Directly From the Source

Confessions of a Sweatshop Inspector: In April 2008, there was an interview conducted by a sweatshop inspector. He remembers one really bad factory in China that he was sent out to inspect. He states that he was not able to walk in a straight path because there were so many production items on the ground, causing build-up and a host of other safety hazards. This inspector usually works in the Los Angeles area, and while inspecting sweatshops in LA he and another individual usually team up and work in peers to raid sweatshops to see if they are meeting the states qualified deadlines in order to be active: wages, breaks, lunches, etc. In these small garment shops there are about three inspections a day, just to make sure nothing is left unseen. But outside of the country, factories are much larger most of the time filled with thousands of employee, and here these inspectors usually work alone, but if their lucky they work in pairs, but only get the opportunity to inspect the facility once or twice a day. The inspector stated when he interviews employees about the treatment they receive at the job, pay, breaks, etc. They usually lie and are taught to lie by their managers. He also views false time cards and payroll records, the entire day spent coaching employees how to lie on interviews and a host of other things. The major challenge of inspections was simply staying ahead of the factories they monitored. He said that he overheard a woman, working in a sweatshop in China saying that she works so hard and paid so little. The inspector also stated that when he is having interview with some employees that he does not know what to believe and what not to believe because most of the employees are threatened by their employer to lie about things like wage, hours worked, and breaks that are taken. These employees are threatened that they will not have a place to work if they tell inspectors the truth about their working conditions.