https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives Choose a company in your life, i.e., someplace you shop at (Urban Outfitters, Madewell, H&M, Forever 21, Nike, etc) or purchase/eat food from (Hershey, Godiva, Del Monte Fruit, etc.) or furnish your home with (World Market, Pottery Barn, Target, IKEA, etc.). Research how this company/companies are connected to child labor. Have watchdog groups implicated them? What statements have they made (or have not made) to prove they do not rely on child labor? Why might you suspect child labor? What is not happening to prevent child labor from continuing. Post at least two findings and write a paragraph summarizing your findings. Comment on at least two classmates. en-us 2018-11-12 19:42:35 UTC 2018-11-21 17:07:49 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Balance.png mclb200 https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/303471619 Hershey is aiming to have 100% of its cocoa come from certified sources by 2020. Hershey has been accused of unfair practices and promoting unfair competition. Hershey has repeatedly stated that they want to remove all child labor from the sources of their cocoa. I definitely think that there is a lot of child labor because cocoa collecting is a job that children can easily be roped into.]]> 2018-11-12 20:35:24 UTC https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/303471619 https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/303480342 Forever 21 sells a variety of different clothes for usually very cheap, and there is a reason for why their clothes can be so inexpensive. It is because they have been accused of using child labor, especially in Uzbekistan where they are forcing children to pick cotton. Forever 21 has also been accused of removing people's work breaks, giving high school students less than minimum wage, etc. Forever 21 has refused to speak out against child labor, and they haven't partnered with any human rights organizations. This goes to show that they are definitely using child labor in terrible conditions.]]> 2018-11-12 21:00:42 UTC https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/303480342 https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/303490106 Zara is a world wide clothing. The stores prices are mildly expensive. Even though their clothing is not relatively cheap, they have been accused of using slaves and child labor in their sweatshops. At one point these child laborers and slaves were putting tags in the clothing that said, " I made this item you are going to buy, but I didn’t get paid for it." I found this quote on this cite, https://www.racked.com/2017/11/3/16603246/zara-labor-workers-turkey. 
This goes to show that Zara does use child labor as well as slaves to make their clothing. They have even been sued for poor working conditions, child labor, as well as slaves. This also adds to the fact that they are definitely using child labor. ]]> 2018-11-12 21:34:25 UTC https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/303490106 https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/303758315 Nike is a major shoe brand in America and like any othery had a some controversy with using swearshops to manufacture their shoes. There are many anti sweatshop advicates that are protesting Nike. Since Nike is a huge business many of their products are not made in the U.S. Nike has also been accused of having harsh working enviorments. ]]> 2018-11-13 14:49:29 UTC https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/303758315 https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/303759880 Madewell is a clothing brand that sells jeans, t-shirts, sweaters, jewelry, and leather goods at a higher price. Many people assume that brands that cost more are less likely to use child labor. A study by Forward scored businesses on how ethical brands are, and Madewell got a very low score. Without a doubt, Madewell uses child labor to create their products. ]]> 2018-11-13 14:50:56 UTC https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/303759880 https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/303838647 Nike has been known to have child labor. They have had large scandals in the past as well. But they have tried hard to change their own image. They showed where their factories were as well as tried to change working conditions in them. Nike has been approached by various orginizations but they seem to be doing well relating to child labor. 

]]> 2018-11-13 16:16:51 UTC https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/303838647 https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/304038756 World Market is a store that mainly sells furniture. They are known for getting products from around the world that you can't find in everyday stores. Their image shows that they do not endorse child labor because they are in compliance with the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act Disclosure. This act prohibits World Market from knowingly purchasing from other companies that use child laborers. On World Market's website there are 2 pages that state what policies they value and who they get their products from. It is evident that World Market is aware of the problems of Child Labor and are doing what they can to contribute to the end of child labor. ]]> 2018-11-13 21:13:46 UTC https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/304038756 https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/304050177 Urban outfitters has a policy stating that they do “not knowingly carry products that use cotton originating from Uzbekistan.” However, in 2014 they received the lowest possible score on a survey conducted by the Responsible Sourcing Network that measured what companies were doing to make sure they were not using cotton originated in Uzbekistan. Urban outfitters also has no evidence that they supply their workers with a living wage. ]]> 2018-11-13 21:48:45 UTC https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/304050177 https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/304068198 Although Apple may seem like they are fighting child labor because of their public partnering with NGOs to fight child labor in cobalt mines, they are actually quite hypocritical. In 2013 106 children were found to be employed in factories making Apple products. Even more recently Apple was using teen labor to make the iPhone X . 3,000 high school students were forced to build the phone because of high demand. ]]> 2018-11-13 22:53:32 UTC https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/304068198 https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/304095550 Blackheart is a clothing company that can be seem in most Hot Topic stores. They have stated that they do not use child labor but other companies who's clothes come from the same factories do so i am highly suspicious of their claim. I believe we should do a more thorough search of the companies policies and see if they line up with my own so I can decide if I wish to continue supporting them.]]> 2018-11-14 01:23:40 UTC https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/304095550 https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/304103209 Urban Outfitters is a well known clothing store not only in the US, but all over and can be found in other first world countries abroad. Though they make a lot of money, their clothing is usually on the expensive side because of the source of their materials. Though they are not directly linked with having child labor workers for their company, they get the materials from an Uzbekistan cotton company that runs on tiny hands that are barely being paid. Companies may feel this is allowed because they are not in direct violation, but they are funding terrible organizations that do. The World Market along with other organizations aware of what's happening and the negative impacts of child labor, and I'm glad people are doing what they can to reduce, prevent, and ultimately end child labor.]]> 2018-11-14 02:01:19 UTC https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/304103209 wisi200 https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/304332707 Many watchdog groups have accused Hershey of purchasing cocoa products from sites incorporating illegal child labor. The Hagens Bergman Sobol Shapiro LLP law firm filed a suit against the company in early 2018 for not disclosing this information to customers. Much of the cocoa they produce comes from small west African farms which are often reliant on child labor. Hershey claims they aren’t responsible for what those farms are doing because they don’t own the farm. I think the only way to fix this problem is to enforce child labor laws nationally and hold American companies more accountable. ]]> 2018-11-14 15:11:23 UTC https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/304332707 sheg200 https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/305710064 Nike has faced huge critisism for how it operates and makes its shoes. In nikes sweatshops their were children working in a dangerous and exahausting environment. Nike faced a huge scandle for having theirn shoes made in sweatshops in Taiwan, China, and South Korea in the 1970s. Throught the 1990s they were accused again of opperating sweatshops. There have been many forms of mprotests against this labor such as when at least 40 university students made demands that their university only support commpanies that don't use products from sweatshops. Unfortunatly, even though Nike knows they are supporting and importing products made by child laborers there is still child labor happening in the process of making the shoesand they aren't doing anything to stop it.]]> 2018-11-18 20:33:40 UTC https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/305710064 kulw200 https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/306138329 Many technology companies like Apple and Sony rely on Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn for the creation of their devices. Foxconn has been busted several times for child labor as well as poor working conditions, discrimination against Chinese workes by Taiwanese co-workers, and worker suicides. Some companies like Nintendo have taken the admirable step to launch their own investigation against the Chinese manufacturers labor practices and have madde it clear that Foxconn will need to change it practices immeadiately. This is important because big clients like Apple and Nintendo have a lot of manipulative powers on Foxconn and can be big agents for change. ]]> 2018-11-19 22:16:08 UTC https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/306138329 strm200 https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/306170873 Adidas used to have issues with child laboring and outsourcing their products to places with child laborers, but have been taking strides since 1998 to get rid of child labor within their corporation. When it was discovered by watchdog groups that soccer balls adidas was producing for the 1998 world cup were being made by child laborers in India, they faced heavy criticism. Many people working for Adidas have worked towards distancing themselves from and seizing from using child labor production with their outsourced products. An example is Adidas executive Aditi Wanchoo, who in on a mission to wipe out any slavery or child labor from the company's supply chain. Adidas has also created worker hotlines for their +300,000 workers in Asia, for them to share their concerns and complaints, and work on finding solutions. They have faced much less criticism than other companies, especially one of their main competidors; Nike. Although Adidas has not completely got rid of all child labor among their products, they are working on it and trying their best to avoid using child laborers or slavery. It is almost inevitable while outsourcing products to countries where child labor is common and poorer countries, but hopefully by providing workers opportunities to express their concerns and investigating their facilities, they can prevent any child labor in the future. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-slavery-adidas-technology/adidas-slavery-buster-hopes-technology-can-give-workers-a-voice-idUSKBN18K0Y8]]> 2018-11-20 01:33:36 UTC https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/306170873 https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/306445556 Nike is a big shoe brand. They have had issues in the past dealing with child labor. Nike doesn’t actually manufacture any of their shoes and they probably don’t know who does make all of the shoes. It was discovered that Nike did in fact partake in child labor and they were discovered by watchdogs. It is extremely problematic that this was discovered and it should not be the case. They must have done it for the reason of the cheaper cost. Under no circumstances should this be allowed and I think that change has been/is in effect.

- Oren ]]> 2018-11-20 17:13:43 UTC https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/306445556 https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/306450726 The group "Modeslavar" interviewed people working in clothing factories in Myanmar who told them that they allow anyone to work regardless of age. H and M said that they had taken action with the factories after being alerted to many children as young as 14 working long hours in them. The released a statement, which says "'When 14– to 18-year-olds are working it is therefore not a case of child labour, according to international labour laws. ILO instead stresses the importance of not excluding this age group from work in Myanmar. H&M does of course not tolerate child labour in any form.'" The prescence of child labor is actually confirmed by this statement as H and M believes children between the ages of fourteen and seventeen should be able to work. However, when young people are employed by groups that are largely unregulated, such as factories, the risk of exploitation is incredibly high and almost unavoidable.]]> 2018-11-20 17:24:57 UTC https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/306450726 https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/306470872 Ikea does not use child labor in their items and has an in depth strategy of dealing with child labor available on their website at https://www.ikea.com/ms/en_AU/about_ikea/our_responsibility/working_conditions/preventing_child_labour.html
One of the statements on this page reads "IKEA has a special code of conduct called The IKEA Way on Preventing Child Labour, which is part of The IKEA Way on Purchasing Home Furnishing Products. Monitoring of compliance with The IKEA Way on Preventing Child Labour is done by IKEA trading service offices and with unannounced visits by KPMG to suppliers and sub-contractors in South Asia."
Ikea had also collaborated with groups such as "Save the Children" and work to help children that are victims of occurances such as natural disasters as well. I suspect that the occassional child may work on Ikea products but they ahve a well-rounded strategy that leads me to believe that Ikea is effective in not utilizing child labor.]]> 2018-11-20 18:09:53 UTC https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/306470872 https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/306512527 Apple has always relied on teen labor for the creation of all of their devices]]> 2018-11-20 19:45:30 UTC https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/306512527 https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/306798080 I read that Adidas was underfire for having sweatshops in Indonesia. The factories were accused of child labor and sexual harassment. The workers were paid less than $60 a month while working 15 hours a day. Companies aren’t necessarily allowed to have child labourers, it is just that not a lot of people bat an eye to big companies that use them. ]]> 2018-11-21 17:04:48 UTC https://padlet.com/conc1/childlaborinourlives/wish/306798080