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