Reposted with permission of the American Federation of Teachers
http://www.aft.org
Where We Stand
by Albert Shanker
Knotted Rugs
The murder of Iqbal Masih, a year ago this week, forced many Americans to
look at a problem they would have preferred to avoid: child labor in
developing countries. Iqbal was a world-famous human rights activist. He was
also a young Pakistani boy whose mother had sold him to a rug maker when he
was four. Iqbal eventually freed himself, and by the time he was murdered, at
the age of twelve, he had helped free 3,000 other bonded child laborers. That
is probably why he was murdered. But many millions of children in Pakistan,
India, and other developing nations continue to work as gemstone polishers,
glass blowers, and makers of matches, fireworks, clothing and hand-knotted
rugs, often in conditions that are unspeakable.
Children who knot rugs are crowded into filthy, poorly lit shops that have
minimal ventilation for as many as 16 hours a day, 7 days a week. They are
often chained to their looms, and they risk being beaten or even killed if^
they try to escape. Many die anyway because of the horrible conditions under
which they work. Manufacturers consider young children to be desirable
"employees" because they work hard and put up with pay and conditions that
adults would not tolerate. The children receive no more than a couple of
cents a day for their work; many get nothing.
A number of developing nations--India and Nepal, for example--have laws on
the books banning child labor. Nevertheless, you hear some people using
hard-nosed economic arguments to justify exploitation of children. They say
that if child labor is what it takes to bolster the economy in a developing
country, that's the price the country has to pay. And it's really nobody
else's business anyway.  But many of these countries also have very high
unemployment among adults. Why shouldnt companies hire adults so that parents
can support their children instead of having to sell them into bondage?
However,  we don't have to wait for the companies making hand-knotted rugs to
get religion (or for countries that are dragging their feet to start
enforcing their child labor laws). These rugs are an important export item,
and people who buy them can have a big say about the conditions under which
they are made. The traditional weapon used by people who want to protest
economic injustice is the boycott: Don't buy the product. But a boycott only
punishes, and it often punishes those who act responsibly as well as those
who don't.
An Indian child advocate named Kailash Satyarthi had a better idea. He
established a nonprofit foundation that allows consumers to identify and buy
hand-knotted rugs that are not made with child labor. Rugmark, as the
foundation is called, inspects companies that apply for certification and
vouches for the fact that they are not using child labor to make their
hand-knotted rugs. Inspectors also pay surprise visits to Rugmark-certified
companies to make sure they continue to abide by their commitment to use
adult labor only. Consumers can recognize Rugmark rugs by a label that only
they will carry (see below).
Rugmark, which is now two years old, has signed up and certified 15 percent
of the companies producing hand-knotted rugs in India. A number of others are
moving toward certification, but the process is complicated and many carpet
makers are understandably hostile to the idea of losing a cheap, excellent,
and plentiful supply of labor. So far, the total production of Rugmark rugs
has gone to Germany, where the country's largest mail order firm and several
large department stores have agreed to carry them. But Rugmark has recently
opened up shop in Nepal, with the support of 70 percent of the carpet
manufacturers there. These rugs will soon be available for import to the U.S.
It's up to American consumers to start talking to stores and catalog
companies that carry hand-knotted rugs. They should let the businesses know
that they do not want rugs made by children, and they should urge them to put
pressure on the importers they deal with.
This coming week, the first Rugmark-certified rugs imported to the U.S. will
be auctioned off at a ceremony commemorating the anniversary of Iqbal Masih's
death last year. If American consumers do their part, these rugs should be
the first of many.
For more information about the Rugmark campaign and the availability of
Rugmark-certified rugs, contact the Child Labor Coalition c/o the National
Consumers League, 1701 K St., N.W., Washington, DC 20006; tel. 202-835-3323.
Chuck Beams
Fidonet - 1:2608/70
cbeams@future.dreamscape.com
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* UniQWK #5290* And on the 8th day God said, "OK Murphy, you take over"
--- Maximus 2.01wb
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