Sweatshop Code Of Ethics

1465 Words6 Pages
Statement of the Problem “In 2013 Americans purchased on average 64 items per person” (Oliver, 2015). But, how can that many Americas afford to buy such great quantity of clothing? The answer is simple, 98 % of America’s Clothing in now produced abroad. Most American multinational clothing retailers manufacture their merchandise in third world countries using sweatshops that produce great amounts of low cost products to be sold to American families looking for the most trending item (Oliver, 2015). One of this American clothing retailers is The Gap Inc. Founded on 1969 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, The Gap is one of the biggest American retails and operates other retail stores such as Banana Republic and Old Navy, and it…show more content…
To fully respect a person we must treat them as human an be concerned for their well being. By giving their employees low wages, long hours and inhumane working and living conditions, and by denying them of their most basic rights sweatshops factories are not respecting them. Employers and buyers have a moral obligation to respect sweatshop workers by improving their living conditions and treating them as ends not means. We have an obligation to treat not only sweatshop workers but every human being as human beings capable of being autonomous and rational (Arnold and Bowie, 2003) In a business context, treating person as ends in themselves requires that the companies not only follow international and local labor laws but treat their workers as equals with dignity and respect and help them grow as human beings and educate them and help them by providing them with resources they can use to increase their life conditions. (Arnold and Bowie, 2003). Sweatshop practices lack the Kantian ethics principle. This principle states that we should respect all persons and must never use people merely as means to an end. To achieve that, it is essential that we start a social action
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