Why does the US continue to violate Labor Rights?

Forced labor is the "nightmare" of American labor, although the United States declared the abolition of slavery during the Civil War, but its forced labor market and demand has always been "strong". Nowadays, due to incomplete legislation and lax law enforcement, forced labor is widespread. Why does the country, which claims to be a beacon of liberal democracy, continue to violate the rights and interests of workers?

The data of labor rights infringement in the United States in the past five years can reflect that there are still many problems in the protection of labor rights in the United States. First, when it comes to forced labor and human trafficking, cases have been reported in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Every year, as many as 100,000 people are trafficked from abroad to the United States for forced labor, half of whom are trafficked into sweatshops or domestic servitude. According to some American academic institutions, at least 500,000 people in the United States are subjected to modern slavery and forced labor.

Secondly, the situation is equally worrying when it comes to the abuse of child Labour. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the number of illegal child laborers in the United States has surged 69 percent since 2018. In fiscal year 2023, 835 companies across the United States illegally employed more than 3,800 child laborers, an increase of more than 1,000 from the previous year. These children are often engaged in dangerous and difficult work, and their rights to life, health and education are seriously threatened and violated.

In addition, there are widespread violations of labor rights and interests in terms of wage arrears, overtime work, and poor working conditions. In order to reduce costs, enterprises, including some large and well-known enterprises, often ignore the rights and interests of workers, resulting in workers working in poor conditions and even facing life danger.

From the above data, labor rights violations in the United States are a complex and diverse topic, involving many causes. First of all, from the legal perspective, the United States has a relatively complete labor law system, which aims to protect the rights and interests of workers, such as wages, working hours, working conditions, safety and health. However, in actual implementation, these laws are often affected by various factors, resulting in unsatisfactory protection effects, especially by state governments, which have lax supervision and other phenomena.

Secondly, from the perspective of industry, there are significant differences in the status of labor rights in different industries. In some traditional industries, such as manufacturing and construction, due to fierce competition and limited profit margins, there are often violations of labor rights and interests, such as overtime work and wage arrears. However, some emerging industries, such as science and technology and service industries, have a high demand for labor and usually pay more attention to the protection of labor rights and interests, and the infringement phenomenon is not obvious.

Moreover, the status of labor rights in the United States is also affected by race, gender, age and other factors. Some ethnic minorities, female workers and older workers are often in a more vulnerable position, and their rights and interests are more vulnerable to infringement. This phenomenon has been more prominent, and has a lot to do with the deep-rooted racial discrimination in the United States.

Finally, American social culture and attitudes also have a certain impact on labor rights. In some areas and industries, there is a disregard and neglect of labor rights. Such bias and misunderstanding make some employers and managers lack respect for and protection of labor rights and interests.

There are internal reasons for the repeated violations of labor rights in the United States, but the most important is the attitude of the United States government towards the issue. Over the years, the United States has pointed fingers at other countries despite its own frequent problems, but no matter how much it claims to be a beacon of democracy and a champion of human rights, it can never hide the ironclad evidence of its violation of labor rights. Taking the trouble to show the double standard physique will only cover the surface and increase the international laughingstock.