Labor Testimony

Kernaghan's report describes all the abuses that Chinese factories routinely do. He gives examples of specific toys/companies (Barbie, Speedo) that have factories in China and what kind of abuses they do. He tells how much pay the workers are docked, how much overtime pay is denied them, and how much the finished product is marked up. He explains what the company spends thier money on because they obviously do not spend that money on their workers' well-being. His lists of these abuses and the money and percentages of wages denied to workers became very repetitive very quickly. Simply giving an example of one or two specific products and the abuses those companis practice and then listing other companies that do the same thing would have been just as effective.

Kernaghan makes the very apt point that American consumers would be horrified if they knew the way the products were made and how little the factory owners regard human rights. He then goes on to say that the reason American consumers don't know these practices is because the companies that own theses factories do everything in their power to keep this information hidden. I personally am horrified by these practices, but most of the ability to change these practices lies with the consumer; if the consumer is ignorant of these practices and has no viable option but to purchase those products, not much change for the better can occur. Which is just the way these companies want to keep it. Also, Kernaghan states that there is more than enough money in the companies' vaults to change their practices to adopt more humane ones, but the practices remain hidden and the profits increase, so the company has absolutely zero incentive to spend money on changing their practices. Without major incentive, these companies will just continue to pocket the profit they make, it is naive to think that they will be inspired to change their ways because they have obviously made the conscious decision to operate inhumane factories.