Milwaukee Gloves.

[woody 73]

I don't think it is right to abuse anyone in any Country. I don't know what crimes these men committed; I still am not crazy about the treatment the men were getting. Anyhow these Chinese prisoners had to work 13 hours per day, 7 days a week and they were paid 48 cents a day to make the Milwaukee Gloves, that you can buy at your local Home Depot.

The Article in question:

Chinese prisoners say they were forced to make Milwaukee Tool gloves for cents each day

Chishan prisoners report being forced to produce work gloves for the Brookfield-based tool company, which did not answer specific questions.

www.jsonline.com

 

[Kuma601]

Does not surprise me. Generically speaking I'm not to fond of many of the off shore labor practices. The electric vehicle battery mining being one of the high offenders for the articles I've come across.

 

[nadogail]

Would they be better paid if they made a different product for another end customer?

Are we bashing Prison Labor or Milwaukee Electric?

 

[flyingblind]

This thread is Deja-vu. So I will say what I said last time. They make license plates and Jeans in Prisons here in the USA

 

[AJHD]

Before this thread gets locked or deleted, I want to get my .2 cents in.

Why do you think outsourcing labor and otherwise moving production and manufacturing is so much cheaper outside of the USA? Why do you think made in USA tools are so expensive?

The simple answer is relaxed, or a total lack of, laws and regulations found in foreign nations... Corruption, human rights, labor laws, safety regulations and environmental regulations, etc. Take your pick. They all cost money. Agree with them or not.

The never ending quest to increase profits and reduce costs will only continue the trend. Tool companies are not immune to it or any less guilty of it.

 

[TdK71]

Coming soon to the USA.

Countries with the largest number of prisoners as of December 2022

 

[milky2k]

American prison labor generates $2B in goods a year and even more in services. American prison labor makes all sorts of goods, appliances, uniforms, body armor, office furniture, mattresses and also work in agriculture, carpentry, meat processing and more. I am not opposed to the idea of prison labor done ethically, but I am opposed to the pitiful wages they are paid. I haven't heard that American prisons force you to work so we are only on slightly higher moral ground than the Chinese. However, if your option is to sit in a cell all day every day or go work for pennies a day, we are not much better. If there was a certification that goods/services made by prison labor was fair, ethical, and promoted real rehabilitation then that could be worth something to a conscious consumer that wants to help such rehabilitation. Sort of like a "Fair Trade" label for prison goods. I doubt that will happen because surely, someone is making money off cheap prison labor.
Anywho...
I wonder if there is any real investigation going on over this? How much did Milwaukee/TTI know? They probably contract out to some guy in China and that guy sub-contracts out to some other guy and so on until it gets to prison labor. So is TTI really in the dark or do they not care because they have plausible deniability? Is this going to make you boycott Milwaukee? And on the flip side, does anyone have these gloves and like them? Did you still like them after you found out about the prison connection? Not trying to bash anyone with that question, maybe they make solid gloves, who knows?

 

[Zewnten]

This thread is Deja-vu. So I will say what I said last time. They make license plates and Jeans in Prisons here in the USA

And being imprisoned in the US is nothing like being a prisoner in china and china also has a lot of prisoners locked up for life for things that would never be allowed here. So take your fake comparison and fake outrage and go think things through next time.