While technology companies have faced widespread condemnation for their labor practices, including securing resources from conflict zones and using child labor, a report from Côte d’Ivoire shows that number of children engaged in contributing to the multi billion $ global chocolate industry has increased in the last few years. In June 2021, US Supreme Court ruled that Nestlé USA and Cargill Inc. can’t be sued in U.S. courts for abuses allegedly committed in Ivory Coast, where plaintiffs accused the food- processing giants of obtaining cocoa from plantations that relied on the forced labor of children.
Economist Steven LandsburgLinks to an external site. writes:
“As any historian could tell you, no society has every pulled itself out of poverty without putting its children to work. Back in the early 19th century, when Americans were as poor as Bangladeshis are now, we were sending out children to work at about the same rate as the Bangladeshis are today. Having had the good fortune to get rich first, Americans can afford to give Bangladeshis a helping hand, and there are plenty of good ways for us to do that. Denying Third Worlders the very opportunities our ancestors embraced, whether through full fledged boycotts or by insisting on health and safety standards they can’t afford to meet, is not one of those ways.”
Read the 2 documents
Jouvin, Marine. “Ivorian Cocoa Farmers Are Beating a System To Reduce Child Labour: Here’s How.” Download “Ivorian Cocoa Farmers Are Beating a System To Reduce Child Labour: Here’s How.”Global Issues. Oct. 2021
Bravin, Jess & Kendall, Brent. ” Download “Supreme Court Rules Cargill, Nestle Can’t Be Sued in Child-Labor Case.” Download Supreme Court Rules Cargill, Nestle Can’t Be Sued in Child-Labor Case.”Wall Street Journal. June 17, 2021
While Annotating…
Read the Perusall – Getting Started Page.
Be sure to read the rubric to maximize your points.
Keeping in mind Steven Landsburg’s view, read the articles. While annotating in Perusall consider responding to the following questions:
Does the employment of children 16 years of age and younger violate fair work practices?
Should child labor laws like those prohibiting employment of children be enforced in the developing world?
How might such laws affect development in such countries?
Should companies that sell products in the United States be prohibited from certain practices abroad? Why?
Also, think from the point of view of the child laborer, he/ she may be the sole earning member of their family.
Is child labor still unjustified?
Sanctions against countries that use child labor will trickle down and affect the least protected – the child.
What is the perfect solution to this complicated issue.
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