Eventually the groundswell of support led to new rights for workers and safer workplaces in America. Throughout this century the struggle for social justice has advanced. Each generation has built critical mass around specific issues to confront the greed, bigotry and myths that perpetuate injustice and has secured real victories. And yet there is so much left to do. In this era of globalization we face many of the same struggles.
History repeats itself.
In 1993 a fire at the Kadar Industrial Toy Company in Thailand killed 188 workers, who like the victims in 1911, faced locked doors and no fire protection equipment. A sweatshop is any workplace where workers are subject to extreme exploitation. This includes hazardous working conditions, arbitrary discipline and a lack of a living wage, benefits, dignity or basic human rights. In the years since the Kadar fire, other stories of exploitation, child labor and tragedy have created a new groundswell to stop the abuse. Now, as we begin a new century, many approaches and allies are working together to confront and defeat the greed, bigotry and myths that perpetuate sweatshops.