Gap Kids

Gap faced several labor cases, more particularly on child labor from their different factories worldwide. In El Salvador, their partner Mandarin Oriental paid it's workers about 12 cents for assembling clothes that would've retailed for $20 in the US. Workers would have to work for long hours with very low wages. There were reported violence against union supporters, sexual harassment from the supervisors, lack of drinking water, and even not being allowed to use the rest rooms and being forced to sweep the factory grounds under the hot sun as punishment. In Honduras, 13 yo girls worked 13-hour shifts and paid only 31 cents an hour. Girls would have to undergo pregnancy tests, had to work without overtime pay. 

We could try to understand this case from different perspectives. On the outset, working can be harmful to the physical, mental and moral development of a child. Child labor is defined by the International Labor Organization as 'work that deprive children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity.'

From the perspective of the children who live off from work, they can argue that we do not understand the depth of poverty in these countries. Families rely on child labor so they can survive. Children do not have to attend school because education was not compulsory. Come to think if it, working did not deprive them from going to school because they did not have to in the first place. 

From a business point of view, outsourcing from third world countries compounded by hiring underage workers drops overhead costs. However, companies cannot withstand the negative publicity associated with this practices--that is, if the company gets caught. 

How do we solve this problem then? We should have a way to improve the standard of living. A universal public education should be a norm and an imposed child labor law that prohibits this problem must be in practice. In the mean time, companies should at least provide a best working environment to these children.