Today is World Day Against Child Labor! (See what USA companies use child labor etc)

[Omaha Steve]

More info here: http://www.laborrights.org/stop-child-labor/wdacl



World Day Against Child Labor

Every year, June 12th is celebrated as World Day Against Child Labor. This year is especially important because 2009 marks the tenth anniversary of the adoption of ILO Convention No. 182, which addresses the need for action to tackle the worst forms of child labor. You can see a list of the countries that have ratified Convention 182 here.

* More information about World Day Against Child Labor
* What you can do to eliminate child labor
* ILRF's cotton campaign
* ILRF's cocoa campaign
* ILRF Stop Firestone campaign

World Day Against Child Labor is an important opportunity for people around the world to call attention to the plight of child workers and to call for stronger labor protections for workers everywhere. The theme for 2009 as determined by the International Labor Organization is the exploitation of girls in child labor. More information is available on the ILO’s website here.

ILRF has a long history of working to stop child labor. We continue to support international conventions in addition to national and local legislation to reduce the worst forms of child labor and ensure that all workers' rights are protected. Here are some of the ways that ILRF is fighting child labor this year:

Cotton
This week, ILRF Executive Director Bama Athreya is in Geneva at the International Labor Conference, the ILO's annual gathering. ILRF is helping to organize an event on June 11th about the continued use of forced child labor in Uzbekistan's cotton industry. The event will feature speakers including Kailash Satyarthi of the Global March Against Child Labor as well as many other leading figures from human rights and labor organizations, government officials and companies. An agenda from the event is available online here.

The event in Geneva comes less than a week after ILRF released a new report detailing how forced child labor continues to be used in the most recent cotton harvest in Uzbekistan. Additionally, Uzbek human rights advocates just released a new call for an international boycott of Uzbek cotton.



Cocoa
In recent months, Cadbury and Mars have committed to certification programs aimed at improving sustainability in cocoa production. These announcements are a step forward, but more work is needed to stop the use of child labor in the production of cocoa, especially in Cote d'Ivoire. You can click here to check out ILRF's report from last July explaining the lack of progress made by many chocolate companies in addressing labor problems over the past years.

In the coming weeks, ILRF will be launching new campaign efforts targeting a major chocolate company, so please stay tuned for updates!

Stop Firestone
As part of the ongoing Stop Firestone campaign, ILRF is working with US and Liberia-based organizations to fight the use of child labor and abuse of workers' rights on a rubber plantation in Liberia operated by the Firestone tire company. While Firestone workers achieved a historic victory when they signed their first contract negotiated by an independent and democratically elected union leadership last summer, Firestone has not fully implemented many of the crucial improvements in that contract. As a result, child labor and many other abuses continue. Check out this article describing the ongoing problems and click here to read recent articles about the serious environmental problems caused by Firestone.

Later this summer, the union will begin negotiations on a new contract, so please stay alert for upcoming actions to show solidarity with Firestone workers and their families in the coming months.

What You Can Do

* SEND AN E-MAIL TO NESTLE, MARS & HERSHEY: Click here to tell these major US chocolate companies to stop child labor in their cocoa supply chains.

* ORDER OUR CHILD LABOR POSTERS: Click here to see our child labor campaign posters and to find out how to order some.

* USE OUR CHILD LABOR CLASSROOM RESOURCES: Help spread the word in your community be using our educational resources here. The ILO and Education International have additional classroom materials specifically for World Day Against Child Labor 2009 available here.

* MAKE GOOD PURCHASES: To support companies that respect labor rights, check out our Chocolate Company Scorecard and the Shop with a Conscience Consumer Guide.

* SIGN UP FOR OUR URGENT ACTION LIST: The best way to get the latest information about child labor and new ways to take action is to sign up for our urgent action list.

[ThomCat]

1. Thank you for posting this.

I sent off a letter through that site.

There is some important information on that site. It was definitely worth taking the time to read.

[emilyg]

2. k/r