Honest answer: I don't know.
My guess: forcing children is old fashioned. The way to go is to outsource production and aggressively negotiate low purchase prices. You don't give a rat's bottom about working conditions in your contractor's factories, as long as you get the lowest possible price.
Just look the other way, and heavily publicize yourself as a socially and environmentally responsible company. If news break out that children work at factories that make your products, deny having knowledge of any of that, sue your contractor for breach of contract, feign outrage and deep concern for those poor kids, and find another contractor that will do exactly the same.
Even better, after the public focus shifts to the next scandal, drop your charges and keep working with the same contractor, because finding a new one is a pain. Never forget to stamp #noplastic, #carbonneutral and #letkidsbekids on all your products.
Let rest for a while, put in the oven, cook with low temp and enjoy a delicious performance in the stock market for lunch.
My guess: forcing children is old fashioned. The way to go is to outsource production and aggressively negotiate low purchase prices. You don't give a rat's bottom about working conditions in your contractor's factories, as long as you get the lowest possible price.
Just look the other way, and heavily publicize yourself as a socially and environmentally responsible company. If news break out that children work at factories that make your products, deny having knowledge of any of that, sue your contractor for breach of contract, feign outrage and deep concern for those poor kids, and find another contractor that will do exactly the same.
Even better, after the public focus shifts to the next scandal, drop your charges and keep working with the same contractor, because finding a new one is a pain. Never forget to stamp #noplastic, #carbonneutral and #letkidsbekids on all your products.
Let rest for a while, put in the oven, cook with low temp and enjoy a delicious performance in the stock market for lunch.
yes. it is shown to be so in the past, exactly as m011235 describes, in China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, mostly SE Asia
there are not any photgraphs however, of an actual Nike executive watching the child at work while verifying the age
Factory Girls, a book about shoe production in China, is a good first hand account -- largest migration in modern times: teenage girls from villages going to cities to get hired on the streets, live in dorms, make shoes, work 60-80 hours a week and be delighted with the handful of yuan they get
there are not any photgraphs however, of an actual Nike executive watching the child at work while verifying the age
Factory Girls, a book about shoe production in China, is a good first hand account -- largest migration in modern times: teenage girls from villages going to cities to get hired on the streets, live in dorms, make shoes, work 60-80 hours a week and be delighted with the handful of yuan they get
you don't need to "force" the children to work. sometimes the family may force them, but mostly they are willing and eager to have the job and the money (as in the US today with undocumented immigrant children). poverty does the 'forcing.' the employer only has to accept them at work, not noticing how young they look
There is excellent research and journalism available on the topic. You say "Let's discuss", but I think a good discussion requires at least some facts as a jumping off point. I think it's endemic, so not just Nike, but all the big brands to some extent. If you buy something, you could check which one is making the most believable attempt at human dignity.
Also, and replying to sparowe, these ain't weekend jobs for pocket money. These kids often work long weeks, which means their family and the industry band together to betray their future. The sad thing is how little money is involved. It's often about cents on the dollar.
Another thing that we will see is that AI and automation will compete with child labor more and more, meaning you have a rich corp who have fully automatized machines, and a poor sweat shop where they don't. The poor sweat shop will now try and cut costs even more, so they hire the cheapest hands they can find. Maybe when AI develops even more, they can fire both the children and their parents, which will probably not improve much for them.
Also, and replying to sparowe, these ain't weekend jobs for pocket money. These kids often work long weeks, which means their family and the industry band together to betray their future. The sad thing is how little money is involved. It's often about cents on the dollar.
Another thing that we will see is that AI and automation will compete with child labor more and more, meaning you have a rich corp who have fully automatized machines, and a poor sweat shop where they don't. The poor sweat shop will now try and cut costs even more, so they hire the cheapest hands they can find. Maybe when AI develops even more, they can fire both the children and their parents, which will probably not improve much for them.
just like those days of the cotton mills in manchester, or lawrence
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