Child footwear workers suffer from poor conditions

Child footwear workers suffer from poor conditions

The Jakarta Post, BandungBogorJakarta

With a blunt pair of scissors, Henri cuts out synthetic leather
from a pattern. The smell of glue in the room is overpowering,
particularly, one would assume, for a 12-year-old boy.

The task is no assignment for arts and crafts class. Henri is
employed for Rp 20,000 (US$2.10) a week by a home shoe industry
in Mangkubumi district, West Java. He receives his pay at the end
of each week.

"I do not want to go to school, all of my brothers are doing
this," said the boy, who recently graduated from elementary
school, without taking his eyes off the rubber template in his
hand.

The backyard of a house in Mangkubumi district, some five-
hours' drive from the capital, where 10 other people -- three of
whom are below 15 years of age -- are making footwear, has become
Henri's place of learning.

As if wanting to ease the burden of his unemployed father, the
youngest of five chose to follow in the footsteps of his brothers
making shoes from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day.

Two non-governmental organizations working separately in Bogor
and Tasikmalaya, West Java, recorded that more than 800 school-
aged children like Henri, are working both full- and part-time in
footwear home industries in three districts in the province.

According to a study by the International Labor Organization
(ILO), people in Ciomas district in Bogor, as well as in Taman
Sari and Mangkubumi in Tasikmalaya, started working in the
informal footwear sector in the 1930s.

Most of the child workers in Ciomas, entering the workforce at
elementary school age, have a family member working in the
sector.

"They are either in need of extra income or driven to the job
because they see their fathers or brothers doing it," said Anton
Waspo, an advocate for child laborers in the area.

Anton explained that the children received between Rp 20,000
to Rp 60,000 a week for working an average of nine hours a day --
or more on months nearing Idul Fitri -- gluing parts of shoes
together or cutting out in-soles.

Meanwhile, in Tasikmalaya, children enter the workshops after
graduating from elementary school.

"Their parents lack an awareness of the importance of
education, some even say that these children would end up working
anyway, so why not work now," said Wahid, a local activist in
Mangkubumi.

A workshop owner in Tasikmalaya, who requested anonymity, said
that he thought it better for the children to spend their time
working than playing.

Aside from the fact that these children are out of school,
according to the study, the main hazard is the long term exposure
to chemical substances -- benzene, toluene and xylene -- in the
glue.

Most of the workshops smell strongly of glue in spite of their
sizable ventilation systems. Someone not used to the smell would
feel lightheaded after staying in the room for less than fifteen
minutes.

"From a previous observation, we found a child who recognized
all smells as the smell of glue," said Abdul Hakim, ILO's program
coordinator for the elimination of child labor in the informal
footwear sector.

"I am used to the smell. I no longer feel dizzy," said Saeful,
16, who has worked in the workshop for two years.

What Saeful or Henri may not know is that the glue they have
inhaled during working hours in the 12-meter-square workshop
could eventually lead to breathing problems, or even cancer.

"I do not feel uncomfortable," said Henri. "I want to be the
boss one day."

Will he reach that position by neglecting his education and
risking his own health?

Seeing what Henri and his friends do for a living raises one
question: who makes our shoes?