Child Labor Report 2005
C. Child Labor in the Apparel Industry
The consensus of government officials, industry representatives, unions and
NGOs interviewed by the Department of Labor in the Dominican Republic, El
Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras is that child labor is not now prevalent
in their garment export industries. In the very few cases where child labor
was mentioned, the children were 14 or older.4
In India and the Philippines, it was generally acknowledged that most of the
child labor in the garment industry is found in subcontracting shops or in
homework situations.
There was some anecdotal information about the prior use of child labor
times in the garment export industry and currently in subcontracting and
homework:
- Labor union representatives in Honduras stated that up until about two
years ago, child labor was used in the garment export industry. At that
time, because of a well-publicized case of an under-age worker,5
maquila operators dismissed about 2,000 under-age workers.6
Department of Labor officials received no reports of child labor in the
Honduran garment industry at the present time.
- Labor union representatives stated that the garment export industry of
El Salvador fears adverse publicity from the use of child labor. Several
plant managers explained that they will not hire workers under 18 because
they believe that this is the policy of U.S. retailers. For example, Mr.
Lee Miles, of Primo Industries commented that because U.S. retailers are
concerned about child labor, so are the Salvadoran producers. Plant
managers in El Salvador have apparently begun to refuse to hire workers
under 18 years of age, despite the fact that workers can legally begin
working at age 14.
- In Guatemala, the leader of a major labor confederation stated that
very young workers are no longer prevalent in the garment maquilas - that
is, workers below the minimum age of 14. It was claimed that there are
quite a number of adolescents (14 - 18 years old) working in some maquilas;
however, the restrictions on the number of hours that adolescents are
legally allowed to work are not observed.7
A Unicef representative confirmed this problem, adding that adolescents
often are paid less than adults, and are forced to work overtime.
Adolescent workers from the Sunbelt plant in Guatemala City and the Sam
Lucas plant in Chimaltenango also confirmed that all employees worked the
same hours, including overtime.
- Three young women working at the Lindotex plant in Guatemala reported
that the youngest workers in the plant are now 15-16 years old and that in
January 1996 all workers under fifteen were fired.
- Kailash Satyarthi, Chairperson of the South Asian Coalition
on Child Servitude, reported that children in the Indian
apparel export industry may be found making T-shirts in Tirupur,
woolen garments in Ludhiana, and some embroidery, lace, and
folkloric garments in cottage industries and small shops around
New Delhi.
- In Tirupur, India, the owner of Chenduran Textiles
mentioned that young boys may often work as tailor's helpers in
small, local garment shops. SAVE, a local NGO in Tirupur,
sponsors a night school for children between the ages of 8 and
17. The children work as tailor's helpers during the day and
attend school in the evening.
- Nearly all persons interviewed in India mentioned
that there is an increased sensitivity and awareness of the
issue of child labor in the past 2-3 years. The head of
Associated Indian Exports, an apparel buying office in New
Delhi, Bangalore, and Bombay, acknowledged that more (foreign)
customers are now asking about the use of child labor in the
production of garments in India and requiring that none be used.
- An academic expert on child labor in the Philippines
garment industry told Department of Labor officials that while
the use of child labor in garment production has declined in the
last few years, some children are still found in subcontracting
units and homework.
The field visits also revealed some problems in these countries
with the systems normally used to verify the age of workers. In
some countries, birth registries are not common and therefore
there is no demonstrable method to determine age. In other
countries, youths below the legal minimum age procure fraudulent
identification cards or fake government permits required to prove
that they have permission to work.8
- Department of Labor officials were informed by a plant
manager in Madras that in southern India, birth
registries - as known in Western countries - do not exist.
Therefore it is extremely difficult to determine the exact age
of a young worker. A medical doctor's certificate or school
records may be the only ways to determine a person's age.
- In the Dominican Republic, plant managers indicated
that falsification of the National Identification Card ("cdula
de identidad") and other proof of age documents to show an older
age and therefore be legally eligible for employment is not
uncommon.
- The general manager of a maquila in Guatemala (Lindotex,
a contractor to JCPenney and Wal-Mart) stated that some young
workers try to get jobs using the age documentation of an older
sibling. He said his company checks age documents very carefully
and conducts a thorough interview to ensure that workers under
the age of 16 are not hired. It was generally acknowledged by
plant managers and owners that falsified documentation of age
was an issue of concern.
- The representative of an NGO (Friederich Ebert Foundation)
in Guatemala stated that it was quite easy to buy a fake
identification card in that country and that young people who
want to work - but find that the jobs in the garment maquilas
are only available to adults - often use false identification to
try to get a job. In some maquilas, management verifies age
records and turns down those young applicants with faked
documents, but some others are willing to accept them.
- In the Philippines, a plant manager in the Cavite
Export Processing Zone stated that birth certificates, normally
used to verify the age of job applicants, can be forged or
altered. Due to the difficulty in determining age, he said that
many employers ultimately rely on the word of the employee.
Others require more substantive proof of age.
- Two NGOs in El Salvador, CENTRA and the Olof Palme
Foundation, commented that although children under 14 are no
longer found in the maquilas, some adolescents acquire false
documents in order to work. Many adolescents are required to
work overtime, in contravention of Salvadoran law.9
As stated in Chapter I, the ILO notes that children still work
in the garment industry worldwide. However, it is more common to
find children in small workshops or in homework. Working
conditions are generally worse than in larger formal factories,
and the number of hours may be more and amount of pay less. During
the course of the Department of Labor field visits, a number of
allegations were made that children work in these smaller
operations.
- Labor leaders in Guatemala had little knowledge of
child labor in sub-maquilas, homework situations, or small local
production facilities feeding the export market because they
only concentrate on conditions in the maquilas. They did note
that when larger maquilas make arrangements with smaller shops
or subcontractors they do not assume any responsibility for
labor conditions.
- The Secretary General of the Confederaci-n de Unidad
Sindical de Guatemala (CUSG) stated that the larger
garment maquilas subcontract work to smaller businesses,
particularly in the San Pedro de Sacatepequez area. This area is
described as so notorious that is called "the cradle" or "the
city of maquila" because in every home there are women and
children sewing "without any rights or legal protections." A few
workers interviewed repeated these allegations, as did
Guatemalan sociologist Edgar Patres.
- The Director of an Indian NGO, Youth for Unity and
Voluntary Action (YUVA), stated that in Bhiwande (near Bombay)
children may be found in houses used both as dwellings and
garment factories. In some of these factories, power looms are
operated by children. Dr. Joyce Shankaran, Secretary of the
Maharashta, Bombay Department of Labor, confirmed that children
work on the looms in Bhiwande. She said that the looms are found
within the home, where entire families take on piecework. Dr.
Shankaran remarked that the children do not work full-time on
the looms, but help after school.
- Mr. A. Sakthivel, owner of Poppy's, a Tirupur (India)
garment firm, and President of the Tirupur Exporters
Association, estimated that at least 5 percent of the Tirupur
apparel firms are family-oriented with knitting machines located
in the homes. Operations such as sewing buttons and other
trimmings are also conducted as part of this homework.
- The head of Yuvraj International, another apparel plant in
Tirupur (India), said that child labor in the garment
industry takes place in more remote areas. Children perform
low-skill duties such as cleaning and sweeping. He estimated
that small-scale shops or cottage industry constitute 10 percent
of the factories in Tirupur.
- Most persons interviewed in the Philippines,
including government and labor officials and representatives of
the American Chamber of Commerce Garment Industry Committee,
acknowledged that although child labor is not found in
significant numbers in the large garment factories, children do
work in subcontracting operations and in homework situations.10
NGOs such as the National Homeworker's Network (PATAMBA) and the
Kamalayan Development Center, a children's advocacy group,
confirmed that this is the case. PATAMBA explained that children
work as unpaid family labor, assisting their parents at home or
accompanying a parent to assist in the factory. The children
trim garments and do embroidery and smocking (pleating) as well.
PATAMBA officials stated that these children do attend school;
however, their grades are poor due to inadequate study time, and
they tend to suffer poor health. When production deadlines
approach and quotas must be met, pressure to meet an order leads
to high rates of school absenteeism as the children stay home to
work.
- The Personnel Manager of A La Mode, a garment manufacturer
in Quezon City, the Philippines, noted that although his
firm tries to comply with child labor laws, he cannot
personnally vouch for subcontractors. A La Mode produces for
Triumph, Ltd, a Hong Kong-based buyer which purchases garments
for a number of U.S. brand name apparel firms, including The
Gap.
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Child Labor Report 2005 |