It is easy to forget that Wal-Mart's famous "low prices" are in fact a product of the company exploiting the workers who make the products they sell. We have heard about Wal-Mart paying next to nothing for labor, demanding 6 or 7 day work weeks and 12 hour shifts, and blatant abuses of labor laws and workers. It's not huge news that Wal-Mart uses such oppressive and draconian tactics to make their goods, but it isn't everyday you get to hear about sweatshops first hand from a worker.

A recent article from Press & Guide Newspapers highlights a speaking tour where 2 laborers talk about their experience in such conditions. Savin Phal was paid $1.08 to $2.16 per day working at a Wal-Mart clothing factory. She made that much until she got fired for trying to start a union. It is a humanizing example of a monstrous system, and a reminder of the costs others pay for the low prices Wal-Mart offers.

Here's an excerpt from the story:

Groups discuss alleged ills of Wal-Mart purchasing

DEARBORN - Giant purchasers like Wal-Mart should implement policies that protect the rights of workers, rather than abuse them, two sweatshop workers told several people Monday night at a town hall meeting at Dearborn's Ford Community & Performing Arts Center....

Savin Phal, from Cambodia, told the crowd she is paid $1.08 to $2.16 per day for the clothing she makes. She said she was fired, along with 18 other women, from her job sewing clothing for Wal-Mart because she tried to form a union at her factory.

"I would like to ask Wal-Mart and people in the U.S. to put pressure on the owner of this factory, King's Land, to negotiate with our union and respect Cambodian labor laws and our rights," Phal said as she described being forced to work overtime, and earning wages too low to cover basic living expenses.