Elimination of Child Labor in the Garment Industry - Assignment Example

How can corporations’ best support the elimination of child labor in the garment industry, keeping in mind the economic realities of the developing countries? The garment industry supplying the developed world is supported by a supply chain that makes use of the cheap resources available in the developing countries. The supply chain includes everything from sourcing raw material (e.g the cotton pickers) to the final manufacturing of high end fashion brands. With time this supply chain has become efficient enough to greatly decrease the cost for the end-consumer- high fashion is no longer expensive because of the cost cutting done by major firms. Unfortunately there is a big controversy against the labor practices of the industry which include proved instances of labor exploitation, sweat shop conditions, use of child labor and negligence of environment-friendly and sustainable business practices. There are 168 to 200 million child labors in the world today with many of them involved with the textile and garment industry, notably in the countries India, Uzbekistan, China, Bangladesh, Egypt, Thailand and Pakistan (SOMO, p1). These children are not only forced under harsh conditions they are also denied the right to a happy and carefree childhood and access to quality education. It is a vicious cycle where the children grow up to be unskilled workers unable to move out of poverty and unable to share in the benefits of a growing economy, in part supported by the same industries that hire them. On paper, child labor is against the law in most countries and there is severe international pressure in form of trade bans for the countries to end this practice. For legal as well as ethical reasons, NGO’s and government bodies in all of these countries have shown high concern for protecting these children and providing them access to their rights. However, child labor is a valuable resource for both the manufacturers and the big brands that buy from them and as long as the demand from these big brands exists the unethical practice continues hidden but unhindered (SOMO, p3). The debate on the rights of child labors must include the economic reality of these developing countries. For many families below the poverty line, the income provided by their children is necessary for survival. Even if the public system can provide free education to them, the parents cannot afford to lose the extra income by taking away their children from work (Melnick). This is a significant problem due to which governments often find children unwilling to pursue further education after they reach the legal age to work, e.g despite the support provided by Bangladesh’s government, many displaced labor children chose to return back to work as soon as they hit the legal working age of 14 (BGMEA, p6). Implementation of blanket laws against using child labor without the supporting social policies to help them can create worse problems for the children of these poor families who may end up without any work or opportunities to support themselves. Keeping this reality in mind, research and experience dealing with the issue has shown that what these children really need is a way to be financially secure while they pursue their studies. Furthermore, specific skill training and special curriculums should also be designed according to their needs which could cut down the time needed for them to spend in school (Melnick). Programs designed to help these children need to take into account cultural economical and social restraints that exist in these countries, since child labor impacts whole communities the efforts to eradicate it should also involve different stakeholders. The effort launched by Save the Children and partners Breakthrough, Pratham and the IKEA Foundation in India involves community members to protect and support the children who are being brought back into schools (Newell). However, even more important than emotional support is the financial support provided to the children in form of stipends, food stamps and other benefits to compensate them for the income they are leaving behind- the child intervention program launched by Bangladesh Garments Exporters and Manufacturers Association in partnership with ILO and UNICEF showed the highest success rate when it took into account the financial concerns of the labor families and supported them through stipends while their children were sent to school (BGMEA, p11). In this case, the corporations who were once the biggest user of child labor can play the biggest role in helping the children. Most of the bigger and well known brands in the industry have adopted some code of ethics and practice with regards to the people they employ and the kind of suppliers they are willing to do business with, however, with low monitoring and increasing demand for goods these rules fail to have a significant positive impact on the children. On the other hand, modern corporations are the only entities with the management, logistical and financial resources available to support large scale initiatives to tackle the problem (Korngold). The bench mark company that can illustrate this idea is Levis. The company developed a code of conduct, titled “Terms of Engagement” 20 years ago laying down the acceptable standards for labor, safety and the environment (Energy Efficiency). After the enactment of these policies, the company found a supplier still using child labors in the factory however instead of simply dismissing the employees Levi’s agreed to continue to pay their salaries while they went to school and offered them a job after their education was completed. This strategy ensured that the children will have no pressure to return to work early and in the long term would provide Levi’s with a batch dedicated and loyal new workers. In the years since, different firms and groups have tried the same approach to protect these child workers, who still need the financial gains from their illegal jobs even as they need proper education. Similar policies can be easily adopted by the bigger corporations; the firms which donate or support NGO’s and government programs can also think about offering future oriented job contracts to the children as an incentive for their families to send them to school. Doing ethical business, supporting local education and creating skilled workforce in the developed countries is a responsibility that corporations should embrace, considering the great profits they have made through the cheap labor available there. There is also evidence that in the long run, ethical business benefits corporations through increased consumer support, lower risk of legal actions against them and creation of innovative operations and practices (Korngold); the developing countries could turn out to be the next big market for these brands if the younger generations are provided with better opportunities for success. Works Cited SOMO. Fact Sheet- Child labour in the textile & garment industry. Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations, March 2014. Web. Nov 3, 2014. http://somo.nl/publications-en/Publication_4058 BGMEA. Addressing Child Labor in the Bangladesh garment industry. A synthesis of ILO and UNICEF evaluation studies, New York and Geneva, August 2004. Melnick, Lindsay. Gasp! The Benefits Of Child Labor In The Developing World. Triple Pundit, December 5th, 2010. Web. Nov 3, 2014. http://www.triplepundit.com/2010/12/gasp-benefits-child-labor-developing-world/ Korngold, Alice. Corporations are the only thing that can save the world. Ensia, June 18, 2014. Web. Nov 3, 2014. http://ensia.com/voices/corporations-are-the-only-thing-that-can-save- the-world/ Energy Efficiency. Levi’s Process Combines Sustainable Design, Environmental Practices. Environmental Leader, November 8, 2013. Web. Nov 3, 2014. http://www.environmentalleader.com/2013/11/08/levis-process-combines-sustainable- design-environmental-practices/ Newell, Andrea. Save the Children, IKEA Foundation Redouble Efforts Against Child Labor. Triple Pundit, June 12th, 2014. Web. Nov 3, 2014. http://www.triplepundit.com/2014/06/ikea-foundation-redoubles-efforts-child-labor/ Read More