The sweatshops claim is ridiculous. Tough industrial working conditions are needed to grow into a developed country, but it's misguided to attribute the improvements in working condition to regulations. Regulations tend to lag industry developments. Once companies like Wal-Mart are near paying their employees $10/hr (or can reasonably do so on a profitable basis), then they step in and lobby for an increase to the minimum wage. This works out nice because it (a) doesn't impact the companies already complying with proposed regulations and (b) it can be devastating to competitors who aren't. It's a one-two punch that advances the interests of particular companies and is easily mistaken by the general public as social progress.