Are
You Supporting Child Labour?
Senator
Consiglio Di Nino
During
the holidays, Canadian stores are abuzz with shoppers buying Christmas gifts for
family and friends. Children compile wish lists and write letters to Santa Claus
in hopes that their favourite doll or toy will find its way under the tree on
Christmas morning.
These
images stand in stark contrast to the conditions found in factories around the
world abuzz with the sounds of machines and young workers on crowded assembly
lines, powering the billion-dollar North American toy industry.
The
commercialization of Christmas is a reality in today’s society. Christmas has
clearly become less about the birth of the Son of God and more about
consumerism, with over half of annual retail sales taking place in the weeks
leading up to Christmas.
What
lesson is this teaching our children? That in an age of increasing
globalization, we are not citizens but consumers? That our worth is measured not
by our ability to engage others, but by our ability to buy things?
This
consumerism particularly affects parents, who, in their desire to please their
children, become pawns of popular culture and commercial advertising. Each year
in Canada, consumers spend more than $1.5 billion on children’s toys. What
parents don’t know, or don’t care about though, is that the toys they buy
their children for Christmas are often made by children, frequently in hazardous
work conditions. Some of the world’s biggest toy companies have faced repeated
allegations of supporting child labour because of dismal workplace health and
safety standards.
More
often than not, this is the reality behind the manufacture of children’s toys.
Toys are not manufactured by diminutive elves in workshops, but by diminutive
beings of another kind… children. China is a popular choice for North American
manufacturers because labour is cheap and plentiful. International news reports
hint that child labour is prevalent in China, and factory managers go to great
lengths to conceal the epidemic. United Press International cites a provincial
labour official who confided that, “factory managers are routinely tipped off
about inspections and will send child workers home.”
China
is by no means the only country in which child labour is widespread; indeed, it
is a global issue. Human Rights Watch is particularly critical of bonded labour
practices in India and Pakistan, where an estimated 15 million children are
being exploited, primarily in the manufacture of textiles. The International
Right to Know Campaign, a movement supported by international organizations such
as Amnesty International USA, Global Exchange, and Oxfam America, estimates that
there are 211 million child labourers worldwide, over half of whom work in
China.
The
vast majority of North American multinationals have corporate codes of conduct
that apply to their global suppliers. Evidence suggests, however, that these
codes are poorly enforced and egregious labour rights violations are the norm.
These violations have been documented extensively by the International Right to
Know Campaign and by human rights groups across Asia. These organizations
indicate that the ineffectiveness of coporate codes of conduct stems from the
fact that independent third parties do not conduct the factory audits mandated
by these codes and we are told that factory owners are usually notified of the
audits in advance.
The
irony of the situation is also found in the disparity in treatment between North
American employees of toy companies and the treatment of employees in the sweat
shops that manufacture their goods. North American employees receive a range of
employment benefits and are protected by national and local laws which are
strictly enforced. This differs considerably from the dearth of benefits offered
to the employees who manufacture toys for these conglomerates, the near slave
conditions of many and the lack of adequate laws and/or enforcement.
Is
there a global hierarchy of rights? Do the rights of a child in North America
supercede those of children in other parts of the world? If this is not the
case, then why do our buying practices continue to re-enforce this systematic
exploitation?
Some
strides have been made. When Hong Kong’s Sunday Morning Post exposed
child labour conditions in factories producing Happy Meal toys for
MacDonald’s, MacDonald’s was quick to change manufacturers for its toys and
implement tougher standards regulating its suppliers. While I applaud
MacDonald’s proactive response, it is difficult to know how many other
companies continue to contract with suppliers who exploit the labour of
children. The advocacy and investigative work being conducted by organizations
such as the International Right to Know Campaign and Amnesty International is
key to attacking the problem of child labour around the world.
In
2002, the international toy industry implemented new standards for toy
manufacturers. Within the next three years, the International Council of Toy
Industries, which represents the $45 billion industry, will introduce
independent auditing practices to identify violations of workplace health and
safety standards and incidents of child labour.
I ask, why wait three years?
Many
countries have also ratified the International Labour Organization Convention
182, which condemns many forms of child labour. Whether this will have any real
impact on the regulation of child labour in the toy industry remains to be seen.
I am skeptical.
There is a way to make your child happy on Christmas morning and still take a stand against child labour. By holding toy manufacturers accountable by inquiring about their toy sourcing practices and refusing to purchase toys made in countries that condone child labour, parents can send a message that the exploitation of children will not be tolerated. More information on countries accused of child labour can be obtained from human rights organizations involved in the fight against child labour, including those mentioned above.