Affect Of Globalization on Discrimination

Globalization plays a large role in the discrimination of employees in China. Many clothing companies have factories in China due to the low cost of labor. These companies produce mass amounts of products while underpaying and overworking their employees. I have applied Youngs Faces of Oppression to the companies working conditions as well as discussing marginalization of pregnant women which relates to our topic on intersectionality.

Globalization

According to Yin and Choi, from The Globalization Myth: The Case of China, globalization increases the flow of trade, investment and financial capital. This allows firms to disperse their production across locations and become capable of supporting distant markets and customers. This expansion in the economy lowers the transaction costs and therefore increases the trade and financial flow within countries.

China has been globalized and there are several reasons as to why China has been globalized. Firstly, Chinas economy has the highest growth rate and it has localized the domestic markets. Secondly, only two cities (Guangzhou, and Shanghai) within China have created location advantages in the form of highly skilled labor. Thirdly, there are location advantages due to the presence and attraction of Multi-National Enterprise, which owns and control the production of goods and services in other countries. Lastly, these location advantages "diffuse" the rest of China, due to the shortage of skilled labor because of resource constraints.

As mentioned in Porter's article, globalization allows companies to source capital, and good from anywhere to locate operations where the cost would be minimal. The globalization of China has attracted many companies to manufacture goods in the country. These companies own factories in China due to the low cost of labor, which is due to China's shortage of highly skilled labor. According to Winn, these companies pay their employees as low as 50-75 cents for a 10-hour shift and often have poor working conditions and offer no benefits, and discriminate against these workers.

Chinese Working Conditions in Sweatshops With Application of Youngs Faces of Oppression

Companies such as H&M, Forever 21, GAP and Apple

The study that was conducted by China Labor Watch discusses some of the issues with the working conditions in the sweatshops in China. However, I will also the article by Winn.

Working Overtime

The first issue is overtime, many employees work 36 to 160 hours of overtime a month, however, the Labor Law of China only allows 36 hours of overtime in a month. This is an issue that's occurring in China right now during the Christmas time! According to Spangler Apple has been overworking their employees in China in order to meet the demands of the new iPhone X around the Christmas time.

Minimum Wage & Exploitation

The second issue being minimum wage, the minimum wage is not enough to meet the cost of living from just normal working hours that are scheduled for the employee. Therefore, the employee works excessive hours in order to survive and meet the living costs. This is an example of Young's Exploitation, these companies abuse their employees by paying them as low as 50-75 cents per shift according to Winn. In order to make a profit, companies exploit these employees. In a single day, these factory workers make 2,000 shirts each retailing from $10-$50 depending on the style and material. These employees are easily exploited because they lack education, and are mostly high school drop-outs trying to contribute to their families financial needs. About 1/3 of the workers that these companies hire are children in their early teens ranging from ages 12-14.

Labor Intensity & Violence

Thirdly, is the issue of labor intensity. Many jobs require employees to stand for more than 10 hours straight, and they only receive a 10-minute break during the middle of the day. This break doesn't allow the employee enough time to go to the bathroom at times due to the lack of bathrooms. This 10-minute break also doesn't give the employee enough time to eat. Those that take bathroom breaks outside of their 10-minute break are often yelled at and abused. The violence that these employees face is another example from Young's Five Faces of Oppression. Due to the employees' lack of authority and power these employees face violence almost every day. They experience verbal, physical and emotional abuse from the employers. As explained by Winn when these employees wanted to protest against these conditions they were subject to violence that ended in arrests and the killings of three employees.

Labor Contract & Powerlessness

The 4th issue is the labor contract. Many of the employees are not informed about the content that is on the contract, therefore the workers are not able to use the labor contract for their legal rights, and they are unable to claim compensation when they get injured on the job. This also allows companies to fire employees abruptly with no job security. These employees are often uneducated because they have to leave school in order to support themselves financially. In factories such as H&M, GAP, and Forever 21 if the employee is not stitching fast enough they are fired, and easily replaced. This helps the factory save a lot of money, and increase their profit.This leaves employees powerless which is another face from Young's Five Faces of Oppression. Individuals lack authority, power, and are unable to express their creativity. They also have no power over the employer because the lack of education and don't know their rights which makes them easily replaceable.

Discrimination & Marginalization

The final issue is discrimination. These factories discriminate against age and gender which connects to our theme of Intersectionality. These companies tend to hire females, who are not pregnant between the ages of 18 to 40. They hire those who aren't pregnant because they have to train them, and they don't allow maternity leaves. They also believe that women who are pregnant take more washroom breaks, and are not as efficient as those who aren't pregnant. This issue is an example of Young's Marginalization, marginalization is when an employer doesn't hire a certain group of individuals based on their belief that they are inefficient and will not commit to the job. Marginalization leads to the discrimination of certain individuals. As discussed by Winn females often try to hide their pregnancy because companies won't hire them if they know they are pregnant.