SUMMER TERM ACTION
That's Not Fair! May Day Action
Photo Castlewellan National Park Co. Antrim.
Global Citizenship School's May Day action for 2021 is:
#ThatsNotFair - COVID SAFE - Global March Against Child Labour
Our proposal is that children participate in our #ThatsNotFair lesson and action. This year the theme is "March Against Child Labour" and the action is, you guessed it, a mini 'Global March Against Child Labour' in the classrooms, hall or school yard. It would be great to use flags, banners and pupil made posters with music and speeches etc - whichever suits the teachers and school. The march would have to be COVID-19 SAFE and the idea would be to highlight the event on social media using the hashtag #ThatsNotFair , the school website or to send us one photo at info@GlobalCitizenshipSchool.ie for us to distribute through our network and media links.
Check our #ThatsNotFair - March Against Child Labour lesson "HERE" (and below)
Action to be taken during the week
Mon - Fri (26th - 30th April)
The Child Labour Experiment
The Fight Against Child Labour
Please read & share this page with your friends and take 1, 2 or even
with a request for information regarding their supply chain CHILD LABOUR practices.
Click HERE to view a 3 min video summary of Channel 4's Dispatches Documentary (2/3/2020) stating facts about Starbucks and Nestle's use of Child Labour, whereby young children are used for picking coffee beans, in Guatemala.
Starbucks Email address: EthicsAndCompliance@Starbucks.com
Nestle Email address in Ireland: dundalk@honrep.ch
(Nestle Ireland have no direct e.mail address. Therefore we advise you to contact Nestle via the Swiss Embassy consulate, with e.mail message addressed to: Nestle via Swiss Embassy Ireland )SAMPLE E.mail to Starbucks and Nestle:
To whom it concerns,
Please explain why child labour was used in the picking of coffee beans in Guatemala to supply your company. My information comes from the U.K. Channel 4 'Dispatches' documentary of 2nd March 2020.
Yours sincerely,
A.N. Other.
P.S. I am attaching "My CHILD LABOUR poster". (See action no. 3 below)
Click Here for a must-watch 4 min video with great visuals & insights. Read the lyrics and sing along to "Til Everyone Can See" and SHARE this website with 'Friends'. (Click "cc" for lyrics.)
and post photo to #EndChildLabour by Friday 29th May 2020
The poster should contrast the lives of children in 'Child Labour' with children enjoying a 'Decent Childhood'. For ideas see 'Til Everyone Can See' in Action No. 1 video above and/or click Here for 'Facts about Child Labour worldwide'.
A must watch, read or sing along song!
(Click on "CC" in YouTube to see the lyrics as you watch the video or click here to view/print out)Summary of UK 'Dispatches Documentary' of 2nd March 2020 wherein Starbucks and Nespresso (a Nestle company) are shown to have Child Labour in their supply chain as regards coffee bean picking.
More information about Child Labour: HERE
End Child Labour
The International Labour Organization (ILO) defines child labour as work that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; and interferes with their schooling.
The negative effects of child labour arising from the difficulty of tasks and harsh working conditions include a number of problems such as long term injuries, death, malnutrition, depression, drug dependency etc. Most child labourers come from disadvantaged backgrounds or minority groups and many are abducted from their families. Most of these children are defenceless and have little or no protection. In some situations child labour income is crucial to the purchase of food but there are alternatives to using child labour.
Current state of Child Labour in the world today: 2020 figures show more than 220 million children from age 5 to 17 years are child labourers. An estimated 150 million of them are victims of forced labour with an estimated 50% engaged in hazardous work. 75 million of these children are below 10 years old. 50% of child labourers are in sub-Saharan Africa with 40% in Asia. Over 2 million victims of child labour live in wealthy countries. Official figures show more boys in child labour than girls (87million to 63 million) but that may be because many girls are domestic service labourers in private households and go uncounted. Over half of the child labourers work in family enterprises or on farms with no contacts.
The Causes of Child Labour include:
· Poverty and high unemployment levels.
· Limited compulsory and free education in 'majority world'.
· Inadequate child labour national laws and enforcement.
· A lack of workers' rights and decent living wages.
· Unfair global economy pressures and unregulated capitalism.
*Also, the 'Fast Fashion' practice and habits of many in the 'minority world' add to child labour issues .
THE BIG QUESTIONS:
1.Who is responsible for child Labour?
Child labour is a fact of life for children in many countries and it is an issue that affects us all. Just look at our food and clothing chains for evidence of child labour abuse. It is therefore the responsibility of everyone to contribute to the elimination of child labour – all governments, trade unions, businesses, international NGO organisations, communities, employers, teachers, parents and indeed children have a role to play in ENDING CHILD LABOUR.
2. What is the solution and what can we do? We in Global Citizenship School support the view that Decent Work For All as a principle and Ending Child Labour as a specific target is worth campaigning on as a core action and part of our Justice, Equality and Sustainability raison d'étre. We ask parents, teachers and children to take appropriate May Day Action in support of ending child labour.
3. What is 'May Day'? In Celtic tradition, Lá Bealtaine (May Day) separated the dark days from the bright days. "May Day" took on a new meaning in the 19th century as an International Workers’ Day. It grew out of the movement for labour rights and an eight-hour work day. This year, "May Day & Decent Work" for primary schools is on FRIDAY 1st May. The Irish COVID-19 review is on Tuesday 5th May!
4. What is 'Decent Work'?
Decent work is based upon the principle of 'a fair day's work for a fair day's pay'. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO) 'Decent work' involves opportunities for work that are productive and deliver a fair income, security in the workplace and social protection for families, better prospects for personal development and social integration, freedom for people to express their concerns, organise and participate in the decisions that affect their lives and equality of opportunity and treatment for all women and men. If all workers were paid fair wages & had decent work conditions then poverty and child labour would be on the way out, both locally & globally.
Three actions for May Day, End Child Labour:
1. Teach or play the following 3 min. song & video– “Til Everyone Can See” (Nepali version) about child labour to all the pupils. https://youtu.be/qHNgfStLwNc and SHARE with 'Friends'.
2. Classes to create black and white posters which contrast the lives of children in child labour with children enjoying a decent childhood and organising a display for other classes/the whole school community.
3. Take photos of the children’s posters and send them to Nestle and Starbucks with a request that they explain why they use child labour in their supply chain and why your school should not boycott Nestle products? Starbucks and Nestle have been recently exposed for using child labour on the Dispatches documentary on Channel 4 (U.K.) aired on 2nd March 2020.
REPEAT: Please share your actions to #EndChildLabour on or before Friday 1st May
This article was submitted by Maurice Hurley of Global Citizenship School to INTO InTouch magazine.