Child Labor in Overseas Manufacturers
The issue of whether overseas manufacturers of U.S. products employchild labor in their factories is of great importance to marketingdepartments not only because the practice is abhorrent but because whenexposed, such practices reflect negatively on both the company's management While most consumers around the world agree that they do not want themerchandise they purchase produced by child laborers who are underpaid andworking under harsh or otherwise unacceptable conditions, companies whofind that they have directly or indirectly used such child laborers canfind it a difficult problem to manage. McDonald's found this out after charges that the give-away toys theyuse to market their "Happy Meals" to children were created by childlaborers in China working under near-slavery conditions (AP, 2000).McDonald's argued that they did not know child laborers were used. They hadcontracted with a supplier by the name of "Simon Marketing, Ltd.," locatedin Hong Kong. This company passed the tasks on to "Pleasure Tech Holdings,"who gave the work to "City Toys, Ltd." in mainland China (AP, 2000). When City Toys was located, underage workers explained how they got
Toy manufacture is not the only area where third world countriessometimes employ child labor. The children who leave their schools, and often theirfamilies (AP, 2000) to work in factories producing goods that will bemarketed by American companies have had not only their childhood but theirfutures spoiled. Outspoken critics of the problem of child labor in third worldcountries attribute certain beliefs to those companies that use childlabor, directly or indirectly. There are always multiple solutions to any problem. norPleasure Tech Holdings would have shown any manufacturing, and reportersvisiting City Toys had no trouble ferreting out the problem. Work that doesnot interfere with education (light work) is permitted from the age of 12years under the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 138. The combination ofthis kind of criticism with the justified outrage when American marketersare found to profit in any way from child labor means that all companiesmarketing merchandise manufactured in other countries must be diligentabout actual production practices. Around the world, more than 200 million children workin unspeakable conditions in sweatshops, mines and factories. UNICEF, the branch of the United Nations that concerns itself withchild welfare worldwide, has an established policy regarding the employmentof children. "(UNICEF, 2003) The key phrase that could guide manufacturers so the inadvertent,indirect use of child labor does not create a marketing nightmare for themis the standard that such employment must not interfere with education. While somecritics, particularly those who blame market globalization for a host ofevils in the world, may not always have high credibility, otherorganizations cannot be easily ignored or dismissed. The practice occurs in other industriesincluding the manufacture of clothing, shoes and even carpeting (Seabrook,2000). Instead oftheir ABC's, these children are learning to weave carpets, haul bricks, sewgarments, and manufacture toys they will never enjoy.
Common topics in this essay:
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,
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Acceptance Essays
