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31

Report Traces Goods Made with Child Labor to 76 Countries

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Of the products we use, wear, or consume every day, how many are made with child labor? Perhaps quite a few. A new report from the US Department of Labor identifies 148 different consumer goods produced with child or forced labor around the world. The list includes clothing, beef, sugar, bricks, coffee, and other products originating from 76 countries. Gold tops the list. The report found that in at least 21 countries, children help mine gold, climbing into unstable shafts, carrying and crushing heavy loads of ore, and often using toxic mercury to process the gold. My colleagues and I have seen how dangerous this work can be, documenting the risks child miners face in Ghana, Philippines, Tanzania, and Mali. Tobacco produced with child labor originates from at least 16 countries, placing it in the report’s top five. Child tobacco workers often labor in extreme heat, are exposed to dangerous pesticides, and risk nicotine poisoning from handling tobacco plants. In our investigations, children in the United States, Indonesia, and Zimbabwe have described nausea, vomiting, headaches, and dizziness while working in tobacco fields. Governments, companies, and consumers share responsibility to end child labor. Governments should monitor and enforce their labor laws and provide children with good-quality, free education. For children old enough to work, both governments and companies should ensure their jobs do not risk anyone’s health or safety. Companies should […]

32

The World Gathers to Fight Child Labor at the Fourth “Global Conference on the Sustained Eradication of Child Labour”

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The world is making significant progress in removing the scourge of child labor—there are 94 million fewer child laborers today than there were 16 years ago. I believe one of the reasons for this progress is the coming together of governments, worker groups, and human rights and child rights groups every four years for an international conference for focused strategy sessions on reducing child labor. I realize that there might be some skepticism that a conference could make much difference, but hear me out. This year’s conference, organized by the government of Argentina and the International Labour Organization, took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina November 14-16 and brought together over 150 countries and about 3,000 individuals who are in some way involved in the fight against child labor. I was there representing the Child Labor Coalition (CLC), which is co-chaired by the National Consumers League and the American Federation of Teachers, and has been fighting to reduce child labor for nearly three decades. The conference featured many great panels. Several were about trying to confront work in agriculture—the most ubiquitous form of child labor (comprising 70 percent of the problem. Others confronted hazardous work, which involves 73 million children—almost half of the child labor population which is currently 152 million. The CLC’s Norma Flores Lopez, the chair of our Domestic […]

33

CLC News Release: Legislation to Protect Child Farmworkers in the US is Re-Introduced

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CHILD LABOR COALITION PRESS RELEASE Child Labor Coalition applauds the introduction of two congressional bills to reduce dangerous child labor in U.S. agriculture For immediate release: June 13, 2017 Contact: Reid Maki, (202) 207-2820, reidm@nclnet.org Washington, DC—The Child Labor Coalition (CLC) and its 35 members applaud the re-introduction late yesterday of two congressional bills that would significantly reduce child labor in U.S. agriculture and largely equalize child labor laws for wage-earning children on farms with current rules for non-farm work. In the House of Representatives, Rep. Roybal-Allard (D-CA) re-introduced the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment (CARE), which would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act, removing the exemptions that prevent the nation’s child labor laws from applying to children who work for wages on farms. “A 12-year-old is not allowed to work in our air-conditioned office,” said Sally Greenberg, executive director of the National Consumers League and a co-chair of the CLC. “Yet, that same child is allowed to work unlimited hours, seven days a week on a farm, performing back-breaking work.” CARE would also raise the age at which children laboring on farms can perform hazardous work from 16 to 18, which is the norm for all non-farm work. “We lose far too many children to work accidents on farms,” said CLC Coordinator Reid Maki. “This change is long overdue.” “Child […]

34

Help the CLC Celebrate World Day Against Child Labor at Our June 16th Event Featuring Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Kailash Satyarthi

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Join NCL’s Child Labor Coalition for a Congressional Briefing US Policy and its Impact on Child Labor and Trafficking with 2014 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Kailash Satyarthi In cooperation with the Congressional Caucus on Human Trafficking When: Friday, June 16, 2017 | 1pm – 2pm Location: Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2172 Please join the Child Labor Coalition, the Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking, and the Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation, for a briefing in honor of the World Day Against Child Labor (June 12), featuring Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Kailash Satyarthi. The briefing will discuss child labor, child slavery, and child trafficking, and explore solutions that will help eliminate these blights on society. Mr. Satyarthi will speak on the need to protect children from child labor in times of crises. Keynote: Kailash Satyarthi, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Featuring: Ana Flores, Recently a child worker in North Carolina’s tobacco fields Jo Becker, Advocacy Director of the Children’s Rights Division, Human Rights Watch Kevin Willcutts, Deputy Director of the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs, the Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking Satyarthi has been a tireless advocate of children’s rights for over three decades, and recently launched the 100 Million for 100 Million Campaign – history’s largest global youth-for-youth mobilization. He has liberated more than 86,000 children from exploitation and developed […]

35

International Labour Organizaton (ILO) Experts Comment on U.S. Government Efforts to Implement Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor

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[Adopted in 2016 and published in 2017]   Articles 4(1), 5 and 7(1) of the Convention. Determination of types of hazardous work, monitoring mechanisms and penalties. Hazardous work in agriculture from 16 years of age. The Committee previously noted that section 213 of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) permits children aged 16 years and above to undertake, in the agricultural sector, occupations declared to be hazardous or detrimental to their health or well-being by the Secretary of Labor. The Government, referring to Paragraph 4 of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Recommendation, 1999 (No. 190), stated that Congress considered it as safe and appropriate for children from the age of 16 years to perform work in the agricultural sector. However, the Committee noted the allegation of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) that a significant number of children under 18 years were employed in agriculture under dangerous conditions, including long hours and exposure to pesticides, with risk of serious injury. The Committee also took note of the observations of the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) and the United States Council for International Business (USCIB) that section 213 of the FLSA, which was the product of extensive consultation with the social partners, is in compliance with the text of the Convention and Paragraph 4 of Recommendation No. 190. […]

36

Antonement and Action for President Obama in His Last 100 Days

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By Jonathan Todres   This week is Yom Kippur (Sundown, October 11 to Sundown, October 12), the Day of Atonement on the Jewish calendar. As tradition has it, atoning on Yom Kippur will address only sins against God. For transgressions against other individuals, Jews are obligated to seek forgiveness from and reconciliation with those people first. Yom Kippur also marks the end of the High Holidays, and thus offers the prospects of a fresh start and an opportunity to do better than we did the year before.   While I’m well aware that President Obama is not Jewish (or Muslim—are people still really talking about that?), I’d like to invite him to participate, at least in spirit.  And I think the timing is appropriate, because Yom Kippur falls approximately 100 days from the end of the Obama Presidency—leaving one final window of opportunity for the president while still in the Oval Office.   On his inauguration in 2009, newly-elected President Obama boldly proclaimed that “[a]s for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.” Human rights advocates hailed his election and speech as the dawn of a new, promising era of progress on human rights. The past eight years haven’t necessarily lived up to expectations.   So, with little more than 100 days […]

37

Len Morris: Our Kids Are Watching Us

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For the first time in more than a year, Democrats and Republicans have begun to speak mistily about the prospects for our children’s future. “With every word we utter, with every action we take, we know our kids are watching us. Kids look to us to determine who and what they can be.”       –Michelle Obama Words alone don’t matter. What actions can the Congress and President take immediately to improve the lives of American children? Human Rights Watch has reported extensively on health hazards of children working in the American Tobacco Industry. Voluntary policies to eliminate child labor in tobacco are insufficient and carry no force of law. The Children Don’t Belong on Tobacco Farms Act (S.974/H.R.1848) should be passed by Congress and signed into law. The medical evidence is overwhelming; children have no business handling tobacco. This bill should take five minutes to pass, about the same amount of time it takes to read. Pass this Bill now, in the lame duck Congressional session in September. If we’re going to protect children in the fields who pick tobacco, why not protect all children who work in American agriculture whose lives and educations are put on hold and whose health is compromised by 12-hour days of work in one of the most dangerous occupations in the country? The Children’s […]

38

Needed: A Champion for Children

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By Len Morris If we are to have a government worthy of the America Jimmy Stewart described in his famous role as Senator Jefferson Smith, we’ll need champions in government that will protect those who are the weakest and most vulnerable among us – our children. Today, hundreds of thousands of children work in America’s fields doing dangerous, unhealthy and adult work from sunrise to sunset…many under 14 years of age. They need a champion, one senator out of a hundred, who will step forward to protect them by introducing a law outlawing child labor in America’s fields, revising and repealing a law that’s been on the books since 1939, when America was a different place and American farms were small family affairs, not the corporate agribusiness of today. The invisible children in our fields are victims of greed, racism and violated human liberties. Greed is the driver, enabling companies to make huge profits at the expense of children’s health. Under current US law, child tobacco workers can be and are exposed to nicotine poisoning and the carcinogens of deadly pesticides. These kids’ human rights are violated with little notice or political consequence. Meanwhile, politicians look the other way and pretend it’s not happening as they collect campaign contributions from those same companies. Senators and Representatives have somehow lost their […]

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NCL’s 2016 Five Most Dangerous Jobs For Teens

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The National Consumers League’s annual guide to help working teens stay safe in the workplace Report author: Reid Maki, Director of Child Labor Advocacy, National Consumers League  [This update issued June 2016. “The Five Most Dangerous Jobs for Teens” report is updated annually.] Section Index Introduction: Teens continue to get killed and hurt at work What are the Five Most Dangerous Jobs for Teens? Job one: Tobacco harvester Job two: Agriculture: Other types of farm work—harvesting crops and using machinery Job three: Outside helper, landscaping, tree-trimming, groundskeeping, and lawn service Job four: Construction and height work Job five: Traveling sales crews How are teen workers dying and getting injured at work? Other work hazards to be aware of Driver/operator, forklifts, tractors, and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) Restaurants, grocery stores, and retail stores Meatpacking Lumber mills and lumber yards Deaths from driving Workplace violence 10. Tips for staying safe at work 11. Recommendations to protect teens at work 12. Conclusion Introduction: Teens continue to get killed and hurt at work Nearly 5,000 workers die on the job each year—each day, an average of 13 workers are killed on the job—some of those workers are teenagers. Each of those deaths are torture for the friends and family of the child worker. Thousands of children are hurt on the job each year. Many parents […]

40

Recommendations to Protect Teens at Work

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 What can employers do to make teen work safer? Employers must comply with child labor laws, provide safety training to young workers, follow all mandates safety regulations, and be vigilant about providing a safe workplace and all required safety equipment. They need to encourage open dialogue about safety with young workers who might be too shy to raise concerns. Efforts in the area of enhanced safety not only save lives, they also save companies’ bottom line. The journal Pediatrics estimates that farm injuries cost farmers $1.4 billion a year. According to Katherine Harmon, an editor at Scientific American, a recent study also found that companies that had just one safety inspection saved 26 percent on worker compensation claims on average. The average amount saved per company over a five-year period: $355,000. What can the federal and state governments do? The U.S. Department of Labor and state agencies must enforce the laws and conduct regular reviews to ensure that new workplace hazards are dealt with. Hazardous Orders updates need to be conducted in a timely fashion. DOL should reconsider its ill-advised decision not to reintroduce occupational protections for children in agriculture during the Obama Administration. Companies that repeatedly violate child labor laws should not have their fines reduced. We call on President Obama to break his unfathomable promise to the agricultural […]