labor28

Most of us would be horrified to support a business that exploits children. But lchances are
you ~ may have done just that on your last shopping trip.Perhaps you splurged on a
hand-crafted carpet, without knowing it was made by a seven-year old from India, where
children are chained to looms for 12 hours a day. Maybe you just bought a soccer ball for
your son or daughter, without realizing five-year-old hands inside a dark and silent factory
in Pakistan produced your gift. Even your more mundane purchases-a leather bag, a shirt,
a pair of jeans, or produce from the local grocery store-could be the product of child
labor.Around the world today, some 250 million boys and girls between the ages of five and
14 are exploited in hazardous working conditions, according to the International Labor
Organization. Children's rights groups estimate that the US imports more than $100 million
in goods each year which are produced by bonded and indentured children. This is
outrageous.The issue of the exploitation of child labor is not only a moral issue, but also an
economic issue that is having a profound impact on US workers. As consumers, we should
not be purchasing products made by children who are held in virtual slavery-children who
can't go to school, who work horrendous hours each week, who are beaten when they
perform poorly on the job, and who are often permanently maimed when they attempt to
escape from their slavery.But, equally important, we should not continue a trade policy that
forces US workers to compete against desperate and impoverished people in countries
such as China and Mexico, people who earn as little as 15 or 20 cents an hour-whether
those workers are children or adults.I have been working hard in the Congress to end the
scourge of abusive and exploitative child labor for a number of years. For too long, the
world has looked the other way as hundreds of millions of children have been virtually
enslaved in the pursuit of greater profit. Now, however, Vermont has a unique opportunity
to pioneer a curriculum that exposes this problem to our young people so that they will be
able to combat it. Through an effective program, we can start to show the next generation
of leaders how pervasive this problem is and what we can do to prevent it.A lot of work is
going to have to be done by SIT, Brattleboro Union High School, and other educators in
order to determine the most effective use of this important grant. My personal hope is that,
at the end of the day, we will have involved large numbers of students throughout the state
in this project, and will have done an effective job in teaching them how to play an active
role in our democracy. It's a good first step, and if we are successful in Vermont, we will
provide a model for students throughout the country to develop similar programs.Another
important initiative, signed into law in 1997, was the Sanders-Harkin Indentured Child Labor
Import Ban, prohibiting the importation into the US of products made by indentured child
servants. As documented by 60 Minutes II back in December, the US Customs Service
used this law to stem the flow of hand-rolled, unfiltered cigarettes (known as "bidis")
produced by indentured child labor in India. In India alone, there are approximately 50
million children working in factories or fields for little or no pay.Bidis are an especially
insidious product. They are made by children in India, and purchased by children in the US.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, 40 percent of US adolescents between
seventh and 12th grade have tried them. These cigarettes are popular among US youth
because they are sweetened with flavors such as chocolate, strawberry, licorice, mango,
and even bubble gum, giving the impression that bidis are less dangerous than other
cigarettes. To the contrary, bidis contain higher levels of nicotine and five times more tar
than regular cigarettes. I will be working with the Customs Service to keep bidis out of the
US.While the US is increasing its commitment to ending abusive and exploitative child labor
around the world, today, in our own country, the richest most powerful country in the world,
instances of child labor are growing. The estimated number of children between ages 12
and 17 who work is 5.5 million, or 27 percent of the total number of children in this age
group, according to the Global March Against Child Labor. To this figure must be added
the many children under the age of 12 illegally employed in various activities-for example,
in urban garment manufacturing sweatshops, as street traders, and as seasonal and
migrant workers on large farms.The practice of exploiting children in the US workplace
saves employers $155 million in wages. That's why I am co-sponsoring the Young
American Workers' Bill of Rights, introduced by Rep. Tom Lantos from California. This bill
brings our child labor laws up to date and calls for increased minimum and maximum
penalties for child labor violators.If you don't think that child labor is a problem in New
England, guess again. In January, the Labor Department fined Toys R Us $200,000 for
violating child labor laws. The violations involved 14- and 15-year-olds who stock shelves,
operate cash registers, and clean at 19 New England Toys R Us stores, most of them in
Massachusetts.We know how bonded child workers are bought and sold like cattle. We
know about the horrendous working conditions that they are forced to endure. We know
about the violence that meets them when they cannot work hard enough to satisfy their
masters, or when they try to escape their slavery. As we begin the 21st century, we must
make a firm commitment to eradicate child labor throughout the world.