When nine Vietnamese women arrived at Virginia Lynn Sudburys small law office in Pago Pago, on the island of Tutuila in the territory of American Samoa, she wasnt certain she would take the case. The women, workers at the Daewoosa garment factory, were trying to get the company to pay them their promised wages. She decided to take the case, howevernot knowing that it would take years to resolve. Sweatshops in Paradise tells the first-person account of the notorious garment factory/sweatshop class-action lawsuit Nga v. Daewoosa, which took place in the territory of American Samoa from 1999 until 2001. This precedent-setting case drew international attention to the issues surrounding involuntary servitude and trafficking in human beings in far-flung US territories. Written by Sudbury, who acted as the lead plaintiff attorney, Sweatshops in Paradise narrates the story of some three hundred Vietnamese and Chinese workers who were brought to American Samoa to work in the Daewoosa garment factory. There, they encountered civil injustices, rampant abuse, and imprisonment at the hands of the Korean factory owner and the local government. Chronicled in a frank, disarming, and at times humorous manner, Sweatshops in Paradise draws upon hearing transcripts, newspaper articles, and narratives from the largest lawsuit of American Samoas history. It provides a poignant accounting of the fears of the workers and the abuses they endured, the impunity of the factory owner, and the incomprehensible neglect of the evolving and tragic situation by the American Samoa government.

Publication by students of the UCLA course "Work, labor, and social justice". Presents an account of the structure and organization of garment industry, the arduous working conditions encountered by Asian immigrants, and interviews of leaders of campaigns against sweatshops.

Forced labor is a serious & pervasive problem in the U.S. At any given time 10,000 or more people work as forced laborers in cities & towns across the country, & it is likely that the actual number is much higher, possibly tens of thousands. Because forced labor is hidden, inhumane, widespread, & criminal, sustained & coordinated efforts by U.S. law enforce., social service providers, & the general public are needed to expose & eradicate this illicit trade. This report documents the nature & scope of forced labor in the U.S. from Jan. 1998 to Dec. 2003. It is the first study to examine the numbers, demographic characteristics, & origins of victims & perpetrators of forced labor in the U.S. & the adequacy of the U.S. response to this growing problem. Illus.

Today, millions of people are being held in slavery around the world. From poverty-stricken countries to affluent American suburbs, slaves toil as sweatshop workers, sex slaves, migrant workers, and domestic servants. With exposés by seven former slaves--as well as one slaveholder--from Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and the United States, this groundbreaking collection of harrowing first-hand accounts reveals how slavery continues to thrive in the twenty-first century. From the memoirs of Micheline, a Haitian girl coerced into domestic work in Connecticut, to the confessions of Abdel Nasser, a Mauritanian master turned abolitionist, these stories heighten awareness of a global human rights crisis that can no longer be ignored.

"None of us is truly free while others remain enslaved. The continuing existence of slavery is one of the greatest tragedies facing our global humanity. Today we finally have the means and increasingly the conviction to end this scourge and to bring millions of slaves to freedom. Read Kevin Bales's practical and inspiring book, and you will discover how our world can be free at last."—Desmond Tutu "Ever since the Emancipation Proclamation, Americans have congratulated themselves on ending slavery once and for all. But did we? Kevin Bales is a powerful and effective voice in pointing out the appalling degree to which servitude, forced labor and outright slavery still exist in today's world, even here. This book is a valuable primer on the persistence of these evils, their intricate links to poverty, corruption and globalization—and what we can do to combat them. He's a modern-day William Lloyd Garrison."—Adam Hochschild, author of Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves "I know modern slavery from the inside, and since coming to freedom I am committed to end it forever. This book shows us how to make a world where no more childhoods will be stolen and sold as mine was."—Given Kachepa, former U.S. slave, recipient of the Yoshiyama Award "Kevin Bales does not just pontificate from behind a desk. From the charcoal pits of Brazil to the brothels of Thailand, he has seen the victims of modern day slavery. In Ending Slavery, Bales gives us an update on what's happening (and not happening), and a controversial plan to abolish slavery in the 21st century. This is a must read for anyone who wants to learn about the great human rights issue of our times."—Ambassador John Miller, former director of the U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons

"Analyses the politics of production and labour control characterizing the Indian readymade garment industry since its entry into the global arena"--

A groundbreaking history demonstrating that America's economic supremacy was built on the backs of enslaved people Winner of the 2015 Avery O. Craven Prize from the Organization of American Historians Winner of the 2015 Sidney Hillman Prize Americans tend to cast slavery as a pre-modern institution -- the nation's original sin, perhaps, but isolated in time and divorced from America's later success. But to do so robs the millions who suffered in bondage of their full legacy. As historian Edward E. Baptist reveals in The Half Has Never Been Told, the expansion of slavery in the first eight decades after American independence drove the evolution and modernization of the United States. In the span of a single lifetime, the South grew from a narrow coastal strip of worn-out tobacco plantations to a continental cotton empire, and the United States grew into a modern, industrial, and capitalist economy. Told through the intimate testimonies of survivors of slavery, plantation records, newspapers, as well as the words of politicians and entrepreneurs, The Half Has Never Been Told offers a radical new interpretation of American history.

Americans have been shocked by media reports of the dismal working conditions in factories that make clothing for U.S. companies. But while well intentioned, many of these reports about child labor and sweatshop practices rely on stereotypes of how Third World factories operate, ignoring the complex economic dynamics driving the global apparel industry. To dispel these misunderstandings, Jane L. Collins visited two very different apparel firms and their factories in the United States and Mexico. Moving from corporate headquarters to factory floors, her study traces the diverse ties that link First and Third World workers and managers, producers and consumers. Collins examines how the transnational economics of the apparel industry allow firms to relocate or subcontract their work anywhere in the world, making it much harder for garment workers in the United States or any other country to demand fair pay and humane working conditions. Putting a human face on globalization, Threads shows not only how international trade affects local communities but also how workers can organize in this new environment to more effectively demand better treatment from their distant corporate employers.

A funny, horrifying, compulsively readable expose of the cyber-sweatshop culture--a riveting read for anyone who is fascinated by the new Web society.