Trade unions campaign against child labor

Trade unions campaign against child labor

JAKARTA: Trade unions vowed on Monday to fight the child slave
and sex industry in Indonesia and called for legislation banning
work for children aged under 18.

"We are all for it (against child labor). But, we need clear
and strict laws to fight the worst forms of child labor in our
workplaces," M. Amri, chairman of the Indonesian National Trade
Union, said.

Amri was among representatives from about 30 trade unions
across the country that gathered at a discussion co-organized by
the NGOs Network for the Elimination of Indonesian Child Labor
(JARAK) and the American Center for International Labor
Solidarity (ACILS).

The trade unions, however, said that they needed technical,
financial and legal assistance to play their roles in the
program.

"I often found officials, who were involved in the making of
residence's identity cards, forged the children's identity. For
example, a 13-year-old maiden is identified as a widow on her
identity card or an 11-year-old boy is written as a 19-year-old
man just because of his big posture," Anwar, chairman of the
Indonesian Migrant Trade Union said.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) has estimated that
up to eight million Indonesian children are caught in the worst
forms of labor -- slavery, child trafficking, forced labor,
prostitution, pornography and other kinds of illicit labor.

Employers often forced children to work in hazardous places
where they are exposed to health risks, physical injury and
emotional trauma. --JP