Goal to Eliminate Child Labor Running out of Steam

[Karmadillo]

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/06/12-0

Goal to Eliminate Child Labor Running out of Steam
by Lisa Schlein

GENEVA - The International Labor Organization says progress toward eliminating the worst forms of child labor is slowing down. To mark the World Day Against Child Labor, the ILO is urging countries to do more to end this abhorrent practice.

Kapil Kumar, 6, polishes shoes at a makeshift shop on a pavement, on the World Day Against Child Labor in Gauhati, India, 12 Jun, 2010. This year's World Day Against Child Labor coincides with the World Cup in South Africa. But, for millions of children the beautiful game is just a distant dream.



Patrick Quinn is Senior Technical Specialist in ILO's International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor. He says while billions of people are caught up in the excitement of the World Cup, some 215 million children are laboring for survival.

"The grim reality for many children is they do not have the opportunity to play, to learn," he said. "They are trapped in child labor. We want to focus attention on this issue."

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Patrick Quinn, of the ILO's International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor, says children as young as six or seven years of age are forced to work long days in dismal conditions, which are damaging to their health.

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[midnight]

1. Eliminating child labor would cause a surge in price, and we know that money trumps peace.

People distract themselves with shiny things, and are taught that there is always going to be poverty and someone has got to do this work, and blah blah blah. The truth of the matter is that to eradicate child labor would meant that adults would have to be paid more money to support their families. Policies like Cafta, and Nafta feed off of this poverty mentality of chasing cheap labor, and lowering working conditions, and rights. We need WLR-World Labor Rights policies that eradicate poverty. The wages of the working class should not be less than three times the owner.