NEW YORK—In an effort to support factories that exploit cheap labor but employ 50 or fewer people, American Express announced this week that Dec. 4 would mark its first-ever Small Sweatshop Saturday. “Small sweat shops—which keep their undocumented and underage employees working the same long hours for the same low pay as their larger corporate competitors—are key to boosting economic growth,” said American Express CEO Stephen Squeri, noting that each year he buys Christmas gifts made at sweatshops in his native New York, which offer him a way to stay connected to people toiling away in unsafe, inhumane conditions in his own community. “It feels great knowing the money from your purchase goes into the pocket of a local employer, who then turns around and pays a fraction of the minimum wage to an immigrant worker, who then turns around and pays that money to a slumlord, and so on. You really are making a difference.” The CEO added that for each small sweatshop product purchased with an American Express card this Saturday, his company would donate $1 to install a single flickering fluorescent light in a windowless workspace.
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