Preventing+child+labor+in+sweat+shops


 * FINAL COPY OF CHAIR REPORT March 2010: [[file:Prevention of Child Labor in Sweatshops.docx]]

Current Events News Articles from Mr. Giordano:

As I mentioned in the other chair report, this will just give you a basic overview of what you're expected to know. Do feel free to do some additional researching, which is probably necessary anyway.** So, after you read the report, really try to find specific bits of information that will support your stance on the issue.

__**Definition of Key Terms (Britannica definitions) :**__ Age 5–11 years: At least 1 hour of economic work or 28 hours of domestic work per week. Age 12–14 years: At least 14 hours of economic work or 28 hours of domestic work per week. Age 15–17 years: At least 43 hours of economic or domestic work per week. || __**Background to the Topic:**__ Sweatshops first started in the 1830s-1850s, where laborers manufactured garments in a factory-style setting, often with sub-par working conditions, wages that do not provide for good living standards, long hours, and no insurances of the laborer's health/ well-being. These sweatshops were generally far apart from each other to stop laborers from creating trade unions and disrupt manufacturing procedures. However, the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) protested in June of 1900, fighting against low pay, fifteen-hour workdays, lack of benefits, and unsafe working conditions. Although initially unsuccessful, the ILGWU sparked a series of labor acts, including the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), ratified in 1938. The Declaration on the Rights of the Child is adopted by the United Nations in 1959, and entitles each child the right to an education, to healthcare, and protection. The 1960s-1980s saw a big surge in industry, which lead to rapid urbanization and globalization, pushing companies harder in order to meet the larger demands, and cheap labor - child labor - was unfortunately one of the easiest solutions. The garment industry is especially notorious for its use of child laborers. In the modern world, child laborers are 'utilized' in a variety of ways, most commonly factory work (i.e. in sweatshops), mining, agriculture, and working on the streets (i.e. odd jobs, tour guides, etc.) Poverty is a very big part of the child labor issue, and many economists believe that as long as there is poverty, especially within family units, child labor will exist. __**Major Countries and Organizations Involved:**__ Many NGOs (listed below) are also fighting against child labors. || __**Important, Relevant Documents:**__ Universal Declaration of Human Rights United Nations Charter/ Millennium Development Goals ILO Global Report on Child Labor __**Bibliography/Plagiarism Checklist:**__ "**sweatshop**." __Encyclopædia Britannica__. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 14 Feb. 2010 <[]>. "**child labour**." __Encyclopædia Britannica__. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 14 Feb. 2010 <[]>. "**minimum wage**." __Encyclopædia Britannica__. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 14 Feb. 2010 <[]>. "**trade union**." __Encyclopædia Britannica__. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 14 Feb. 2010 <[]>. "**collective bargaining**." __Encyclopædia Britannica__. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 14 Feb. 2010 <[]>. "**now and then timeline.**" Duke Social Studies. 2010. Sweatshop Journal Online. 15 Feb. 2010 <[]>. Country research: [] [|www.unicef.org] (U.N. Children's fund) [|www.ilo.org] (International Labor Organization) [|www.unido.org] (U.N. Industrial Development Organization) [|www.amnesty.org] (Amnesty International) [|www.hrw.org] (Human Rights Watch) [] (List of Anti-Sweatshop NGOs) [|www.humanrightsfirst.org] (Human Rights First) [|www.unicef.org/statis/index.htm] (UNICEF statistics) Haiti - are 'restaveks' child laborers? Did China break up their 'child labor ring'? Underage workers in Iowa? [|www.reuters.com/news] [|www.news.bbc.co.uk] [|www.cnn.com] Number of child laborers between the age of 5-24: 158 million, with many more of whom we do not even know the existence of 1/6 children in the world is a child laborer 1/3 children in Sub-Saharan Africa is a child laborer: 69 million South Asian child laborers: 44 million All data courtesy of UNICEF ([|www.unicef.org])
 * TAIMUN VIII: Chairs’ Background Papers Format (Chair Message)**
 * Committee: Human Rights and Youth Committee**
 * Chair: Christine Huang**
 * Issue: Prevention of child labor in sweatshops**
 * Sweatshop || workplace in which workers are employed at low wages and under unhealthy or oppressive conditions ||
 * Child labor || employment of children of less than a legally specified age
 * Collective bargaining || the ongoing process of negotiation between representatives of workers and employers to establish the conditions of employment. The collectively determined agreement may cover not only wages but hiring practices, layoffs, promotions, job functions, working conditions and hours, worker discipline and termination, and benefit programs. ||
 * Minimum wage || wage rate established by collective bargaining or by government regulation that specifies the lowest rate at which labor may be employed. The rate may be defined in terms of the amount, period (i.e., hourly, weekly, monthly, etc.), and scope of coverage. For example, employers may be allowed to count tips received by employees as credits toward the mandated minimum-wage level. ||
 * Trade union || association of laborers in a particular trade, industry, or company, created for the purpose of securing improvements in pay, benefits, working conditions, or social and political status through collective bargaining. ||
 * Have sweatshops (some may not be openly pro-sweatshop) || China, Vietnam, Gambia, Morocco, Uzbekistan, Mexico, Bangladesh, Thailand, Cambodia, India, various African nations. Developing nations are most likely to be pro-sweatshop, as well as big companies/ 'economists' ||
 * Anti-sweatshops || G-8 (group of 8: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Russia), developed, Western nations are more likely to be anti-sweatshop.
 * __Useful Links:__**
 * Specialized agencies:**
 * NGOs:**
 * Issue research:**
 * Current events:**
 * Statistics:**
 * 1) In Sub-Saharan Africa around one in three children are engaged in child labour, representing 69 million children.
 * 2) In South Asia, another 44 million are engaged in child labour.
 * 3) The latest national estimates for this indicator are reported in Table 9 (Child Protection) of UNICEF's annual publication The State of the World's Children.
 * Source:** UNICEF global databases, 2009.