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Child Labour in Coca-Cola Industry
Child Labour in Coca-Cola Industry
WHAT’S WRONG?
Sugar supplier companies of Coca Cola are using children as “helpers” to cut, plant and tend
sugarcane with heavy farming machinery and dangerous tools such as machetes.
Unfortunately, these companies often label their child workers as “helpers” so that they
circumvent government laws that state “labour laws prohibit dangerous jobs for anyone under
18.” As families where this is an issue live in extreme poverty, they need all the money they
can get, so they use their children to work too. Children who work on sugarcane farms often
become hurt or disabled from frequent injury, are exhausted through daily back-breaking
work and are prevented attending school. Despite this, children are rarely paid or ensured
safety as they are seen by companies to be volunteers. This also means that sugar suppliers
claim no responsibility on their child workers. Coca Cola is supporting these companies by
buying most of its sugar from them and therefore increasing the likelihood that child labour
will continue in this cycle.
The major sugar suppliers of Coca Cola who use child labour are generally found in
developing countries. Two of Coca Cola’s largest suppliers are located in the Philippines and
in El Salvador. It’s estimated by the International Labour Organisation that up to 30,000
children under the age of 18 are working on Salvadorian sugarcane plantations, despite the
country’s laws that prohibit child labour. Over 37% of El Salvador’s population work in
sugar trade.
Coca Cola has already claimed that it is cutting bonds with its suppliers but any evidence of
that statement being proven true has not been uncovered.
Ways we can ensure that Coca Cola fulfils their promise include:
- Signing this petition to help raise awareness for this issue and hopefully help solve it
- Donate and volunteer for NGOs that address child labour
- Donate and volunteer for NGOs that address poverty
- Write and protest to Coca Cola addressing this issue
If we can shut down sugar companies who are responsible for using child labourers by
denying their primary customer access to them, we can save families’ economic situation and
subsequently, their living standards.