Retailers Call for End of Child Labor in Uzbekistan
Aug 20, 2008
A host of U.S. trade associations this week called on Uzbekistan to immediately end the use of child labor in the harvesting of cotton, threatening to boycott products from the Central Asian nation if action is not taken.
The trade groups – The National Retail Federation and The Retail Industry Leaders Association, among others – signed a protest letter and delivered it to the Uzbekistan Embassy in Washington.
"Clearly, the legal framework against the use of forced child labor exists in Uzbekistan," the associations said in a letter to President Islam Abduganievich Karimov, according to Business Wire. "Despite this fact, there are continued reports of the systemic and persistent use of forced child labor in the cotton fields of Uzbekistan."
Children as young as 10 years old are forced to harvest cotton in Uzbekistan under hazardous conditions and in violation of international labor laws, according to media reports.
"Forced use of child labor is absolutely unacceptable and will not be tolerated by the U.S. retail industry under any circumstances whatsoever," said Tracy Mullin, president and CEO of The National Retail Federation, Business Wire reported. "The retail industry is sending a clear message to the government of Uzbekistan: stop supporting this abuse of children immediately or we cannot support doing business with you."
An increasing number of U.S. and European retailers have made attempts to exclude cotton harvested by children in Uzbekistan and other countries. Despite a gradual improvement of retailer's records when it comes to child labor, fair pay and environmental sustainability, the industry still has considerable work to do before it cleans up its act – and image.
"Depressingly, things haven't improved much over the past decade," Sam Maher, of Labour Behind the Label, told The Guardian recently. "One of the biggest reasons why the industry hasn't advanced as we would like it to have done is the way fashion has changed over this period. We no longer have four seasons. We have a two- to three-week turnaround fashion in which retail prices have plummeted. The trend for 'fast fashion' has been disastrous for workers."
Uzbekistan accounts for about 10 percent of the world cotton trade.
A host of U.S. trade associations this week called on Uzbekistan to immediately end the use of child labor in the harvesting of cotton, threatening to boycott products from the Central Asian nation if action is not taken.
The trade groups – The National Retail Federation and The Retail Industry Leaders Association, among others – signed a protest letter and delivered it to the Uzbekistan Embassy in Washington.
"Clearly, the legal framework against the use of forced child labor exists in Uzbekistan," the associations said in a letter to President Islam Abduganievich Karimov, according to Business Wire. "Despite this fact, there are continued reports of the systemic and persistent use of forced child labor in the cotton fields of Uzbekistan."
Children as young as 10 years old are forced to harvest cotton in Uzbekistan under hazardous conditions and in violation of international labor laws, according to media reports.
"Forced use of child labor is absolutely unacceptable and will not be tolerated by the U.S. retail industry under any circumstances whatsoever," said Tracy Mullin, president and CEO of The National Retail Federation, Business Wire reported. "The retail industry is sending a clear message to the government of Uzbekistan: stop supporting this abuse of children immediately or we cannot support doing business with you."
An increasing number of U.S. and European retailers have made attempts to exclude cotton harvested by children in Uzbekistan and other countries. Despite a gradual improvement of retailer's records when it comes to child labor, fair pay and environmental sustainability, the industry still has considerable work to do before it cleans up its act – and image.
"Depressingly, things haven't improved much over the past decade," Sam Maher, of Labour Behind the Label, told The Guardian recently. "One of the biggest reasons why the industry hasn't advanced as we would like it to have done is the way fashion has changed over this period. We no longer have four seasons. We have a two- to three-week turnaround fashion in which retail prices have plummeted. The trend for 'fast fashion' has been disastrous for workers."
Uzbekistan accounts for about 10 percent of the world cotton trade.
