CHILD LABOR 1

Child Labor

Team D (Bertrand, Hall, Quinn)

Ethics in a Global Marketplace/Southwestern College

Dr. Roger D. Fuller

17 December 2010
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Abstract

Many forms of child labor, including indentured servitude and child slavery have existed

throughout American history (Clark-Bennett, 2010). In 1938 federal regulation of child labor

was achieved in the United States by approval of the Fair Labor Standards Act (Clark-Bennett,

2010). Unfortunately, over 60% of child labor now occurs in China, approximately 15 million

children (Clark-Bennett, 2010). Although many countries may agree on the importance of labor

standards, obstacles to implement child enforcement standards exists including global

competition, free trade rules and the policies attached to international development loans (Clark-

Bennett, 2010). Theories based on cosmopolitan citizenship, moral absolutism, global ethics,

corporate citizenship as well as exploration of the United Nations Global Compact will be

examined further that would have a positive impact on child labor practices if they could be

implemented on a national and international level.

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Introduction

Child labor is any employment of children at regular or sustained hours. In many

countries, child labor is illegal and considered exploitative. Most countries have developed a

minimum age that is acceptable for a child to work. In China, this age is 16 years old. Even

though China has a minimum age for minors to work, China has one of the largest child labor

problems in the world. Estimates dictate that almost 10% of China’s children are employed

illegally. Throughout this paper, we will discuss this child labor issue as well as provide some

recommendations to help solve this problem.

Cosmopolitan Citizenship

Child labor is a major social issue in the country of China, it is very common to find

children in the labor force. The most common industries where children can be found working

are food production, toy production, construction, and textiles. “A high percentage of children

who live in rural areas in this province are very poor and are not allowed to attend school.

Therefore, they accept jobs anywhere they can find them, without any regard for working

conditions" (Clothing Manufactures Fined, 2001). Understanding the concept of cosmopolitan

citizenship could help China have a better understanding of human rights and allow them to

correct their child labor problem

“In the absence of a world state, the extension of human rights gives some substance to

the idea of cosmopolitan citizenship" (Eade & O’Byrne, 2005, p.42). Many of the western

cultures have already adopted this idea and have taken a moral stand against human rights.

China, where it is very common to find children in the work force, does not seem to practice the
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theory of cosmopolitan citizenship. “To investigate the possibilities of creating a cosmopolitan

political community, it is useful to study the emotions of actually existing cosmopolitanism"

(Eade & O’Byrne, 2005, p.37). This may be a very difficult task in China. China is considered a

people’s republic and is governed by the Communist Party of China. The Communist Party of

China has a very different belief system than many of the Western Cultures that have adopted the

idea of cosmopolitan citizenship. In order for the idea of cosmopolitan citizenship to actually

work, the entire nation of China would have to commit to this idea. China is a very large and

powerful nation that generally is not concerned with conforming to the standards set by the rest

of the world. Even though this is the case, cosmopolitan citizenship would still be a very

beneficial tool for the current child labor situation in China.

Moral Absolutism

“The current world order is said to be one where all social institutions are organized

around rationality and where humans have achieved an increased mastery of the world through

new technologies and advances in science" (Eade & O’Byrne, 2005, p.46). This is a true

statement in an ideally perfect world. In today’s world, unfortunately not all social institutions

are organized around rationality. Specifically, there are certain areas of China’s social institution

that does not seem to be centered on rationality. One of these areas involves the child labor

problem in China. “The problem of child labor extends far beyond minority communities. In

rural areas across China, persistent poverty creates a ready supply of young workers, and the

booming east-coast manufacturing sectors -- which churn out toys, clothes, shoes and electronics

sold around the world -- have a voracious appetite for labor" (Fairclough & Bai, 2008).
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Similarly to cosmopolitanism citizenship, moral absolutism is something that has been

studied mainly in Western Cultures. Although, the quest for a global moral absolute is;

constantly ongoing due to the diverse amount of countries involved, China could benefit greatly

from acknowledging some of the absolutes that have already been defined. Child labor is one of

these moral absolutes that many of the Western Cultures have identified and defined. Most

Western countries have child labor laws in place that prevent children from engaging in actual

labor. China, similarly, has a law that requires children to be at least 16 years of age before

joining the work force. The difference between China and the Western cultures is how these

laws are enforced. The United States has very strict penalties for companies that partake in child

labor. China seems to be a lot more lenient on how they enforce their child labor laws, as an

estimated 10% of children in their country are employed. If China would adhere to the moral

absolutes that have been set by many Western Cultures, they could also get a grip on their child

labor issues.

Transnational Professionals

Although Chinese Law states that minors are defined as citizens that are less than 18

years of age and minors less than 16 years of age are not authorized to work; child labor still

remains an issue in China. The use of transnational professionals could be a great step towards

correcting this problem. Transnational professionals are experts that go beyond national

boundaries. “Overseas experience, especially a period of training abroad, can also play a crucial

role in creating highly professional managers" (Eade & O’Byrne, 2005, p.90). Managers that

have the ability to see many different cultures and how these cultures handle problems could be

very beneficial for managers in China. Once again, China is a very closed off culture that does

not generally welcome the idea of someone new coming into their country and trying to help
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them solve a problem. Although transnational professionals are generally very smart individuals,

they may not always be the best solution for a cultural problem.

"Despite their undoubted ability to appreciate cultural diversity these elites are unable to

take on the ‘traditional’ mantle of responsibility we equate with cosmopolitanism and for

which they are well equipped; namely, to play a leading role in reforming global

capitalism so helping to extend a global civil society and democracy" (Eade & O’Byrne,

2005, p.91)

Due to this fact, these transnational professionals may struggle to help with the child labor

situation in China. China is not a government that is ran on democratic principles. Trying, to

force these principles on a communist country may actually be counterproductive. Even with

this being the case, transnational professionals still may be able to provide some insight as to

how to help stop this social issue that has plagued China.

Transnational Corporations

The use of transnational corporations to help solve the child labor problem in China is

similar to the use of transnational professionals. The main difference is that corporations have

much more power than individuals.

"Now is a particularly promising time for global instruments to have a major impact on

the international business behavior and to play a prominent role in the public debate

about the respective roles of companies, governments and individuals in ensuring that a

broad cross section of the world’s people can enjoy improved economic, social and

environmental welfare" (Gordon, 2001).

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Large corporations can have a lot more pull than that of individual people. Many of these large

corporations have made it their mission to give back to their communities and make the world a

better place to live in. If the transnational corporations that operate in China spoke out against

the child labor issue, more people might take notice and take action. Unfortunately, many of the

companies that are using children for labor are operating only in China. Even though this is the

case, large corporations can still take a stand against this social issue. They can do this by not

supporting the companies that have been caught committing labor law crimes in China. The goal

of transnational corporations is to spread improved economic, social and environmental welfare

across the world. Supporting companies that violate this goal would only be counterproductive.

By taking these steps, transnational corporations could go a long ways in stopping the child labor

problem in China.

Guiding Principles of a Global Ethic

All human beings have certain natural rights and it entails a duty on others to respect

them, others may help them if they feel so inclined but are not required to nor are they morally

delinquent if they don’t offer assistance (Eade & O’Byrne, 2005). But what are the guiding

principles of a Global Ethic if we chose not to offer assistance or to correct a wrong? American

corporations have so much fondness for the status quo in China that they have gone out of their

way to preserve current Chinese labor law (Brecher, Costello & Smith, 2006). Even foreign

corporations have been attacking the legislation because it provides the workers with too much

protection and may well encourage the works to organize to enforce the rights it contains

(Brecher, et al., 2006). Dialogue within and between societies will be how we can arrive at the

principles of global ethics (Eade & O'Byrne, 2005).

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The American Chamber of Commerce in China and some of America's most prestigious

corporations are leading efforts inside China to weaken and possibly block significant worker

rights and protection provisions in the proposed Chinese labor law (Brecher, et al., 2006). This

campaign is inconsistent with the United States long standing commitment to promote respect

for fundamental worker rights in law and practice everywhere (Brecher, et al., 2006). It is

difficult for Americans to compete in the global economy without having corporate leaders

seeking to play our own workers against the least-protected and lowest wage workers in the

world (Brecher, et al., 2006). Public policy in the United States and other countries has allowed

these corporations to realize immense benefits from the low pay and poor conditions under

which Chinese workers work (Brecher, et al., 2006). It is interesting to note that these policies

have been justified largely on the grounds that foreign corporations operating in China would

elevate labor and human rights standards (Brecher, et al., 2006). Society may expect but cannot

demand that corporations exceed their minimum legal obligations, resulting in a situation in

which corporate citizenship fails to constrain those most in need of regulation (Eade & O'Byrne,

2005).

Justice and Global Ethic

Justice can only be won when corporations are held legally accountable in respect to

workers rights (McIntyre, 2010). A global ethic needs to explore the intellectual and moral

virtues that citizens all over the world need to cultivate in order to cope with our diverse world

(Eade & O'Byrne, 2005). The idea that "without sweatshops, workers will starve to death" is a

lie that corporations use to cover their guilt (McIntyre, 2010). Corporate citizenship views the

corporation as an individual, thus demanded that they abide by existing legal obligations coupled

with the idea they will meet that obligation just by being socially responsible (Eade & O'Byrne,
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2005). How can they possibly be socially responsible when according to John Ruggia, special

representative of the U.N. Secretary-General for human rights and transnational corporations and

other businesses states "Just about everyone, at least off the record, will tell you that monitoring

corporate social responsibility does not work because people cheat".

Corporations need to change the way they do business, they are relied on to initiate

reform according to what they perceive to be the perceptions of society or society imposes such

expectations upon corporations by regulation (Eade & O'Byrne, 2005). It seems that no matter

what standards U.S. companies put in place to prevent suppliers from using child labor in

developing countries, the problem persists (McIntyre, 2010). It is nearly impossible for

companies such as Apple and Microsoft to consistently monitor labor practices across thousands

of factories over which ultimately they have no control (McIntyre, 2010).

In the early 1930's the single minded pursuit of profit was common, the 1970's resulted in

a common theme to "legitimize" the exercise of social power by private corporations (Eade &

O'Bryne, 2005). As multinational corporations expand across borders, countries often compete

with each other for jobs, investment and industry (Clark-Bennett, Hodne &Sherer, 2010). The

U.S. Department of Labor estimates around 5% of the world's child laborers (15 million

children) are involved in producing manufactured or mined goods for export to the U.S.

(Reference for Business, 2010). Poor countries often face staggering interest payments on

development loans from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (Reference for

Business, 2010). These loans often require the countries to follow specific programs usually

involving opening trade and financial markets to global competition, weakening labor laws or

enforcement, privatizing government jobs and cutting spending on health programs and

education (Reference for Business, 2010). This transformation of the world present new moral
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challenges and radically alters the context and content of traditional morality (Eade & O'Byrne,

2005).

Feelings - Attachments

According to Eade & O'Bryne personal feelings, feelings for others and feeling for the

nation succeed and strengthen each other in the process in which attachments to the nation are

constituted. These attachments are important to the people of the countries but not the

companies that are trying to use those countries resources. For example, the American Chamber

of Commerce in Hong Kong asserts among its universal principles that American business plays

an important role as a catalyst for positive social change by promoting human welfare and

guaranteed to uphold the dignity of the workers and set positive examples for the remuneration,

treatment, health and safety (Brecher, et al., 2006). When in reality foreign companies don't

have the "national feeling" those businesses established in the country have (Eade & O'Bryne,

2005). They do not feel the same human rights that are charged with the identification of one's

fellows, the feeling of belonging, mutual interconnectedness (Eade & O'Bryne, 2005).

Corporations need to demonstrate real involvement and results. Corporate citizenship, by itself

will prove ineffective in justifying the exercise of social power by corporations. The reason,

they say is that the voluntary nature of the concept that society may expect but may not demand

that corporations meet their legal obligations (Eade & O'Bryne, 2005).

Since the 1980's, incomes of the richest 20% of the population in nearly every nation

have grown, while the middle and lower classes have stagnated or declined (Clark-Bennett, et al.,

2010). There are 300 million more people in extreme poverty then there was 10 years ago

(Clark-Bennett, et al., 2010). Many labor unions and other organizations fear this global "race to
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the bottom" increases poverty while lowering labor standards (Clark-Bennett, et al., 2010).

China's downward pressure on the world's wages is enormous (Brecher, et al., 2006). Andrew

Ross of New York University, studied how the workers in China are coping with the rapid

changes of the last decade and notes that foreign corporations can use the wages and working

conditions in their Chinese operations to drive down labor conditions for workers at all levels

worldwide (Brecher, et al., 2006).

Corporate citizenship operates on a voluntary basis with no sanctions imposed for non

compliance whereas corporate social responsibility can and should be viewed as a form of

mandatory regulation (Eade & O'Bryne, 2005). There is no need to travel to Beijing to fight for

the rights of Chinese workers; the headquarters of the corporations opposing reforms for Chinese

works are in New York, Brussels, Los Angeles, London and other city and towns around the

world (Brecher, et al., 2006).

United Nations Global Compact

In a rapidly changing economic environment where more and more companies are

venturing outward into new areas of international business there needs to be some way in which

to govern the actions of these transnational corporations. One such attempt to govern these

actions has come from the United Nations in the form of their Global Compact and their Ten

(originally nine with the later addition of a tenth) Principles in regards to human rights, labor, the

environment and anti-corruption. While the Global Compact is a voluntary initiative it differs

from many other attempts at creating international guidelines in that “corporations subscribing to

the Compact are required, as a condition of their participation to submit on an annual basis

concrete examples of measures taken to comply with the Nine Principles” (Eade & O’Byrne,

2005, p. 126). With the ever-growing concern in regards to corporate social responsibility and
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citizenship more and more companies are beginning to see the merits of joining the Global

Compact. From its official release on July 26, 2000, up to now there are more than 8,000

participants with 5,300 businesses in 130 different countries.

For rapidly growing economies such as in China this type of international regulation is

extremely important to the well being of the Chinese laborer, specifically the under aged laborer.

With more and more companies joining the Global Compact and being forced to analyze and

report their labor practices, they are taking a more interested look into the types of suppliers and

manufacturers that they are using. Companies such as Apple are conducting audits of many of

their suppliers in attempts to discover and curb any unethical labor practices. After a 2009 audit

of 102 supplier facilities in China, Apple was quoted as having said that “by making social

responsibility a fundamental part of the way we do business, we insist that our suppliers take

Apple’s code as seriously as we do” (Robertson, 2010). In Nike’s submission to the Global

Compact in regards to their labor practices in China, they state that they “require that contractors

post the [Code of Conduct] in all major workspaces, translated into the language of employees,

and that employees be trained regarding their rights and obligations under the Code and local

law” (Innovate for a Better World, 2008, p. 10).

While the Chinese government has become more and more strict in regards to its child

labor regulations, the rapid growth of their economy is making it difficult for them to regulate

the many unscrupulous businesses within the country. Unfortunately this is a negative problem

that seems to exist in the life cycle of a growing economy. It was not too long ago that child

labor, among other un-ethical labor practices, was a major problem in the United States

(Harding, 2010). This is why international regulations like Global Compact are so important.
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They are able to attack problems such as child labor in China from the angle of the international

companies doing business there.

Why are Ethics Needed?

For too long society has turned a blind to child labor laws. Sure there are rules and

regulations against the use of child labor in China, yet it still exists on a large scale and it will

continue to exist until the large corporations that drive this type of behavior through their

demand for cheap labor take a stand. For a business in today’s technologically advanced climate

to say that they are unaware if the shops that they use in China permit child labor to occur is

difficult to believe. David Serchuk quotes Arvind Ganesan, the director of the business and

human rights program at Human Rights Watch, as saying that:

“it’s naïve to believe that just because Western economies are getting involved in China

that they will naturally export human decency. Things only change for the better…when

Western firms, either through a sincere commitment to improving working conditions or

through fear of public ridicule, make concerted efforts to help China change” (Serchuk,

2009).

Furthermore it will take the consumers standing up to these companies and demanding

that they develop more rigorous international programs to ensure that child labor is not being

used to make their products. It will take peoples abilities to see beyond the savings that they

experience on the products made with cheap labor and to see the practices and conditions behind

that cheap price. We must look at the ethical value of a company and their products and not
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simply their price. Eade and O’Byrne (2005) stated that “every aspect of life – personal and

public, individual and communal – can be viewed from an ethical perspective” (p. 75). Thus we

must act as ethical and informed consumers and understand implications behind our decisions.

Once we as a global society are able to do this more and more companies will begin to take note

and labor practices in China will begin to change.

Conclusion

Child labor is a problem that persists around the global in most emerging economies with

a high level of poverty. The pages above have outlined the current state of the child labor

problem in China as well as many ethical theories that would have a positive impact upon the

working conditions within the country if fully implemented and embraced. The paper also

discusses external business practices and political and social factors that have helped to create an

increase in child labor as well as those that can and will result in its decline. In today’s global

economy the child labor problem in China extends beyond its border to a much of the rest of the

world and therefore it is important that it is approached both on a local as well as international

level.
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