The scourge of child labor

By Lisa Armstrong

This article was reprinted from the May 9, 1998 issue of the People's Weekly World. For subscription information see below. All rights reserved - may be used with PWW credits.

A pair of Nike shoes for $150. Sixty bucks for a pair of Levi Strauss jeans. A pair of children's Pocahontas pajamas for $40.

What do these things have in common? They are all items that young people living in the United States scrimp and save to buy - and more than likely all of them have been made by a young person living in Indonesia, Honduras, or Haiti.

If you think that the fight against child and sweatshop labor was won years ago, think again. Youth from around the world are suffering the same conditions that were supposedly ended for children in the United States in the early 1900's.

The situation is appalling: poverty level wages, 18-hour days, no health care, horrible working conditions, no chance at an education and, most importantly, none of the respect they deserve as human beings. In an attempt to feed their families, the young women and children working in these sweatshops are forced to give up any chance of leading normal, healthy lives and, instead, must slave away for capitalist greed.

Lately we have been hearing a lot more about this situation. From the richly-deserved public embarrassment of Kathie Lee Gifford to the campaign against over-priced Nike gym shoes, consumers are letting corporations know that sweatshops and child labor are unacceptable.

Due largely to public outcry, the issue of child labor is making the rounds in Washington. One suggested solution is the Harkin Bill, which would ban the import of goods made by child labor. Another is the White House Task Force to Eliminate Sweatshop Abuses, which will report back to President Clinton at the end of this year.

However, moral handwringing over child labor often ignores why child labor exists in the first place. The problem is not just with wicked employers like Kathie Lee and Disney. It is also a problem with trade between underdeveloped countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America and the rich nations such as the United States who dominate global markets and set the terms of trade. What else do these countries have but cheap labor to exchange for currency?

Big corporations are taking advantage of the global free market created by NAFTA and other trade agreements. These multinational corporations use the cheapest labor in places with the weakest labor laws and labor unions, then turn to highly profitable markets in developed nations such as the United States. That is, corporations make goods as cheap as possible, sell for as much as possible, with the extra profits going into their bank accounts.

Apologists for child labor use the excuse that impoverished people in these places need sweatshop jobs to survive. They say that banning child and sweatshop labor only takes away a chance at another day's food. What they refuse to admit is that working conditions can and must improve - wages can rise, healthcare and education can be available and respect can be given to all workers. If grown family members can make a living wage, then children will not have to work.

So, rather than punish the countries that use sweatshop labor, as the Harkin Bill proposes, we should fight for the right of all workers to form strong unions. With unions, working people can demand and win their rights to respect, fair wages, clean and safe working conditions and education.

Child labor is not just a problem in developing countries. The Government Accounting Office recently reported that 290,200 children are employed in the U.S. The greatest number of child workers are farmworkers and, because of pesticides and sub-minimum wages, they endure the worst working conditions of are almost any industry.

Corporations are taking advantage of a global economy to increase profits. This means the lasting solution for workers is to unite on a global scale to ensure rights for all workers. Supporting all workers' rights to union representation would mean widescale changes in the way business is conducted in the United States and in countries such as Mexico, Haiti, Indonesia, Honduras, and India.

When we as workers in the United States realize that our struggle for a decent life gives us more in common with the workers of other countries than with the rich of our own countries, corporations will no longer be able to pit worker against worker in order to increase their profits at our expense. Every worker, all ages, nationalities and from every country is part of the struggle for human rights.