Sweatshops

I heartily applaud the U.S. Department of Labor’s accomplishment in getting Guess? Inc. to curb labor abuses by its local subcontractors (Aug. 5). Sweatshops and child labor should be things of the past.

But what about sweatshops in Mexico, Macao, Sri Lanka and dozens of other Third World countries, where hundreds of U.S. manufacturers subcontract not only sewing, but all kinds of work? Shouldn’t we hold these contractors to the same standard? And shouldn’t we be confiscating their “hot goods” if they don’t comply?

I dare say that if we applied the strict labor standards on countries we buy from that we apply to our own employers, plenty of the jobs that have left for cheaper labor would soon return.

IRWIN SPECTOR, Universal City