U.S. Department of Labor Officials travelled to the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India and the Philippines to study codes of conduct in the garments industry, and here is summarized its report. Children bear the brunt of economic globalization, working in horrific conditions for little pay. Child labor is a serious problem with over 250 million children working around the world. Rather than globalization, the article suggests that poverty is an immediate reason why families send their child to work, and putting children to work in lieu of education condemns them to a life of poverty. International trade unions are finalising a new report into child labor in all continents and in several industrial sectors.
Preliminary results are here detailed.
Unions fear that if urgent and concerted action is not taken, child labour will become a permanent part of the global economy, as multinational companies, usually using complex subcontracting arrangements, profit from child labor and other labor rights violations without fear of exposure or penalty. So far, promises by governments and multinationals have had no result.