Competing to Supply Retail Giants: Report Finds Long Hours, Low Wages for Females By Kirstin Downey does indeed raise the issue in the headline. But she quotes another view at length:

David Dollar, director of development policy research at the World Bank, said the workers' situation needs to be viewed in a larger context. Even if one group appears to be what he called the "losers" today, the long-term economic benefits of free trade and globalization mean that entire countries will benefit eventually. He said that investment flows to countries that raise their standards, rather than to those that allow living conditions to deteriorate.

"Over a short-term horizon, it's hard to see that everyone is benefiting, but this is the best economic system we've found," Dollar said.

He said workers compete aggressively to work at these factories and corporate farms.

"Those are coveted jobs," Dollar said. "It's a choice they are making compared to other choices that might make. Factory employment can be a relatively attractive option in places with high rural unemployment."