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Petition Tag - child labor
1. The Faces of Our Food Supply 
There are approximately 400,000 children and youth working in agriculture in the U.S. The majority of these are foreign-born and without parents, access to health care, and suffer regular food scarcity.
These children and youth lack access to a regular, stable residence to obtain an education.
These children and youth fear the loss of temporary shelter and food, and therefore do not frequently report labor abuses.
Around the world, over 250,000,000 children are put to work for several reasons. Times now are no better than the times of the Industrial Revolution, in which millions of children worked under terrible conditions and many died. During the time, workers worked long hours, suffered from disease, and in some cases, died.
The same still happens today, as large corporations take advantage of poverty stricken children around the world. This work is near the same or even worse than the times of the Industrial Revolution. Children suffer from this greatly. Studies have stated that 1 in 7 children around the world is put into this position where they must work to survive.
3. Strengthen the Nepali / Tibetan Rug Industry
Strengthen the Nepali/Tibetan Rug Industry and Enhance Livelihoods for Nepali/Tibetan Refugee Weavers and Artisans
The economic potential of the Nepali carpet industry became clear towards the end of the last decade. In the mid 1990’s, the industry employed almost one million people, accounted for a third of Nepal’s exports, was the largest supplier of foreign currency, and brought approximately 1300 - 1000 crore Nepali Rupees into the economy each year.
Today the industry has shrunk by over 70% as local manufacturers, experienced artisan weavers, and carpet importers move their production into India and China to escape the unstable production situation, hostile business environment, and the local disturbances that have become increasingly present in the Kathmandu Valley. This situation has led to a significant and continual decline in production standards since 2000, causing the quality of Nepal’s yarn production and weaving to fall dramatically. Because of this decline, Nepal is losing its hard earned reputation as a leader in the hand-knotted carpet industry and its valuable share of international end markets.
The decreased importance of the Nepali carpet industry is visibly reducing the industry’s role in the country’s economic and social development. Nepal’s exports have proven to be strongly and positively correlated to economic growth. The Nepali carpet industry plays an important role in this as seen by its near 30% share of Nepal’s total exports and its direct contribution to approximately 3% of Nepal’s GDP in 2004/2005.
Increased domestic support for this industry can once again raise exports, increase revenue for the national government, and foster skill development and advancement for even the lowest paid workers. It also presents the government with an opportunity for economic growth and diversification through an already established industry.
The carpet industry should continue to play a critical role in Nepal’s social development and rural poverty reduction. Workers in Nepal’s carpet factories are an important source for domestic remittances being sent into the countryside. This type of remittance flow was shown, in a 2003 World Bank study of the Nepali economy, to have a powerful and direct effect on reducing rural poverty.
To sustain and maximize on the economic and social benefits of the industry, we propose that there is an immediate need for a more productive, secure, and corruption free work environment within the Nepali carpet industry. As end market users and importers of this wonderful product, we hereby petition the Nepali Government to recognize and take action on the following necessary points for change: labor regulation, export promotion, quality certification, investment climate, labor union policies.
Details are outlined on the following page.
With focused and properly directed intervention, the carpet industry has the potential to play a vital role in Nepal’s development. The industry has shown that it can directly foster economic development while increasing the effectiveness of the government’s work to reduce national poverty. We believe that given the support proposed in this petition, the Nepali carpet industry will once again become an important source for national revenue, social development, and the preservation of centuries old artisan techniques.
The practice of slavery has plagued the human species for over 5,000 years. Yet here in the 21st century, slavery is more prevalent than ever before with an estimated 27 million people enslaved worldwide.
Even in the U.S slavery continues today. The U.S government estimates 14000-18000 people are trafficked into the U.S annually and put into some form of modern day slavery.
5. End Child Labor Involved in the Manufacturing of Tobacco Products
The tobacco industries’ human rights abuses must not be ignored. Child labor is apparent in many tobacco growing and manufacturing countries.
In Malawi in Africa, 78% of children between 10-14 years old work either full-time or part-time with their parents on the tobacco farms.
In one State of Brazil 520,000 (five hundred and twenty thousand) children under 18 work in the tobacco fields. 170,000 of these children are under the age of 14.
In the Sinaloa Valleys of Mexico, 200,000 indigenous migrant workers harvest tobacco each year. 50,000 of them are children between the ages of 5-14. The young children cut and bundle the tobacco leaves putting themselves at greater risk of absorbing pesticides and nicotine from the tobacco leaves through their skin, and these toxins lead to several diseases that have led to death. Bonded labor is also akin to child labor.
In India, children are forced to roll beedis (a type of handmade cigarette) typically with terrible working conditions in order to pay off debt accrued by their families (usually because of medical expenses, funeral costs, or inherited debt from the death of parent). The children are robbed of a childhood, abused and contract diseases from working with tobacco.
According to the article “Understanding Bonded Child Labour in Asia:” “Children involved in beedi-rolling (a kind of cigarette) suffer from high rates of tuberculosis and other lung diseases.” Not only is the tobacco industry employing children in the production of tobacco, but the industry is also abusing and killing children through the abhorrent working conditions they experience and the exposure to deadly chemicals.
The tobacco industry is taking advantage of and killing children worldwide; it cannot be ignore by our government.
6. Hold Tobacco Industries Accountable for their Human Rights Abuses Overseas
Tougher tobacco control laws in the US are driving the industry to market more aggressively to the rest of the world, especially the developing world.
Thus, the tobacco industry is having a larger impact than ever on poverty, internationally.
Tobacco contributes to: poverty, malnutrition and hunger (diverting land from food use as well as diverting money from purchasing food), increased health costs, premature death, illiteracy (less money available for education), financial slavery (for many tobacco farmers), and child labor. All of these factors have added to the tobacco industries’ death toll of millions of lives every year.
Poverty and hunger are two of the largest repercussions of the tobacco industry worldwide. In December 2004, the World Health Organization announced: “Tobacco and poverty are inextricably linked. Many studies have shown that in the poorest households in some low-income countries as much as 10% of total household expenditure is on tobacco.” Also, land under tobacco cultivation around the world today could feed 10-12 million people each year if planted in food crops instead. In Bangladesh, 350 children are dying each day due to diversion of money from food to tobacco; over 10.5 million currently malnurished people in Bangladesh could have an adequate diet if the money spent on tobacco was spent on food instead.
The tobacco industry plays a large role in the poverty and hunger worldwide; our government must take action to help the poor and the starving not only in the US but also worldwide.
The tobacco industry also takes advantage of third world countries through the production of tobacco. Tobacco farmers and their families have been the victims of environmental destruction of their lands, economic slavery to the industry, limited opportunities, poor (often dangerous) working conditions, and even the poisoning of their children. Many tobacco farmers, specifically in Nigeria, find themselves and their families in an endless cycle of poverty because of their contracts with British American Tobacco: these farmers worker harder and harder every year only to find themselves falling farther into debt with BAT. Similar situations are apparent in Mexico and Malawi where tobacco proves to be a crop that makes its farmers poorer rather than garnishing a profit.
Part of the vicious cycle the farmers experience is due to the fact that the tobacco industry has struck up agreements with governments of third world countries to keep it as a commercial crop even though it destroys local economy.
Farmers and their families are not only poverty-stricken by the tobacco industry but also killed by growing the plant. Tobacco requires several applications of pesticides to grow a commercial crop, and they are often applied by unprotected farmers and their families, including young children. Pesticide poisoning is common and taken for granted. The runoff from the fields can poison wells and other water supplies.
The tobacco industries’ human rights abuses must not be ignored. Child labor is apparent in many tobacco growing and manufacturing countries. In Malawi in Africa, 78% of children between 10-14 years old work either full-time or part-time with their parents on the tobacco farms. In one State of Brazil 520,000 (five hundred and twenty thousand) children under 18 work in the tobacco fields. 170,000 of these children are under the age of 14. In the Sinaloa Valleys of Mexico, 200,000 indigenous migrant workers harvest tobacco each year. 50,000 of them are children between the ages of 5-14. The young children cut and bundle the tobacco leaves putting themselves at greater risk of absorbing pesticides and nicotine from the tobacco leaves through their skin, and these toxins lead to several diseases that have led to death.
Bonded labor is also akin to child labor. In India, children are forced to roll beedis (a type of handmade cigarette) typically with terrible working conditions in order to pay off debt accrued by their families (usually because of medical expenses, funeral costs, or inherited debt from the death of parent). The children are not only robbed of a childhood, but they are also abused and contract diseases from working with tobacco.
According to the article “Understanding Bonded Child Labour in Asia:” “Children involved in beedi-rolling (a kind of cigarette) suffer from high rates of tuberculosis and other lung diseases.” Not only is the tobacco industry employing children in the production of tobacco, but the industry is also abusing and killing children through the abhorrent working conditions they experience and the exposure to deadly chemicals.
Overall, while the US is working to tighten tobacco control laws, the tobacco industry is now looking elsewhere to take advantage of unsuspecting people. The tobacco industry performs many human rights abuses including utilizing child labor and increasing hunger and poverty worldwide.
The US has done something to protect our citizens from the tobacco industry, and now it is up to our government to prevent these industries from attacking those less fortunate.
7. Sop the exploitation of Child Labor
Hi, my petition is to stop Child Labor, particularly in developing countries, because many people are dieing. Children cannot work for fourteen hours non-stop. They only get paid a little if lucky and some children don't even get paid. Most children are trying to pay off loans that their parents own to others. Please sign my petition so I can show everyone that all of you agree to my thought. Thank You For Your Time And Support.
Please help all the children and stop child labor. Please sign the petetion.
Nike abuses(physically, mentally, sexually) it's child workers and forces them to work in outragous conditions. It is unsafe, and flat out wrong. They pay their child workers just pennies a day and then sell the merchandise for hundreds of dollars.
