Employment exploitation, sweatshops, cheap labor, and modern slavery remain serious problems in contemporary society affecting people in developing countries. The documentary Mickey Mouse Goes to Haiti by the National Labor Committee (1996) explores this subject and reveals the unethical working conditions of the Walt Disney Company’s garment factories in Haiti. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the main points from the documentary and discuss what I learned from it.
The problem of human labor exploitation exists in developing countries all over the world, and many companies are involved in unethical practices to get more profit without any regard for their employees. The National Labor Committee (1996) film features Haitian workers who share their concerns and dissatisfaction with miserable wages and poor working conditions at Disney Company’s factories. Watching this documentary made me uncomfortable at first since I learned the harsh truth that has been behind something that I believed innocent and positive.
In Haitian Disney Company’s garment factories, workers do not get a minimum wage to satisfy their basic needs and provide for their families. They are not allowed to unionize and defend their fundamental human rights since they would be at risk of being fired or persecuted. At the same time, the company takes the goods manufactured in Haiti and sells them in the United States at a price ten times higher than what the Haitian who produced them would be paid. I find this fact inhumane and agree with a person from the video who stated that if Americans cannot provide a living wage for the clothes they are getting, they should not be wearing those clothes.
The Haitian workers are trapped in poverty and have no power to defend themselves. Most people in the documentary do not show their faces not to suffer from the employer’s punishment. Nevertheless, the National Labor Committee (1996) reports that soon after speaking to journalists, several Disney workers were fired. They are in miserable conditions, which makes them accept the cruel working conditions to afford at least a small amount of food and pay off the never-ending debt. Another thing I learned from this video is that the Walt Disney Company can afford the minimum wage for its workers. Human mistreatment and labor exploitation should not happen in the 21st century, and every company should be held accountable for its actions and policies.
Reference
The National Labor Committee. (1996). Mickey Mouse goes to Haiti: Walt Disney and the science of exploitation [Documentary]. The National Labor Committee.