Eliminating child labour from the Sialkot football industry Nearly 75 per cent of footballs were…

Eliminating child labour from the Sialkot
football industry

Nearly 75 per cent of footballs were
produced in Pakistan, mostly in the Sialkot district, Pakistans export
capital close to the border with India. However, an International Labour
Organisation (ILO) study in 2002 showed that more than 7,000 children aged
between 7 and 14 were stitching footballs on a full-time basis, working between
10 and 11 hours/day and earning between PKR 20 and 22 per ball (1 = PKR 81).
Production ranged from three to five balls/day per person. An article in Life
magazine appeared in June 1996,

Eliminating child labour from the Sialkot
football industry

Nearly 75 per cent of footballs were
produced in Pakistan, mostly in the Sialkot district, Pakistans export
capital close to the border with India. However, an International Labour
Organisation (ILO) study in 2002 showed that more than 7,000 children aged
between 7 and 14 were stitching footballs on a full-time basis, working between
10 and 11 hours/day and earning between PKR 20 and 22 per ball (1 = PKR 81).
Production ranged from three to five balls/day per person. An article in Life
magazine appeared in June 1996, featuring Tariq, a 12-year-old, stitching balls
in Sialkot. This resulted in pressure on international brands such as Adidas,
Reebok and Nike to ensure that their products were not produced with child
labour. The ILO brokered the Atlanta Agreement (2001) to eliminate child labour
from the football industry through improved monitoring. However, monitoring was
difficult to implement. Local manufacturers outsourced work to middlemen, who
in turn dealt with home-based stitchers. These could be whole families,
including children. Payment was on a fixed price basis, so there was no cost
advantage whether the worker was adult or child. The anonymous nature of the
network meant that manufacturers had no idea what age of worker was involved.
An independent monitoring committee was set up, and manufacturers were invited
to register. Once registered, manufacturers had to declare details of their
entire network including the number of stitchers, daily production, location
of stitching centres and names of the middlemen. This was to be done gradually
over a period of 18 months. And, once declared, stitching centres were to be
subject to random visits. If child labour was discovered, the manufacturer was
instructed to fix the situation. Repeated violations resulted in the
manufacturer being withdrawn from the register and reported to international
buyers and retailers. Within a few years, practically all of the manufacturers
had registered. Saga Sports, the largest manufacturer, decided to go a step
further. It would stop the use of child labour completely by eliminating
outsourcing and concentrating production in custom-built stitching facilities
which Saga would manage. Whilst Pakistani law allowed children to start work at
the age of 14, Saga decreed that it would only employ workers aged 18 or over.
Age would be verified against national identity cards and birth certificates.
Once confirmed, employees benefited from a pay structure equivalent to
university teachers in Pakistan. Employee benefits, such as free health checks
and medical help, meals and transport, were introduced. Saga saw these benefits
as compensation to families who had lost income as a result of the elimination
of child labour. Whilst Sagas actions have helped to purge child labour from
the football stitching industry in an exemplary way, there are other sectors in
which children can earn money. Sialkot is also famous for leather goods and
surgical goods, where international pressures are more difficult to focus. Easy
availability of work, lack of meaningful education opportunities and a poverty
of thought prevalent in the community could mean that the problem may only be
transferred elsewhere. (Source: Adapted from Hussain-Khaliq, 2004).

Questions

1 What further changes are needed for
there to be a sustainable change in the incidence of child labour in developing
countries such as Pakistan?

2 Consider the 2013 collapse of a
Bangladeshi clothing factory and discuss links with the above case problem.