INTERNATIONAL LAW / WEB ASSIGNMENT
Many types of manufacturing operations have been moved overseas in a quest for lower labor costs. Many other nations have few, if any, laws that protect workers from abuse. Consider when a U.S. company is legally or morally obligated to demand improved working conditions for its overseas contract workers.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. To what extent do you agree with the vice president's statement: "We are morally required to use our negotiating power to insist on humane treatment of the people who make our products"?
2. If you were the president of the U.S. company in this video, would you renew the contract with Quality Dragon Ltd. if no changes were made to its operation? Why or why not? Fully explain your answer.
3. What parts of Ping's story indicate to you that he is being treated wrongfully? Or does he seem to be treated reasonably in your opinion? Fully explain your answer.
4. Assume that correcting the following problems would each result in a 1 percent cost increase for the company profiled in the video. Assume that you are the president of the U.S. company. Which of the following items would you insist on, keeping in mind that each increases your labor costs, and why? Fully explain your answers.
- Reducing employees' workdays to a maximum of 12 hours
- Improving the quality of food served to employees
- Eliminating reduced pay for employees who exceed their quota for errors
- Building additional dorms so that workers sleep with no more than four to a room
- Prohibiting unpaid overtime