The child labor force in the garment industry of Los Angeles

The second hypertext essay will provide me the opportunity to focus on an aspect of low wage labor that has greatly impacted me as well as all Americans that rely on manufactured products. The low wage labor force is a prominent part of the U.S. economy. They do the jobs that keep our country running. More specifically, the apparel industry is quite important to the American consumer. This industry is sustained by garment workers, often newly arrived from torn countries in hopes of making a better life in the states. Much like George (pg. 37) in Erhrenreich’s “Nickel and Dimed,” where the Czech dishwasher was taken advantage of and eventually fired because he was new to the country and did not understand how to fend for himself, many garment workers experience the injustices that come forth when their lack of experience in the country is exploited. This is horrible enough, yet the severity of the low wage labor problem in the garment industry is further exacerbated when children are introduced to the working environment. Often working to support their families, children endure deplorable conditions when they should be earning an education by attending school. This is a problem occurring all over the world yet it surprises me that it occurs so frequently in the United States! I would like to focus my project by examining the child labor force in the garment industry of Los Angeles. By narrowing my topic to this defined focus of child labor in Los Angeles sweatshops, I hope to bring forth new insights on this widespread issue.

The three books present different ways with which to illustrate the experiences of low wage workers. Schlosser relies mostly upon research to represent their experiences while Barbara Ehrenreich puts herself in low wage situations to fully experience and understand what low wage laborers are going through. Yet another means to gain experiential insight is through interviews, which Shipler uses quite effectively. I find that all are beneficial to an effective hypertext essay. Although the books do not give insight into my specific topic, I feel that the way in which they revealed experience is important to take into account.