sweatshop
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun: 1. A factory or workshop, especially in the clothing industry, where workers are employed for long hours at low wages under poor and often unsafe or unhealthy conditions. The term strongly implies exploitation, including the prevention of workers from organizing to improve their situation.
Usage and Examples
- The investigation revealed that the popular brand's products were made in a sweatshop employing children.
- Labor activists are campaigning to eliminate sweatshops from the global supply chain.
- The documentary exposed the harsh realities of sweatshop labor.
Advanced Usage and Context
- The word "sweatshop" is often used figuratively to describe any workplace perceived as exploitative, with high pressure and poor conditions, even outside manufacturing.
- Example: "That startup might have a cool office, but with the 80-hour weeks, it's basically a tech sweatshop."
- It frequently appears in discussions of globalization, ethics, consumer responsibility, and workers' rights.
Variants and Related Words
- Sweatshop conditions (noun phrase): Refers to the poor working standards characteristic of a sweatshop.
- Example: "The factory was accused of maintaining sweatshop conditions."
- Sweated labour (noun phrase, chiefly British English): Labour performed in sweatshop conditions.
Synonyms
- Sweat factory
- Sweat mill
- Exploitative workshop
- Sweated workshop
Antonyms
- Ethical workplace
- Union shop (a workplace where a labor union has a collective bargaining agreement)
- Model factory
Related Idioms and Phrases
- To work in/sweat in a sweatshop: To be employed under such exploitative conditions.
- Example: "She described what it was like to sweat in a sweatshop for 14 hours a day."
- Sweatshop-free: A label or claim indicating a product was not made in a sweatshop.
- Example: "Consumers are increasingly demanding sweatshop-free clothing."
Noun
- factory where workers do piecework for poor pay and are prevented from forming unions; common in the clothing industry