as sweatshops. However, there were fundamental philosophical disagreements about what constituted slavery. Unable to agree on the status of sweatshops, the abolitionists working with the [[League of Nations]] and the United Nations ultimately backed away from efforts to define slavery and focused instead on a common precursor of slavery – [[human trafficking]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Miers|first=Suzanne|year=2003|title=Slavery in the Twentieth Century: The Evolution of a Global Problem|publisher=Alta Mira Press, Walnut Creek, California}}</ref>

Those focused on working conditions included [[Friedrich Engels]], whose book ''[[The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844]]'' would inspire the Marxist movement named for his collaborator, [[Karl Marx]]. In the United Kingdom, the first effective [[Factory Acts|Factory Act]] was introduced in 1833 to help improve the condition of workers by limiting work hours and the use of child labor; but this applied only to textile factories. Later Acts extended protection to factories in other industries, but not until 1867 was there any similar protection for employees in small workshops, and not until 1891 was it possible to effectively enforce the legislation where the workplace was a dwelling (as was often the case for sweatshops). The formation of the [[International Labour Organization]] in 1919 under the League of Nations and then the United Nations sought to address the plight of workers the world over. Concern over working conditions as described by muckraker journalists during the [[Progressive Era]] in the United States saw the passage of new workers' rights laws and ultimately resulted in the [[Fair Labor Standards Act]] of 1938, passed during the [[New Deal]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.finduslaw.com/fair_labor_standards_act_flsa_29_u_s_code_chapter_8|title=Fair Labor Standards Act – FLSA – 29 U.S. Code Chapter 8|work=finduslaw.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516054443/http://finduslaw.com/fair_labor_standards_act_flsa_29_u_s_code_chapter_8|archive-date=May 16, 2008}}</ref>

====Late 20th century to present====

On February 4, 1997, Mayor Ed Boyle of [[North Olmsted]], in the U.S. state of [[Ohio]], introduced the first piece of legislation prohibiting the government from purchasing, renting, or taking on consignment any goods made under sweatshop conditions and including in the definition those goods made by political prisoners and incarcerated criminals.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.villagelife.org/news/archives/12-4-97_sweatshopban.html|title=Village Life News: Ban on Sweatshop Products Becomes Rule|website=www.villagelife.org|access-date=June 11, 2018}}</ref> Similar legislation was subsequently passed in other American cities such as Detroit, New York, and San Francisco.{{citation needed|date=November 2016}} Later Mayor Boyle introduced the legislation to the Mayors and Managers Association where it was immediately endorsed, and he was invited by President [[Bill Clinton]] to address a panel studying the subject in Washington, DC.{{citation needed|date=November 2016}}

Clothing and footwear [[Factory|factories]] overseas have progressively improved working conditions because of the high demand of [[anti-sweatshop movement]] labor rights advocates.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=http://www.laborrights.org/in-the-news/anti-sweatshop-movement-achieving-gains-overseas|title=Anti-Sweatshop Movement Is Achieving Gains Overseas {{!}} International Labor Rights Forum|website=www.laborrights.org|date=18 July 2009|access-date=May 17, 2016}}</ref> Sweatshops overseas have been receiving enormous amounts of pressure. The working conditions from college students, and other opponents of sweatshops have led to some of the powerful companies like [[Nike, Inc.|Nike]] and the Gap who have agreed to cut back on [[child labour]],<ref name=":3" /> restrict the use of dangerous and poisonous [[Chemical substance|chemicals]], and drop the average rate of employees working 80-hour weeks, according to groups that monitor such factories. Labour advocates say this could be a major turning point after 4 decades of workers in Asia and Latin American factories being underpaid, underappreciated and working in an unsafe environment.

Recently, there have been strides to eradicate sweatshops through government action, for example by increasing the minimum wage. In China, a developing country that is known to be a hub for sweatshops due to relaxed labor laws, high population and low minimum wage, the minimum wage is set to be raised by approximately 7% in 10 provinces by the end of 2018.<ref>{{cite web |author=CBNEditor |date=May 26, 2018 |title=10 Chinese Provinces Raise Minimum Wages Levels in 2018 |access-date=September 21, 2018 |work=China Banking News |url=http://www.chinabankingnews.com/2018/05/26/10-chinese-provinces-raise-minimum-wages-level-since-start-2018/}}</ref> As well as these governments also enforced stricter labor laws in 2013 after the [[collapse of Rana Plaza]] in Bangladesh, a large 5 storied sweatshop that killed 1135 people due to the building not being up to code, Bangladeshi police shut down many other factories after safety checks were completed and not met. However, no action has been as beneficial to the anti-sweatshop movement as that of the rise of social media. Social media has allowed for the world to see exactly what companies are doing and how they are doing it instantaneously, for free and is distributed to a wide audience. The platforms have allowed for viral videos, hundreds of thousands of retweets of quotes or statistics, millions of liked and shared pictures etc. to be spread to consumers in regards to companies' production methods without any censorship and thus force brands to be more transparent and ethical with their production practices. This is because a brand's reputation can be destroyed by a bystander with a smartphone who records a brand's product being made in a sweatshop where its workers are treated inhumanely. 

However, social media isn’t just helping to expose brands who are using sweatshops and unethical production practices but also is allowing companies that are trying to increase awareness of the anti-sweatshop movement to spread their message quickly and efficiently. In some cases, it isn't sure that name-calling and shaming is the most effective strategy. Globalization is a big factor in sweatshops within the firm. These lead firms depend on structural and cultural position. In which many are targeting the leading globalizer and lawmakers. A solution, that is offered is to combine structural and cultural values, to be embedded into policy. The anti-sweatshop activism states how firms lack structural power and cultural vulnerability.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=2014|title=Shaming the Corporation: The Social Production of Targets and the Anti-Sweatshop Movement|journal=American Sociological Review|volume=79 |pages=653–679|jstor=43187558|last1=Bartley|first1=Tim|last2=Child|first2=Curtis|issue=4|s2cid=143570345 |doi=10.1177/0003122414540653}}</ref> For example, in May 2017 Mama Cash and The Clean Clothes Campaign, both organizations that are working towards abolishing sweatshops as well as creating a world of sustainable and ethical apparel practices, worked together to create The Women Power Fashion Pop-up.<ref name="fashionunited.uk">{{cite web |last=Hendriksz |first=V. |date=May 17, 2017 |title=Pop-up Sweatshop urges the Fashion Industry to be more Transparent |access-date=September 22, 2018 |work=Fashion United |url=https://fashionunited.uk/news/fashion/pop-up-sweatshop-urges-the-fashion-industry-to-be-more-transparent/2017051724550}}</ref> The event took place in Amsterdam and allowed consumers to sit in a room designed to look and feel like a sweatshop and were forced to create 100 ties in an hour which is synonymous to that of the expectations of women working in sweatshops today.<ref name="fashionunited.uk"/> This pop-up allowed consumers to actually experience the life of a sweatshop worker for a limited time and thus made them more sympathetic to the cause. Outside of the pop-up was a petition that consumers could sign to convince brands to be more transparent with their clothing manufacturing processes.<ref name="fashionunited.uk"/> The campaign went viral and created a significant buzz for the anti-sweatshop movement as well as the work of Mama Cash and The Clean Clothes Campaign.
In recent years, the notion of the ethical consumer has risen. Consumers not only are important to modern markets but also influence the decisions made by companies. These consumers make buying decisions based on how the product was made, by whom and under what conditions, as well as the environmental consequences of production and consumption. This set of criteria means that consumption decisions are not only based on one's satisfaction with a purchase but also other aspects such as the environment and the well-being of workers in clothing factories.<ref>{{cite journal|date=2008|doi=10.1111/j.1470-6431.2008.00724.x |title=Labelling fashion markets|last=Aspers|first=Patrik |journal=International Journal of Consumer Studies |volume=32|issue=6|pages=633–638|hdl=11858/00-001M-0000-0012-4768-F |hdl-access=free}}</ref>

===Anti-sweatshop organizations===
* [[Clean Clothes Campaign]] – an international alliance of labor unions and non-governmental organizations
* [[Free the Children]] – a Canadian organization that helps raise awareness and put a stop to Child Labour – Also helps other children in need
* [[Global Exchange]] – an international human rights organization founded in 1988 dedicated to promoting social, economic and environmental justice
* [[Green America]] – membership organization based in the United States
* [[Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights]] – founded to combat sweatshop labor and US government policy in El Salvador and Central America
* [[International Labor Rights Fund]]
* [[International Labour Organization]] – a specialized agency of the United Nations
* [[Maquila Solidarity Network]] – a Canadian anti-sweatshop network
* [[No Sweat (organisation)|No Sweat]] (UK)
* [[Rugmark]] – a carpet labeling program and rehabilitation centers for former child laborers in India, Pakistan and Nepal
* [[Student Labor Action Coalition|United Students Against Sweatshops]] – a student organization in the United States and Canada
* [[Unite Here]] – a labor union based in the United States and Canada dedicated to achieving higher standards for laborers 
* [[Worker Rights Consortium]] – a labor rights organization focused on protecting the rights of workers who make apparel in the United States
* [[Fair Trade USA]] - an independent, nonprofit organization that sets standards, certifies, and labels products that promote sustainable livelihoods for farmers and workers and protect the environment.
* [https://microrevolt.org/ microRevolt] - an independent, nonprofit organization that addresses the current crisis of global expansion and the feminization of labor
* [[Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights]] - a non-profit located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States whose mission is to promote and defend women's and workers' rights across the globe; formally known as the National Labor Committee

====In Asia====
* [[China Labour Bulletin]] – reports on labor concerns in China
* [[Hong Kong Christian Industrial Committee]] – empowers workers, acts as a policy watch-dog, and promotes independent trade union movements

===Sweatshop-free===
{{Main|Sweatshop-free}}
[[Sweatshop-free]] is a term the fashion brand [[American Apparel]] created to mean coercion-free, fair compensation for garment workers who make their products.<ref name=aaworkers>{{cite web |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |url=http://www.americanapparel.net/aboutus/verticalint/workers/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120610043456/http://www.americanapparel.net/aboutus/verticalint/workers/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 10, 2012 |title=Sweatshop-free. That's American Apparel. |access-date=May 15, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americanapparel.net/aboutus/verticalint/sweatshopfree/?gclid=CKKii6Pjp7cCFSU6QgodpGsAHw|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140203030415/http://www.americanapparel.net/aboutus/verticalint/sweatshopfree/?gclid=CKKii6Pjp7cCFSU6QgodpGsAHw|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 3, 2014|title=American Apparel – Fashionable Basics. Sweatshop Free. Made in USA.|work=Americanapparel.net|access-date=March 31, 2015}}</ref> American Apparel claims its employees earn on average double the federal minimum wage.<ref name=aaworkers /> They receive some employee benefits, from health insurance to subsidized transportation and meals, and have access to an onsite medical clinic.<ref name=aaworkers /> It has been heavily featured in the company's advertisements for nearly a decade and has become a common term in the garment industry.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sweatfreeshop.com/|title=Sweatshop Free Shopping Guide|work=sweatfreeshop.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sweatfree.org/shoppingguide|title=SweatFree Communities: Shop with a Conscience Consumer Guide|work=Sweatfree.org|access-date=March 31, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.greenamerica.org/livinggreen/nosweatshops.cfm |title=Living Green: Sweatshop-Free Clothing |publisher=Greenamerica.org |access-date=March 31, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.oxfam.org.au/explore/workers-rights/are-your-clothes-made-in-sweatshops/|title=Are your clothes made in sweatshops? |work=Oxfam Australia|date=8 August 2011 |access-date=March 31, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.treehugger.com/tag/sweatshop-free/|title=Sweatshop-Free : TreeHugger|work=Treehugger.com|access-date=March 31, 2015}}</ref>