No More Sweatshop: Japan Is the Un-fairest Trader among Advanced Countries Kobe Gakuin University B115092 Ohnishi, Mikiko Examiner: Nakanishi, Noriko Abstract In this report, first paragraph is mentioned about what sweatshop and fair trade is. In the second paragraph, I will write how sweatshops increased in the world and why sweatshops do not decrease. Sweatshops increased after industrial revolution and immigration reform and it is one of a big social problems in the world. In the third paragraph, I will write about fair trade and my research about it. Fair trade is one of the solution to decrease sweatshops, so this paragraph shows how fair trade solve the problems caused by sweatshops. My research is about the recognition about fair trade. I did my questionnaire for Japanese and Canadian students, and I found some differences by the result. In the fourth paragraph, I wrote about what we have to do. Sweatshops are increasing in the world, but most of people do not know about them. Therefore, we have to learn about sweatshops and fair trade and think about it more seriously. If fair trade products is common among people in advanced countries, sweatshop will decrease in the world. Contents 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 2. The issues related to sweatshops ......................................................................................... 1 2-1. Sweatshops in developing countries .............................................................................. 2 2-2. Sweatshops in advanced countries ................................................................................ 3 2-3. Sweatshops and child labor .......................................................................................... 4 3. Fair trade ......................................................................................................................... 5 3-1. Promotion of fair trade in England ................................................................................ 6 3-2. Fair trade communities in Europe ................................................................................. 7 3-3. Fair trade products in Japan ......................................................................................... 9 3-4. Why fair trade cannot spread to the world? .................................................................... 9 4. Fair trade questionnaire ....................................................................................................10 4-1. Purpose of this study ..................................................................................................10 4-2. Method ....................................................................................................................10 4-3. Result ...................................................................................................................... 11 4-3-1. Knowledge of fair trade products .......................................................................... 11 4-3-2. Attitudes toward fair trade products .......................................................................12 4-4. Discussion ................................................................................................................13 5. No more sweatshops in the world! ......................................................................................14 5-1. Be aware of the sweatshops ........................................................................................14 5-2. Make fair trade trendy. ...............................................................................................16 5-2-1. Fair trade and organic products .............................................................................16 5-2-2. Fair trade and companies ......................................................................................17 5-3. Be fair to everybody on the earth .................................................................................17 References ..........................................................................................................................18 Appendix ...........................................................................................................................23 1. Introduction Recently, mass production and mass consumption has become normal in the world. It creates fast fashion and fast food. Most people like cheap and trendy things, especially, in advanced countries. However, it takes advantages of sweatshops and child labors. Unfortunately, the people in developed countries do not know much about these problems because they are under the development of countries and technology. One of the solutions of these problems is fair trade that is trade fairly between companies and workers. It is not famous in Japan. Japan is the worst country in terms of ranking the purchasing of fair trade products in advanced countries. The reasons are lack of recognition and knowledge about fair trade. Therefore, Japanese people have to learn more about it and companies and media have to cooperate more with fair trade organizations. If fair trade products are acknowledged among people in advanced countries, the number of sweatshops will decrease in the world. Chapter 2 is about the history and the problems about sweatshops. Sweatshops have a long history and they have a lot of problems. After that, chapter 3 is about the current fair trade. It explains how fair trade solve the problems of sweatshops. In chapter 4, it is the survey about the recognition about fair trade. I did it for Canadian and Japanese students, so this chapter shows the result about it. 2. The issues related to sweatshops Most people love the latest fashion and foods. However, the trends changes so quickly like fashion and gourmet, so there are a lot of products in the world that people buy and consume. This cycle is “Mass production and mass consumption” and it makes a lot of sweatshops. It needs many workers who work for low wage. Some companies believe that it is better to hire the workers in developing countries. Sweatshop means “a 1 small factory where workers are paid very little and work many hours in very bad conditions” (Cambridge Dictionary, 2018). Unfortunately, many people do not know about these problems because it is hidden within the development of countries and technology. In addition, many famous companies’ factories or firms used to make their products are sweatshops. Sweatshops exist, not only in developing countries, but also in advanced countries. After the Industrial Revolution, the number of sweatshops increased in developing countries and after immigration reform, the number of sweatshops increased in advanced countries. 2-1. Sweatshops in developing countries The causes of why there are currently sweatshops in developing countries is because of the Industrial Revolution and poverty. After the Industrial Revolution, the level of the manufacturing industry improved throughout the world and people could make a lot of products like clothes, shoes and foods. In addition, consumers needed cheaper products because there were a lot of products and the trend of clothes and foods changed so quickly. Therefore, many companies tried to make products more cheaply for their profit. Many famous companies sell products like clothes and chocolate cheaply around the world. These cheap products are made in developing countries and some poorer areas of developed countries. In these areas, there are a lot of famous companies’ farms or factories. Companies make their factories or farms in these areas because the wages for workers can be cheaper than other areas. In those factories and farms, the working condition is very bad, for example, low wage and overtime work (Nakai, 2016). These factories and farms are called “sweatshop”. A country that has many sweatshops is Nicaragua. Nicaragua is famous for its clothing factories. The sweatshops have bad conditions, low wages and overtime work. 2 The wages are very low. According to Watrous (2011), the wage of one worker is $130 per a month. But if they have a family of six, they need $450 per a month, so they cannot live healthy and decent life. Even if their family is large, they cannot be given enough money to live healthily and safely. They cannot eat enough food, so the rate of the starvation in Nicaragua is high. In addition, they have a problem of overtime work. In Nicaragua, there is a Kohl’s factory that produces jeans. It is a sweatshop and it is difficult to prove the bad working conditions for the workers because there is not any evidence of it. Antlfinger (2000) reports as follows; Charles Kernaghan of the National Labor Committee of New York, a nonprofit group that focuses on workers’ rights worldwide, said workers at the sweatshops have been verbally and physically abused, live on “starvation” wages and work more than 90-hour weeks. Nicaraguan workers sewing jeans for Kohl’s are paid $65 a month and live in “utter misery,” Kernaghan said. He said many works as many as 50 hours overtime, added to the 47.5 hours week” (Antlfinger, 2000). The workers are forced to work overtime because the companies need mass production. 2-2. Sweatshops in advanced countries The sweatshops in advanced countries are mainly staffed by poor people or immigrants. In the U.S.A., after Immigration Reform in 1980, it became illegal for companies to hire undocumented workers because the American government wanted