Entries by CLC Contributor

Making Universal Children’s Day Meaningful

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by Jonathan Todres November 20th is Universal Children’s Day. The U.N. established Universal Children’s Day in 1954 to create a day of “activity devoted to the promotion of the ideals and objectives of the [U.N.] Charter and the welfare of children of the world.” Worthwhile goals, but as there are now more than 125 international observance days, it is fair to ask whether Universal Children’s Day makes a difference. Universal Children’s Day presents an opportunity to reflect on both progress made and work still to be done. Since the adoption of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child—the most comprehensive treaty on children’s rights and well-being—on November 20, 1989, significant progress has been made on behalf of tens of millions of children around the world. Yet much more work remains. The data on infant and child mortality rates reflects this: globally, the number of deaths of children under five declined from 12.7 million in 1990 to less than 6 million in 2015. That’s vital progress, as many children now realize their most precious right—to life and survival. Yet more than five million young children still die each year, largely due to preventable causes. But Universal Children’s Day can be much more than a day to raise awareness. It can be a day of action, a launching point for […]

Film Review: The True Cost — Film Explores the Hidden Price of Cheap Clothes

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THE TRUE COST Released 2015 | Rating: PG-13 (thematic elements and disturbing images) Written and directed by Andrew Morgan | Produced by Michael Ross | 92 minutes Review by Sharon L. Fawcett One in six people on the planet work in the global fashion supply chain, making fashion the most labor-dependent industry on earth. “The True Cost”—a breathtaking and heartbreaking documentary—reveals how consumer fashion choices impact these workers, the rest of us, and our world. Eighty billion garments are purchased each year globally—400 percent more than two decades ago. The industry that once had two fashion seasons annually now has 52 as retailers peddle new product weekly, supplying shoppers with an endless fix of inexpensive clothing. What is the consequence of this fashion obsession—the true cost of “fast fashion?” According to the documentary, it is the suicides of hundreds of thousands of Indian cotton farmers unable to escape debts to biotechnology and agrochemical companies, the decimation of local garment industries in low-income countries swamped by donations of cast-off clothing, and the toll taken on the earth’s ecosystems as every step in a garment’s life threatens them. The enormous quantities of chemicals and natural resources used to produce the raw material for clothing (such as cotton and leather), manufacture the product, and ship goods worldwide, have made the fashion industry the […]

New app seeks to raise awareness of the worst forms of Child Labor and Forced Labor

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      The US Department of Labor recently released an exciting new tool to help consumers figure out if the products they purchase are made with child labor or forced labor.  The sheer size of the 2014 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor produced by the Bureau of International Affairs (ILAB) highlights the reality of this problem – the hard copy version of the report is over 1,000 pages long and weighs in at over eight pounds. The International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates 168 million children globally are engaged in child labor, including 85 million in hazardous labor; 21 million people are trapped in forced labor, including 6 million children. Think of the DOL “Findings” report as a road map that tells us where children are working. It also includes vital information about how 140 countries are combating child labor. On Wednesday 30th September ILAB launched their brand new app, ‘Sweat & Toil’ – now available from itunes and the App Store, which features the report data in a way that makes it much more accessible.  The app enables an individual to search by country name or product.  It includes a country specific review of the current laws and ratifications and the efforts by that country being made to eliminate child labor and assesses its progress. For example, […]

Buried Childhoods — Child Labour in Mining and Quarrying

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  Jestoni* quit school at age 14 in order to take part in small-scale mining as a means to help support his family. They had abandoned farming for mining because of frequent flooding in their region of the Philippines. Jestoni’s mother worried about his safety as he dug in mineshafts for gold and carried heavy sacks of rock for eight to 12 hours per day. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), more than half (85 million) of the world’s 168 million child labourers perform hazardous work. Jestoni was one of the one million who work in mining. The United States Department of Labor’s 2014 List of Goods Produced by Child Labor and Forced Labor indicates that child labour and forced labour is used to produce 29 products in the mining and quarrying sector. The top products in this sector, based on the number of countries using child labour in the production, include gold (18 countries[1]), coal (seven countries), and diamonds (six countries), but numerous other minerals, gems, and stones are also mined and quarried with the labour of children. According to the ILO, almost all child miners work in artisanal, small-scale mining (ASM), beginning to help out as young as 4 and 5 years of age and working full time by the time they reach adolescence.[2] Artisanal mining is a low-technology industry […]

End child labor in American tobacco fields

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They are far too young to legally purchase cigarettes, yet children as young as 7 are being permitted to work in American tobacco fields and to be exposed to acute nicotine poisoning. Momentum is building to ban child labor from U.S. tobacco fields, as news is spreading of this American disgrace. Learn what is being done about this and how you can get involved. For decades, advocates at the National Consumers League (NCL) and the Child Labor Coalition (CLC), which NCL co-chairs, have called for closing the loopholes that allow young children to work in agriculture. Exemptions to U.S. child labor law permit children to work long hours in the fields. In May, CLC member organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) documented the dangers in a report, Tobacco’s Hidden Children: Hazardous Child Labor in United States Tobacco Farming, finding that three-quarters of more than 140 child workers in tobacco fields interviewed in several states reported falling ill. Many of their symptoms—nausea, vomiting, appetite loss, headaches, and dizziness—are consistent with acute nicotine poisoning, or “Green Tobacco Sickness.” In July, 53 groups signed onto a CLC letter urging the largest tobacco corporations to take voluntary action to ban children from tobacco fields. Last month, 50 organizations wrote President Obama to urge greater protections for child tobacco workers. In September, the New York Times […]

Child Mining: 10 Facts (click on title if a numbered list does not appear)

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              It is estimated that around 1 million children work in mines throughout the world. Mining is considered a form of hazardous labor unfit for children under any circumstances, including poverty. Mining can lead to serious injuries; health consequences and an unknown number of children lose their lives while mining every year. Around the world, children, ages 5-17, work in mines for as little as $2 per day.Because of the relatively small number of child miners (one million), compared to child laborers in agriculture (over 100 million), child mining has not received the attention it deserves. Additionally, mining often takes place in temporary, remote, small-scale locations making it difficult to regulate and monitor. Because of the relatively small number of child miners (one million), compared to child laborers in agriculture (over 100 million), child mining has not received the attention it deserves. Additionally, mining often takes place in temporary, remote, small-scale locations making it difficult to regulate and monitor. Children can be found working in mines in Asia, Africa, and Latin America and in parts of Europe. Work for child miners includes digging shafts, crushing rocks, and carrying ore in gold mines and digging, scraping and lifting in salt mines and carrying and crushing large stones in quarries. Child miners face many potential health […]

How Can We End Child Labor In The Fields? Pay Farmers Better

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By Beth Hoffman, contributor to Forbes A few weeks ago a request for internal documents from the chocolate giant Hershey’s Co moved forward, with a judge ruling that the company will have to share confidential information with its shareholders.  The Louisiana Municipal Police Employees’ Retirement System brought legal action against the company in 2012, asserting that the company knowingly bought cocoa from areas plagued with child labor issues. Even though Hershey’s is the company targeted in the lawsuit, human rights abuses like child labor are still rampant throughout the food supply chain.  Although companies like Mars or Nestlé now publicly discuss child labor in their supply chains, these issues are unlikely to go away when these same companies rely upon cheap land and labor to operate. Last week the UC Davis School of Law featured a full day conference “Confronting Child Labor in Global Agricultural Supply Chains.”  The conference featured a parade of impressive experts from a wide range of stakeholders, including Mars Co, Bonsucro, the International Labor Organization and the U.S. Department of Labor.  Each presented on the problem of child labor in the fields, and of need to create financial alternatives for rural youth, to educate communities about illegal practices, and to increase productivity in the fields. But what was not discussed by speakers as a solution to child labor was to substantially raise the […]

Still Buying Easter Candy? Guidance on How to Buy Candy from Companies that Treat Their Workers Well

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By The National Consumers League’s “Savvy Consumer” Blogger With Easter nearly upon us, consumers will be purchasing a lot of candy over the next several days. In recent years, the chocolate industry has been rocked by a child labor scandal, when it became known that 80 percent of chocolate derives from the West African nations of Ghana and the Ivory Coast, where large numbers of children help harvest cocoa–the main ingredient of chocolate–under conditions that are extremely dangerous and difficult. In many cases, they use razor-sharp machetes and work without pay under circumstances that some advocates have likened to slavery. How can consumers buy responsible candy—candy free from slavery and abusive child labor? First, we recommend you check this chocolate scorecard developed by the group Green America in 2010. The groups that have been given an “A” grade are making a substantial effort to eliminate child labor and ensure that workers and farmers are fairly treated. We know “Divine” chocolate the best; they work with farmers cooperatives to reduce child labor and help farmers earn better prices. The scorecard also explains various consumer certification programs like Fair Trade that try to ensure decent livelihoods for farmers and take steps to protect against child labor, although many child labor advocates recognize that monitoring efforts may not successfully ensure products are child-labor […]

Child Labor Tools for Consumers–Apps

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Free2Work: This phone app lets you browse companies and how they scored on labor policies, as well as get updates from activists and check out videos and photos from the field. delivers product ratings as you shop. Products receive a letter grade that any school child can understand (A through F) that is based on their protocols to eliminate forced labor and child slavery in the production of their products. aVOID: This is a browser plug-in that screens your online shopping for products associated with the exploitation of children. It works with all major online shops (including Amazon, although I found results were inconsistent) by replacing the search results for companies linked to child-labor issues (American Apparel, it turns out) with a hand icon indicating “stop”. The app uses data from the Active Against Child Labour campaign to rank manufacturers according to their child labor violations and commitment to avoid child labor. For more info, click here. Kid Rescue: This non-profit app encourages people to document illegal child labor by taking “geo-tagged” photographs that prove its existence. Once the information is sent, a database will be created, which can only be accessed by social workers linked to Fundación Telefónica. For more info, click here. Yo digo: Aquí Estoy Whenever users see a child working they can take a picture with […]