Child
Labor Activists to World Cup Fans:
Who’s
Making Those Soccer Balls?
Who:
The
Child Labor Coalition (CLC)—a child labor advocacy group
with more than 65 non-governmental member organizations, based
in
What:
Campaign to ask soccer fans to tell FIFA to take a
stand against child labor
CLC
members will urge soccer fans to help make soccer child
labor-free at the
Why:
There is no system in place to ensure that all FIFA
licensed products are made without child labor.
In
1998, FIFA, the international governing body for the World Cup
games, agreed to eliminate the use of child labor in the
products that bear the FIFA logo. While FIFA has made some
progress, the organization has no system in place to ensure
that all FIFA licensed products are made without child
labor. The Child Labor Coalition is urging FIFA to take a
stand and ensure that all products that bear its logo are
child labor-free.
For
many children, soccer means fun and friendship. But for some
children, it means hard work—making soccer balls, sports
apparel, and other sporting goods. These children work long
hours under terrible working conditions, unable to attend
school or receive medical care.
When: Sunday, May 12, 2002
Where:
Stadium-Armory Metro Station (the station for RFK
Stadium)
Established
in 1989, the Child Labor Coalition is comprised of more than
70 advocacy organizations representing educators, health
professionals, child rights groups, human rights and labor
rights groups, women’s and religious organizations, labor
unions, and consumer groups. Its mission is to end
exploitative child labor worldwide and to promote the health,
safety, education, and well being of working minors both in
the
CLC
Members: A Minor Consideration; Alliance for Retired
Americans; American Academy of Pediatrics; American Ethical
Union; AFL-CIO; American Federation of School Administrators;
American Federation of Teachers; American Public Health
Association; American Youth Work Center; Americans for
Democratic Action; Arizona Consumers Council; Association of
Farmworker Opportunity Programs; Calvert Group; Child Welfare
League of America; Children's Defense Fund; Church of the
Brethren; Church Women United; Coalition of Labor Union Women;
Committee for Children; Consumer Federation of America;
Consumers First; Defense for Children International – USA;
Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO; Essential
Information; Food and Allied Service Trades Department,
AFL-CIO; Forgotten Children; General Federation of Women's
Clubs; International Brotherhood of Teamsters; International
Initiative to End Child Labor; International Labor Rights
Fund; Jewish Council for Public Affairs; Jewish Labor
Committee; Jewish Women International; Kids Campaign Against
Child Labor; Labor Council for Latin American Advancement;
Labor Heritage Foundation; Laborer's International Union of
North America; MANA, A National Latina Organization; Maryknoll
Office for Global Concerns; Mount Sinai School of Medicine;
National Association of Social Workers; National Child Labor
Committee; National Coalition for Haitian Rights; National
Consumers League; National Council of Catholic Women; National
Council of Women; National Education Association; National
Parent-Teacher Association; New Ways Workers National; Public
Citizen’s Global Trade Watch; Religious Committee for
Workplace Fairness; RUGMARK Foundation USA; Service Employees
International Union; Social Democrats, USA; Solidarity
Committee of the Capital District/Jobs with Justice; The
Consumer Alliance; The Crafts Center; The Women's Research and
Education Institute; Transportation Communications
International Union; Union Label & Service Trades
Department, AFL-CIO; UNITE!; UFCW; United Methodist Board of
Church and Society; United Methodist Church, Women's Division;
University of Illinois, School of Social Work; Walden Asset
Management; Youth Advocate Program International
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