Protecting young factory workers - Foreign companies address social issues in their supplier factories

A group of multinational companies and their supplier factories in China are getting professional help from Chinese social workers from a non-profit organization in Shanghai, the Sunshine Community Center; to address workers aged 16-20 about their concerns, hopes and dreams. The workers are often migrants facing a range of difficulties including being away from family, discrimination and difficult life choices. Although legally allowed to work, the age group (16-18) is still defined as children in the UN's Convention on the Rights of the Child which has been ratified by the Chinese government. 

The project which is managed by CCR CSR aims at strengthening the communication between the factory leadership and the working youngsters, to create a better work- and social environment and to retain the young workers. In this way the international companies and their supply chain factories hope to prevent negative social effects in the workplace. Another aspect of the project is that the social workers are trained to act in the best interest of the child when a worker under the age of 16 is found in a job situation in a factory. 

Britta Ostrom, executive director of the Centre for Child Rights and Corporate Social Responsibility (CCR CSR), said: “Children under legal age who are working is a developmental problem which will disappear over time. Availability of compulsory quality education, strict legal monitoring and an insight and knowledge about the rights of the child in a society as a whole are important prerequisites to combat “child labour”. Meanwhile all efforts have to be made to make employers adhere to the legal demands and the rights of the child. All should demand support from the factory management when an under-aged is found in the production and proper remediation schemes should be in place to protect the child from being pushed out from the factory into an even more complicated situation.”

The project began in March 2011 and is taking place in ten factories in Shanghai and Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces. The sites supply the group of international firms. 

At least 20 social workers will learn new skills and get acquainted with the factory environment. Approximately thousand young workers will get training on life and communication skills, and 50 factory managers will learn new management techniques to improve the lives of their teenage employees. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) staffs at the foreign firms and/or auditors are working closely with the social workers to ensure the expectations of the international firms are met.  
The foreign companies taking part are all members of the China Working Group for Children's and Young Person’s Development (CWG CYPD), which is paying for the project. CWG CYPD was set up in late 2009 with us at CCR CSR to share ideas and experiences on how to protect young people’s rights and improve their working lives.

At the end of the 15-month project any issue relating to young workers will be in the hands of professionals and a network of experts will be available to offer support.