Kids, Soccer Balls and the Unintended Consequences of Good Decisions

Several years ago, I attended a forum in Washington, DC on supply chain responsibility.  At the time, I was managing corporate social and environmental responsibility communications for two different clients, both with vast, global supply chains.  Supplier responsibility was an area of constant focus and opportunity for these companies.
 
The forum was a quiet, routine affair as these things go, and polite.  I saw a few participants looking a bit sleepy at the end of one session in particular – where representatives from three Fortune 500 multi-nationals spent the better part of an hour outlining the steps their companies had taken to eliminate child labor from their supply chains (the inspections and audits, on the ground partnerships, tracking and reporting).
 
Everything changed when, during the Q&A period, a young woman in the audience stood up and posed a question to the panelists.  She worked for a small NGO with operations in India, and noted that many families there desperately rely on the income of all family members – parents, grandparents, and yes, children.  She spoke briefly but compellingly, painting a picture of poverty and need that most in the room couldn’t comprehend.  The panelists look puzzled, and there were murmurs of surprise and disbelief throughout the audience.
 
I remember being at first repelled by her comments, to being puzzled (can child labor ever be okay?), to being unsure about the whole thing.  In my college sociology classes, I learned to appreciate cultural relativism.  It’s important to value and respect other cultures and their norms, but in my heart, I know that some things (like kids working in factories) are just plain wrong.  This woman, however, had a firsthand perspective and a better informed point of view on the issue of child labor in India than I could claim, so how could I argue with her?
 
I was reminded of all of this recently when I read an excellent piece by Hasnain Kazim in Spiegel Online.  He writes about the football stitchers of Sialkot in Pakistan, who produce millions of hand-stitched soccer balls each year.  The city has become the world leader in the manufacture of high quality soccer balls, and several companies that export them around the world bring jobs and opportunity to thousands of Sialkot’s people.  Tens of thousands more benefit from this work indirectly through the stability, economic development and related employment that come with the material suppliers, subcontractors, shipping and packaging firms, and the shops, restaurants and other businesses that cater to the workers.
 
For years, before greater attention was paid to the issue of child labor and before global companies like Nike and Adidas began cracking down on it, children as young as 10 worked in the factories stitching balls together.  In his article, Kazim quotes a stitching center manager who notes that these kids fared reasonably well there, learning a trade that guaranteed them income for life.  Now, the parents of many of these children, desperate for the income that their work can bring, are sending them to toil in the local brickworks and in metalworking factories – places far more dangerous and far more damaging to little bodies than the stitching centers.
 
As the father of two children under 10, the true cost of child labor is becoming increasingly relatable and ever more disturbing to me.  When I see pictures of children in factories or fields or behind market stalls… it’s difficult to absorb and impossible not to be moved.
 
The decisions we make—even the obvious and unquestionably good and right ones—have ramifications, good and bad.  And the longer I work in the area of corporate responsibility, the more I see that the principles and policies that once seemed so black and white, are every shade of gray.
 
In a perfect and just world, 10 year olds should be playing with soccer balls… not making them.  But I am constantly reminded that we don’t live in a perfect world.

 

Chad Tragakis, Senior Vice President, Hill & Knowlton, Washington D.C, and writer for the Hill & Knowlton Blog, ResponsAbility.

Rapper Chris “Ludacris” Bridges Promotes Philanthropy At D.C. Luncheon

Hip-Hop star Chris Ludacris Bridges discusses his foundations achievements at the National Press Club in D.C. Distributed by Tubemogul.

Erin Brockovich Leads Nation’s Parents in Toxic “Crawl” to Action

Seventh Generation, the nation’s leading brand of non-toxic and environmentally-safe household and personal care products, announced today a new partnership with noted advocate Erin Brockovich and Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families. Together they’re launching the Million Baby Crawl, a grassroots effort to raise awareness about the nation’s badly outdated chemical laws and encourage parents and others everywhere to ask Congress to pass new stronger regulations that will protect the health of all Americans.

Synthetic chemicals are currently regulated by the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), a decades-old law that experts say has utterly failed to keep the nation’s environment and its citizens safe from materials that cause cancer and a host of other serious illnesses. Under the outdated TCSA, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not have the authority to demand the information it needs to evaluate a chemical’s risk, and neither manufacturers nor the agency are required to prove a chemical’s safety before it can be used. In fact, in the 33 years since the TCSA was enacted, the EPA has required testing on only 200 of the more than 80,000 chemical compounds now in use.

“It’s time for commonsense limits on toxic chemicals in our homes, workplaces, and in the products we use,” said Andy Igrejas of the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families coalition. “We must act together to see that new legislation is passed and families are protected from unsafe products. The Million Baby Crawl will take much more than baby steps toward making these things happen.”

Congress is writing a new proposal to reform TSCA, updating last year’s Kid-Safe Chemicals Act. Scheduled for a Fall 2009 introduction, the policy will address these and many other deficiencies by establishing tough new safety standards for each chemical on the market and requiring manufacturers to prove that their chemicals meet these standards before they can be used in the products people buy. The bill would give the EPA new authority to restrict any substances that fail to pass the test.

To rally support for the Kid-Safe Chemical Act and raise awareness of the urgent issues it addresses, Seventh Generation, Erin Brockovich, and Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families have launched the Million Baby Crawl, an online initiative designed to educate parents, empower them to work on the legislation’s behalf and literally help them create infant avatars. The result will be a virtual march, or crawl, to Washington, DC, where they’ll “rattle” legislators for toxic chemical reform.

“I am an advocate for awareness, the truth, and a person’s right to know. I believe that in the absence of the truth, all of us stand helpless to defend our families and our health, which are the greatest gifts we have,” said Erin Brockovich, famed environmental and consumer advocate and mother of three. Perhaps best known for the Oscar winning story of her first fight against energy giant Pacific Gas and Electric company, Ms. Brockovich continues to be focused on the research of environmental issues and remains dedicated to providing information and support services to communities in need. “In many instances, our issues may seem to fall on deaf ears, but I’m living proof that when we speak loudly enough, change will occur. I’m urging everyone to join me in the Million Baby Crawl to help make that difference and make sure all our voices, young and old are heard.”

To learn how you can get involved locally to support stronger standards on toxic chemicals and make a baby of your very own that will crawl to Washington, D.C. to help fight for a healthier nation to grow up in, please visit www.MillionBabyCrawl.com. Follow the Million Baby Crawl on Twitter @mbcrawl.

“We assume our homes are safe havens, but the fact is that the vast majority of the chemical compounds found in the products we use there have never been tested. And in most cases manufacturers don’t even have to tell us on product labels what those toxins are. This is a dangerous recipe for harm that virtually every family is exposed to every day,” said Seventh Generation co-founder and Chief Inspired Protagonist, Jeffrey Hollender. “We’re on a mission to come together and change that once and for all.”

via 3blmedia.com