1. I love the idea of how rumors spread by workers can devastate a garment shop. I feel this gives some power to the workers to fight for their rights if the factory is not run well. If the owners feel like they can do whatever they want and get away with it, the workers can tell each other and spread the rumor of how no one should go work in that shop since the owners are not paying properly or paying late or something, and soon enough that business will lose a lot of money. People will leave and no new people will come. Take that, evil business!
It is nice to hear that the workers don’t have to be stuck working in an awful place with nothing in their power to change their situation or to get back at that owner somehow.
2. I found it interesting that Korean owners consider skin color to be “the only indicator of African ancestry” and also “the best indicator in making hiring decisions”. It was really surprising to hear that “the best indicator” has nothing to do with a worker’s skill. Also if they say skin color is the “only indicator” of being of a certain ancestry, why would it make a difference which skin color a worker has? Because if it really is the only difference, then their usefulness as a worker should be the same as that of people of other ancestries. I’ll also mention that it’s just racist no matter how you put it.
The owners also don’t want black workers in their shops because “they would be watching everything you do, making sure everything is fair.” So does this mean the owners have no concern with things being fair? I know some things were described that would be considered unfair, like privileging a worker who brought in a friend to the factory, but that probably means that these things really are unfair and should be taken care of. This whole idea of not wanting someone watching who knows whats fair and whats not is a bit disturbing. It has this mean spirit of taking advantage of people of your own ethnicity. An owner also said that he wants to pay workers in cash because it helps those people keep more money by not paying taxes, but what is most likely happening is that the owner himself doesn’t have to pay so much taxes by paying workers cash since all these workers are off the books. I always heard it rumored that these businesses are ruthless, and now as I’m reading all these little details add up into a picture of really unpleasant money-making.
3. I really liked what one of the owners said: “Do you know what the main problem in the U.S. is? It is the Americans who are unwilling to do work like they [Mexicans and Ecuadorians] do at minimum wage. I don’t know many Americans who will work like that.They never come here looking for jobs, and they just complain that they have no jobs. Give some more respect to people like [Mexicans and Ecuadorians].” I always felt like it was cruel irony that people who work the hardest get the least respect. The people that work the hardest are the ones that have to live in worry of deportation and trouble with the government. They are often discriminated against and are paid very little for the work they do. Its a strange trend with a lot of jobs where people who work the most are the ones that get paid the least.
