The Sweatshop Of Wall Street is a short documentary about the world of direct sales in New York City. The piece follows of Phil and Zao, two young salespeople who made as little as $0.50 an hour hawking cellphone contracts to passersby in Brooklyn, New York. From a misleading Craigslist ad, to minuscule wages and questionable workplace routines, the documentary aims to expose the strange world of direct sales and marketing, and shed light on employment practices one has to see to believe.
Since the 1980s, a handful of massive, multinational companies have been hiding behind ‘independent contractor’ agreements in order to protect themselves from following employment law, and enable their unethical business practices. These companies flout the minimum wage, take advantage of students and immigrants and, every day, can be seen operating on street corners all over Brooklyn, New York City, and urban areas all over the country. One of these companies - named Credico - calls itself a “direct sales and marketing” company with clients that range from Sprint and Verizon to charities such as Care2Give. These Fortune 500 companies outsource their sales to Credico, who in turn outsource to a series of smaller companies, all the way down to the salespeople who are out in the streets soliciting. These salespeople often work over 60 hours, 6 days a week, and make an average of $200-$300 without receiving minimum wage, overtime, or even benefits.
If you have been approached in the street and asked about a free cell phone, solicited to make a charity donation, or been convinced to sign up for affordable energy programs, chances are you were dealing with a salesperson connected to Credico. BRIC TV has acquired hidden camera footage that transports the viewer inside the corporate recruitment centers popping up all over downtown Manhattan. With Phil and Zao as guides, this documentary delves into the massively profitable and unquestionably illegal practices that exist to exploit thousands of unsuspecting candidates, not just all over the United States, but on a global scale.
The Sweatshop Of Wall street aired on BRIC TV on November 3rd, 2016. BRIC TV is an award winning nonprofit community TV channel and digital network. The team consists of Aziz Isham (Executive Producer), Sriyanka Ray (Producer), Chris Raddatz (Director of Photography), Chris Besecker (Editor), Sachar Mathias (Supervising Producer) with original music by Aaron Thompson.
