Its hard to discuss the issue of business ethics without thinking about “Walmart”. The American Multinational corporation of discount chain stores is not only famous for their very low prices, but also their exploitation of workers.
Exploitation of human labour is the factor that drives the reputation of bad business ethics at Walmart. Employees are put in terrible working conditions and are paid less than half the minimun wage which is the important ethical issue that should be dealt with.
A child as young as 12 years of age working at Huanya Gifts.
In Guangzhou, the minimum wage around the area is roughly 55 cents an hour. However, most workers employed under Guangzhou Huanya Gifts (Manufacturing company that supplies goods to Walmart) make as low as 26 cents an hour! 47% of the minimum wage.
To make matters worse, workers are forced to work with little to no protection in the spray paint department, as they handle potentially life threatening chemicals.
A former employee at Huanya said, “It’s quite noisy, and you stand up all day, 12 hours, and there’s no air-conditioning,” “Sometimes I got $110, sometimes I got $150 a month.”
Needless to say, the low cost comes at a high price.
Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/business/worldbusiness/05sweatshop.html?pagewanted=all
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/13/business/13ornaments.html?_r=0
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nlcnet/4441207596/