Child Labour in the coffee Industry By: Harris, Nick G, Derek
Transcript
Slide 1
By: Harris, Nick G, Derek
Slide 2
Child labor persists even though laws and standards to
eliminate it exist. Current causes of child labor are similar to
its causes in the U.S. 100 years ago, including poverty, limited
access to education, repression of workers rights, and limited
prohibitions on child labor. -Poverty is when a family has a lack
of money to pay for the main necessities of life. Like food,
shelter and clothing. So parents dont make enough money at their
jobs, so they need their children to work also to help pay the
bills. -Parental Illiteracy is when parents cannot read and write.
This means they cannot hold well-paying jobs so they dont make
enough money for the basic necessities of life. Therefore, they
require their children to work as well to help pay the bills.
Slide 3
-The tradition of the children learning the family skills. This
is when the children take over the parents job and the parents have
to pass on their job to their kids so the kids can make money to
pay the bills. -Social apathy and tolerance of child labour, This
is when the country does not care that child labour is happening it
is just a everyday thing and nobody would say anything. While in
Canada the person that hired the child would be frowned upon.
-Non-availability and non-accessibility to schools. This means that
if the kids have no school to go to then they have only one option
and that is to work to help parents work so they can pay the
bills.
Slide 4
Places In the world: Child labour is known to be present in
Colombia, CDI, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Guinea, Honduras, El
Salvador, Kenya, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Sierra Leone, Tanzania,
and Uganda Types of jobs: Many children work for commercial farms
and plantations that produce commodities exclusively for export,
making up an estimated 7-12% of the work force on these
plantations. Children get beneath the branches of the coffee trees
to pick the red beans, their nimble hands often outpacing those of
their parents. On some farms, young slaves harvest coffee beans as
well as the cacao pods that yield cocoa beans. Working Conditions:
Children in agriculture face many safety and health risks. Coffee
picking is exhausting work and for a child the impact can be
damaging. Long hours, hot temperatures, overexposure to sun and
snakebites are a constant threat to the well-being of the children,
Regular exposure to dangerous chemical fertilizers and pesticides
that have been banned in the U.S. are still used frequently in
coffee production and pose a biological threat to children.
Hours/Days: Child labourers usually work six days per week with 10
hour shifts.
Slide 5
Pay: Child labourers fall through the cracks of existing
government protections or monitoring. As an easily subjugated
workforce, their voices are not often heard leaving them subject to
low pay. In Kenya for example, coffee workers make around 1000
shillings a month ($12 U.S), while the minimum wage required by law
is 3 to 4 times that amount. Environment: Child slaves work long
hours, have no rights and are frequently subjected to brutal
treatment and sub-human living conditions. Number of children being
used: The number of child workers around the world remains
extremely high with 73 million children from 10-14 years old now
employed worldwide more than 13 percent of all children in this age
group. The number of child workers being used to keep the coffee
industry moving forward estimate 250 million working children, 120
million of whom work full time. Abuse? Children are threatened with
a loss of employment, food or future employment if they try to
leave the work place before the end of harvest season or if they
fail to harvest enough coffee, Workers are subject to threats and
verbal abuse and many are fearful of their employers.
Slide 6
Slide 7
Millions of children around the globe are victims to major
companies and industries using children for labor, with little to
no pay, and no rights or union towards the workers. This is the
story of Ezequiel, a child living in Nicaragua (age unknown),
working on the coffee fields. Ezequiel instead of going to school,
playing outside, and having a fun filled childhood; is forced to
work simply to survive. I am a child but feel like a grown man!
says Ezequiel. Children around the world are forced to live like
adults and are treated with no value from the governments they work
for. I play, sometimes says Ezequiel as he walks around the coffee
fields doing his work with a machete, as we walk around with
backpacks and schoolbooks and mobile devices. He works all day and
has no work benefits; he has no sick days, any missed days means no
pay. Ezequiel has only a run down shed with a dirt floor to live
in, rest and hang his clothes to dry. He works long shifts, has no
compensation, and no family or childhood. You can help children
like this by donating to a child in poverty, working to live in a 3
rd world country. Also buying from brands that support fair trade
can help put an end to workers being abused by scandalise
governments and industries.
Slide 8
Children often only earned a penny a day or no pay at all
Children worked in factories Factories had poor lighting, no
ventilation, and no safety devices on machinery, causing children
to go blind, develop black lungs, and lose of limbs or even death
Children worked 12-16 hours, 6 days a week New Laws eventually put
a stop to child labour in the industrial revolution and improved
standard working conditions Children are abused mentally, verbally,
and physically, children are often beaten No compensation for
injury on the job and no pay for any days missed Poor working
conditions often causes injury or death on the job Children must
work instead of going to school because they cant afford to pay for
necessities and need to help their family pay bills, so they are
forced to work to survive Children are homed in orphanages and
forced to do work Children make low wages often 3x less than
minimal wage 70% of current child labour occurs in agriculture
Children are even kidnapped, or held in a orphanage and forced to
do work. Children work about 10 hours a day, 6 days a week Children
are often abused by large industries and money minded governments
that will use children to get what they want Children are still
being abused for labour with terrible working conditions and low
wage, but can be stopped if we step up Industrial
RevolutionSimilaritiesPresent Child Labor
Slide 9
The government could stop child labour by making it illegal to
work under a certain age, but in some countries companies and the
government only want money and use children to make more profit.
Another way to stop child labour is for everybody around the world
to step up and help make changes in the way we choose our foods,
and only choose from brands of fair trade. My 3rd way is by
sponsoring a child in a different country so they can support them
selves and get an education. strong unions are important protection
against child labor. when parents are able to improve conditions
through effective unions, children are much less likely to have to
work Active struggles against child labor tend to strengthen unions
and workers rights in general Another way to stop child labour is
to step up in our own country and not support brands that use child
labour, because if we bring down their sales they will do anything
to get their money back, and that means ending child labour.
Slide 10
"Farmworkers Left Behind: The Human Cost of Coffee Production."
Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine RSS. Web. 20 Nov. 2014. .
"Cocoa, Coffee, and Child Slave Labor." IHS Child Slave Labor News
::. Web. 20 Nov. 2014. . "Story of a Ezequiel." YouTube. YouTube.
Web. 20 Nov. 2014. . "Coffee." Home. Web. 20 Nov. 2014..
http://www.organicconsumers.org/starbucks/0707_fair_trade.htm
"Coffee." Home. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.. "The Plight of Coffee's
Children." The Plight of Coffee's Children. Web. 24 Nov.
2014..