Union Fights Against Child Labor

According to Karabulut, as a result of the migration to the cities and the economic situation of the companies, the major problem of the coming years will be the increasing number of children working on the streets. "Children working on the streets can easily be exploited in any way," said Karabulut.

Karabulut told bianet about their practices towards preventing child labor and their suggestions for a solution to this problem.

Can you please tell us about the practices and actions of your office?

We pursue all our projects towards the working children in the scope of the International Labor Organization (ILO), and the "International Program on Elimination of Child Labor" (IPEC).

The public institutions, non-governmental organizations and unions coordinate projects in the scope of the program.

The unions, which work towards this project in Turkey, aim to inform both the employers and the public about child labor and bring the subject on the Country's agenda.

The Office for Working Children, which was established in 1996, worked in its first years towards improving the working hours and working conditions at workplaces that employ child labor.

By ensuring that the working children also attend the symposiums organized for young laborers, we aim to inform the children about their rights in syndicate togetherness.

Working Children March on Children's Day

Our union representatives in each region singled out the children who were to attend the "Globular March Against Child Labor," organized with the contributions of the unions in 1998 and 2000. With local initiatives, we tried to keep this subject on the agenda throughout Turkey.

This march took place on the same week as the Children's Day on the 23rd of April, with the aim of demonstrating the other side of the medallion and drawing public attention on child labor.

We are working towards providing the children; especially the ones working in workplaces, with apprenticeship training and so help them gain social rights. As part of our project about the children who work on the streets, we have enrolled to school about two thousand children from the provinces of Adana, Diyarbakir, Gaziantep, Canakkale, Bursa and Istanbul.

The problem of child labor arises from the unfairness in income distribution. Parents make their children work so that they can sustain their lives. For this reason, we, at least tried to help improve the conditions of the workplaces where children work.

One of the most important problems of the coming years will be the increasing number of children working on the streets. For this reason, our office is working together with public institutions and NGOs, on projects to prevent children from working on the streets.

To be able to demonstrate how serious this problem is, the State Statistics Institute (DIE), will have to do a research as soon as possible, about the number on the children working on the streets, their families' income level, and what conditions they work in.

We know that there are many workplaces that employ children under 15 years-old, in spite of all the laws and contractual agreements. What can be done to prevent this?

The projects Turk-is is working on encompasses those children too. In a situation where we cannot even determine the number of illegal workers, we are also unable to prevent workplaces from employing child labor.

Problems such as the economic situation in Turkey, unemployment and unfair distribution of income fuelled by privatization, give rise to child labor. If the kids are not working in workshops, they somehow start working on the streets.

Other than efforts to improve the working conditions of the children, we are meeting with the state officials and discussing social aid for the families, so that they do no make their children work.

As part of our programs for the parents, we organize informative meetings to convince them to send their children to school to receive at least the basic 8-year education.

Punishing the Employer is not the Solution

Illegal child labor results from the widespread unregistered workplaces in the country. It is very difficult for the labor inspectors from the Ministry of Labor to detect unregistered workplaces. The Ministry does not have such an effort anyway.

The majority of the child laborers work at homes. The increase in the number of working children arises from the increase in the number of the people migrating to the cities. This migration is a result of the decreasing support state gives to agriculture. The people who migrate to the cities make their children work so that they can afford a living.

In the last years, the Ministry of Labor and Social Security brought up the proposal of punishing the employers who employ child laborers. The Ministry suggested that employers pay two to five billion Turkish liras for each child they employ in their workplaces. But it is unclear who will be punished since these children are mostly employed in unregistered

workplaces.

What are your solution proposals as a union?

The fact that working children give rise to unfair competition in the labor market, is an important factor in the continuation of child labor. Developed countries keep quiet about child labor because it means cheap labor. These countries could boycott products produced by child labor. That could be very effectual in preventing child labor.

The biggest problem we encounter these days is the fact that children have began working on the streets because the small and medium sized businesses (KOBI) and employers are in financial trouble following the economic crisis. Article 183 of the ILO agreement prohibits children under 18 years old, to work at places defined as having the worst conditions. We want Turkey to make "the streets" included in this definition.

The kids are open to every kind of exploitations in the streets. They are also prone to committing crimes. The biggest problem we will encounter in the coming years is the increasing number of children working on the streets. To prevent the children from working on the streets or wherever, the only choice we have at hand is to dry up this swamp.

That is, to better the economic situation which is currently giving rise to child labor. Only the decisions made by the government, and the economic policies and implementations towards a more equitable income distribution could en child labor. As unions working towards preventing child labor, we believe that wider actions should be taken. (OG/NK)