Summary of Hidden Face of Globalization Video

John MacGovern

1/30/13

Video Summary

Hidden Face of Globalization (Videos 1-4)

Like many of the videos I have seen regarding labor standards in foreign country, this video was meant to open the eyes of the American viewer to what really goes on in these sweatshops that produce the goods that we buy nearly every day. The documentary began in a factory in Bangladesh, where many facts were revealed about working conditions such as the ages of workers along with the hours they are being forced to work. The majority of these factories consist of over 80% women in which many are underage, and they are forced to work shifts that total up to 100 hours a week. This means that in order to work their shifts, these women are forced to sleep at the factory or work nights which leaves them absolutely no time for themselves or their family that they support. If the workload isn’t enough, the male supervisors are constantly pressuring and beating their employees in order to work faster and make their quota. In such a demanding job you would think that the conditions around you would be made to help production, but these cases are just the opposite. They are allowed no benefits, limited bathroom usage, and the water they drink if often not fit for drinking. Simply, these workers are being put under these conditions for 2 reasons: the big companies like Wal-Mart are saving money in labor costs, and also because these workers have no choice since they know they will not find a better job which sometimes means risking your life just to make a few cents an hour to support yourself.

The most surprising thing out of all of this in my opinion is that workers are enduring these conditions with very little complaints, yet the factories paying these women’s salary are going to even further lengths to cheat them. If 8 cents an hour isn’t bad enough, many of these factories are only paying these women a small fraction of their overtime that they deserve, and tell them to “work...