Summary: The US and Cambodia signed a trade agreement in 2006. Since then, apparel has been Cambodia's primary export. Recently, garment workers have been striking for higher pay. Currently, garment workers do not make subsistence wages. Workers are asking factories for $160 per month when factories won't go higher than $100. Conditions in Cambodian apparel factories are sweatshop conditions. US and European governments won't address the issue. International retailers H&M and Gap Inc. have condemned Cambodia, but nothing more. Factories argue that they can not raise wages without raising prices to the brands they work for. They fear that if they raise prices it will drive their business to Myanmar, who recently opened up to free trade. The article argues that free trade has made conditions in Cambodia worse than they were before.
Analysis: This article points out the most frustrating fact about free trade. We in the west want cheap and fashionable clothing. We are often not willing to pay more to ensure that the person that made our jeans is living a comfortable life. Raising labor wages in Cambodia will most likely cause retailers to take their business elsewhere. Globalization has created a much smaller world. It has opened trade and boosted formerly struggling economies. The garment industry has capitalized on the cheap labor of developing nations and has lead to poor treatment of women (the majority of factory workers are women). First apparel manufacturing took place in China, but brands have since taken their jobs to less expensive manufacturing facilities in other countries.
http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/1/for-labor-no-holidayincambodia.html
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