Pyramid of Capitalist System, 1911
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_of_Capitalist_System
As workers strategize and use their (limited) resources to pressure
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corporations for more equitable conditions (via collective action, unionization, work slow-downs), the owners strategize and use their abundant resources to stop them (e.g., union busting, dividing workers from each other via bonuses and privileges to a select few, controlling the message via networks of power such as government and media, threatening to fire workers and hire workers who will work for less, and lobbying politicians to deregulate).
PERSPECTIVE CHECK: Remember: If workers’ rights are respected, sweatshops could actually help poor countries. For example, in Honduras, the average clothing sweatshop worker earns 13 U.S. dollars per day, and yet 44% of the country’s population lives on less than 2 dollars per day. Look for fair-trade labeled products. Fair-trade labels ensure higher salaries and better working conditions as well as higher social and environmental standards.