Blog #15 (Question #2)

Mickey Mouse Goes to Haiti
It is unfathomable that as wealth and prosperous a commercial business as Walt Disney is here in the U.S. and around the world, that they would not willingly and quickly provide a reasonable living wage of just 58 cents an hour to hard working Haitians who slave away in one of the most depressing work environments imaginable. Then, just as I was trying my best to wrap my mind around “why” such an obvious and obscene abuse of human rights is allowed to continue, I learn that Walt Disney fired anyone who spoke out against the working conditions, long hours and low wages. Shame on Walt Disney!
This video should be shown far and wide to shame Walt Disney to simply do what is right and fair. If it takes boycotting Walt Disney products and entertainment to get their attention, then so be it. It was heartbreaking to hear the women and men describe how they are always in debt with just basics, like food. These people work hard yet live as though they are the laziest of the laziest. It is American to reward hard work. Again, shame on Walt Disney, an American-based entity, for being so stubborn as to threaten to close up shop in Haiti rather than pay 58 cents per hour. For Walt Disney or any business to come into an undeveloped country and leverage their poverty and desperate circumstances for gain should be criminal. Even if there are no international laws to protect that exploitation, it is still morally inexcusable and should not be encouraged by our purchases. Such a business deserves the harshest penalties until such time as they change their exploitive policies and make things fair. I don’t think I can ever look at another Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck image again without seeing the eyes of despair of those who help produce them.

Video on maquilas and their impact on women's health
This series of videos of Mexican factories was equally disturbing as the Mickey Mouse videos. There were many overlapping themes of desperately poor people being taken advantage by greedy money hungry businesses. In the case of these Mexico based factories, in cities called “Maquilaopolis" there seemed to be some small reason to hope that someday things may change. There are national women who work in these factories who are organizing themselves to take a stand for change of working conditions and wages. These video diaries available on many websites, including TWU and YouTube, are exposing the hardships of what amounts to as slave labor. Working accommodations are deplorable and would be unacceptable in the U.S. where, for instance, only one bathroom for over 1000 employees. Women made to work and stand on their feet all day while pregnant, a practice that continues to cause miscarriages. Like the Haitians, any attempts to discuss with any level of management about working conditions or pay were forbidden, as were any cameras.
While many Americans lament the loss of work here in the U.S. as our work was outsourced overseas, we begrudgingly had to admit that the move at least made business sense. We all heard the rational, that it is cheaper to produce goods in developing nations because oversea wages, though less than their American counterpart, are appropriate for their cost of living. As a result, cheaper made goods allow saving to be passed on to the U.S. consumer. It all seemed to be a”win-win” situation, except of course, for the displaced American worker. Then with videos like these, we see the degree of unbridled greed of wealthy CEO’s and their distributors, like Wal-Mart, and it’s ugly to behold.

Arcoiris, TV. (1996). Mickey Mouse goes to Haiti [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_OXhtgHBxk&feature=player_embedded#