Ivanka Trump, What Would Bata Do?
The Guardian recently published an expose on Ivanka Trump's clothing factory in Indonesia, detailing the horrendous working conditions that workers face on a daily basis. Some of the abuses include poverty wages, anti union intimidation, verbal abuse, and the fact that many workers can't even afford to have their children live with them. They make the equivalent of $173 a month, which comes out to about $1.08 per hour (assuming they work 40 hour work weeks). However, female employees receive a monthly bonus of $10.50 if they don't take a day off due to their menstrual cycle.
As the Guardian notes: They are not egregiously abused but are in circumstances so far removed from the first daughter’s “women who work” brand that it was impossible for them to imagine a situation where anyone would wear the dresses they were sewing. Ivanka Trump should try to rectify this hypocrisy. Luckily, I see a path for her that hits close to home.
Zlín, Czechia (formerly Czech Republic and Czechoslovakia before that) is the hometown of Ivanka Trump's mother, Ivana Marie Zelničková. Zelničková, though long divorced from Donald Trump, is better known these days as Ivana Trump. She was born in Zlín, in what was then Czechslovakia, on Feb. 20, 1949.
Bata Shoes
Before Communism and the Nazi occupation, as well as before Ivana Trump's birth, Zlín was the home of Bata Shoes, which was founded by Tomáš Bat´a. Bat´a's family had been shoe makers in and around Zlín since the mid 17th century. When Bat´a decided to go into the shoe making business in 1894 with the founding of Bata Shoes, he hired 10 full time employees with set work schedules and paid them weekly. Apparently, that was a rarity at that time.
Bata Shoes became famous for their innovation of making shoes out of canvas instead of leather. This inspired other shoes that relied more on canvas rather than leather such as Converse. As the company grew, it increased its employees, numbering 660 by 1912. During World War I, the company was contracted to make shoes for the Austrian-Hungarian Army, which grew the company by 10 times. But when the war ended and Czechoslovakia became an independent country for the first time, the business almost collapsed.
To save the company, Bata cut its prices by 50% and their employees agreed to a 40% pay cut in exchange for food, clothing, and other goods at half their cost. Ultimately though, the company rebounded and not only expanded business, but also built a company town, which provided hospitals, schools, and houses. Jobs were also plenty. The company moved beyond just shoe making and into also into making the materials that went into shoe making. By the time Tomáš Bat´a died in a plane crash in 1932, Bata Shoes employed over 16,000 people.
After Tomáš Bat´a's death, his son Thomas J. Bata took over the family company and further expanded it, building factories and factory towns all over the world. There were Batavilles in Great Britain, the United States, Canada, India, Croatia, France, and the Netherlands. In hindsight, this not only saved the company after it was expelled by the Communists, but it also helped saved hundreds of Jewish employees of Bata Shoes as well. Thomas J. Bata personally flew his Jewish employees and their families to relative safety in various Batavilles around the world.
However, Bata Shoes was also complacent with the rise of fascism. Reasoning that someone else would make the shoes and that the company would suffer for it (after all, this was during the Great Depression), Bata Shoes made shoes for Mussolini's army. During the Second World War, after the Bat´a family has fled the country, a Bata Shoe factory was used by slave labor from Auschwitz Concentration Camp.
After the war, it became apparent that Czechoslovkia would no longer be a stable place to opperate Bata Shoes, so they continued to expand all over the world. At one point, the company was the largest shoe company in the world. Today, Bata Shoes continues to have a presence on 6 continents, making and selling shoes all over the world.
Where Does Ivanka Trump Fit In?
Trump could learn a lesson or two from the Bat´a family. They had a genuine concern for their employees, recognizing that they would not be successful as a company if their employees weren't treated well. So they ensured they were paid well, that they could enjoy the fruits of their labor, and that they would have access to basic human necessities such as health care, education, and even housing.
On top of that, they communicated with their employees. Though a 40% paycut is a hard thing to swallow at any time, especially during the global economic downturn that occured at the close of World War I, it wasn't forced onto the employees. In fact, Bata Shoes also ensured that their employees would also see prices for goods cut in half.
In regards to innovation, Bata Shoes was one of the first companies to introduce a profit sharing initative in which all employees owned stock in the company and directly shared in some of the company profit. They also introduced 5 day work weeks, which are now standard in most industrialized nations.
Though they did indirectly contribute to the rise of fascism, they did save their Jewish employees from certain death, something that wasn't very common among large European companies.
Oh, and Bata Shoes also had labor unions for their employees.
Ivanka Trump's company is nothing like Bata Shoes. They pay their employees slave wages. Parents who are employed by Ivanka Trump can't even see their own children but for once a month when they have just enough gas money to make the trip. There is very limited union representation at the Indoneisan factory that makes Ivanka Trump's clothing, but they face insane opposition and intimidation from expanding. And what an insult it is to women employees who are offered bonuses if they suffer through their mestrual cycle and work.
Could anyone, but especially Ivanka Trump live off of $1 an hour?
Ivanka Trump, ask yourself, what would Bata do?
Author's note: some of my mother's family comes from Vsétín, Czechia, which is in the same region as Zlín, where both Bata Shoes and Ivana Trump were born. In addition, a distant cousin of mine, Ladislav Pacelt, worked at the Bata Shoe factory in Zlín.
As the Guardian notes: They are not egregiously abused but are in circumstances so far removed from the first daughter’s “women who work” brand that it was impossible for them to imagine a situation where anyone would wear the dresses they were sewing. Ivanka Trump should try to rectify this hypocrisy. Luckily, I see a path for her that hits close to home.
Zlín, Czechia (formerly Czech Republic and Czechoslovakia before that) is the hometown of Ivanka Trump's mother, Ivana Marie Zelničková. Zelničková, though long divorced from Donald Trump, is better known these days as Ivana Trump. She was born in Zlín, in what was then Czechslovakia, on Feb. 20, 1949.
Bata Shoes
Before Communism and the Nazi occupation, as well as before Ivana Trump's birth, Zlín was the home of Bata Shoes, which was founded by Tomáš Bat´a. Bat´a's family had been shoe makers in and around Zlín since the mid 17th century. When Bat´a decided to go into the shoe making business in 1894 with the founding of Bata Shoes, he hired 10 full time employees with set work schedules and paid them weekly. Apparently, that was a rarity at that time.
Bata Shoes became famous for their innovation of making shoes out of canvas instead of leather. This inspired other shoes that relied more on canvas rather than leather such as Converse. As the company grew, it increased its employees, numbering 660 by 1912. During World War I, the company was contracted to make shoes for the Austrian-Hungarian Army, which grew the company by 10 times. But when the war ended and Czechoslovakia became an independent country for the first time, the business almost collapsed.
To save the company, Bata cut its prices by 50% and their employees agreed to a 40% pay cut in exchange for food, clothing, and other goods at half their cost. Ultimately though, the company rebounded and not only expanded business, but also built a company town, which provided hospitals, schools, and houses. Jobs were also plenty. The company moved beyond just shoe making and into also into making the materials that went into shoe making. By the time Tomáš Bat´a died in a plane crash in 1932, Bata Shoes employed over 16,000 people.
After Tomáš Bat´a's death, his son Thomas J. Bata took over the family company and further expanded it, building factories and factory towns all over the world. There were Batavilles in Great Britain, the United States, Canada, India, Croatia, France, and the Netherlands. In hindsight, this not only saved the company after it was expelled by the Communists, but it also helped saved hundreds of Jewish employees of Bata Shoes as well. Thomas J. Bata personally flew his Jewish employees and their families to relative safety in various Batavilles around the world.
However, Bata Shoes was also complacent with the rise of fascism. Reasoning that someone else would make the shoes and that the company would suffer for it (after all, this was during the Great Depression), Bata Shoes made shoes for Mussolini's army. During the Second World War, after the Bat´a family has fled the country, a Bata Shoe factory was used by slave labor from Auschwitz Concentration Camp.
After the war, it became apparent that Czechoslovkia would no longer be a stable place to opperate Bata Shoes, so they continued to expand all over the world. At one point, the company was the largest shoe company in the world. Today, Bata Shoes continues to have a presence on 6 continents, making and selling shoes all over the world.
Where Does Ivanka Trump Fit In?
Trump could learn a lesson or two from the Bat´a family. They had a genuine concern for their employees, recognizing that they would not be successful as a company if their employees weren't treated well. So they ensured they were paid well, that they could enjoy the fruits of their labor, and that they would have access to basic human necessities such as health care, education, and even housing.
On top of that, they communicated with their employees. Though a 40% paycut is a hard thing to swallow at any time, especially during the global economic downturn that occured at the close of World War I, it wasn't forced onto the employees. In fact, Bata Shoes also ensured that their employees would also see prices for goods cut in half.
In regards to innovation, Bata Shoes was one of the first companies to introduce a profit sharing initative in which all employees owned stock in the company and directly shared in some of the company profit. They also introduced 5 day work weeks, which are now standard in most industrialized nations.
Though they did indirectly contribute to the rise of fascism, they did save their Jewish employees from certain death, something that wasn't very common among large European companies.
Oh, and Bata Shoes also had labor unions for their employees.
Ivanka Trump's company is nothing like Bata Shoes. They pay their employees slave wages. Parents who are employed by Ivanka Trump can't even see their own children but for once a month when they have just enough gas money to make the trip. There is very limited union representation at the Indoneisan factory that makes Ivanka Trump's clothing, but they face insane opposition and intimidation from expanding. And what an insult it is to women employees who are offered bonuses if they suffer through their mestrual cycle and work.
Could anyone, but especially Ivanka Trump live off of $1 an hour?
Ivanka Trump, ask yourself, what would Bata do?
Author's note: some of my mother's family comes from Vsétín, Czechia, which is in the same region as Zlín, where both Bata Shoes and Ivana Trump were born. In addition, a distant cousin of mine, Ladislav Pacelt, worked at the Bata Shoe factory in Zlín.
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