How many
children are working?
Child labour in football stitching is still
very much prevalent today, especially in Pakistan
and India while sporting clothes and shoes
are sourced from many different countries
including Indonesia, China and Vietnam. There
are indications that child labour and labour
right violations are prevalent in these countries
as well but exact figures are not known. Children
have also been found working in different
countries in the sporting clothes and sporting
shoes sector. According to a report from the
year 2000, there are believed to be around
10,000 children in Punjab, India alone who
stitch footballs. The statistics from the
ILO Sialkot Project suggest that there may
be more than 15,000 children stitching footballs
in Pakistan.
Compared to other sectors of child labour,
we are not too far way from the total elimination
of child labour in football stitching and
sporting goods industry. Through effective
campaigning and each of us demanding for children's
right to play and to attend school and for
their families to receive fair wage, we can
end child labour in the sporting goods industry!
Where does it take place?
Pakistan is the largest producer of the football
with India in the second place. The Mahashak,
'the traditional stitchers' community started
developing in the districts of Jalandhar,
Batala and Ludhiana in India. The Mahashak
of Jalandhar and Batala are deeply engaged
in football stitching.
However due to negative publicity of child
labour in sporting goods industry in India
and Pakistan, we now suspect that some of
the industry may have moved to China and elsewhere
in Asia and Latin America.
What is the common working environment
of football stitchers?
Most of the football stitchers are under-paid.
The pay depends of the contractor or their
skills, however, a study shows that about
half of the stitchers in India are living
below the poverty line. Four out of ten households
involved in football stitching are headed
by illiterate adults. About 90% of the households
belong to the 'untouchables' (scheduled castes
in India) or Dalits.
Many of them suffer from loss of eyesight,
chronic back and neck pains, cuts on their
fingers and even deformation of their fingers.
For younger children, these conditions can
last for their lifetime since proper treatment
is usually not given.
Stitchers are not organized in a union to
demand their collective rights to fair working
conditions and to fair wages.
There are two types of child stitchers. Some
of them go to school and stitch after school
hours and other children stitch footballs
full-time. Even though children work part-time,
they are often not able to concentrate on
their studies due to fatigue and time devoted
to working instead of playing and studying.
Children as young as 5 years old can be found
stitching footballs. Of all full-time working
children in India, 37% are between 5 and 12
years old.
How much do they get paid?
The average daily earning of an adult male
in football stitching is around Rs.20 (less
than half a dollar) which is about one third
of the present minimum wage of Rs.63 a day
in India. The children get paid even less.
Stitchers are normally not aware of the concept
of minimum wage. For the stitchers working
from their own homes, rent and electricity
is not even taken into consideration and must
be paid from their meager wages.
Efforts by the Sporting Goods Industry
Since the negative publicity of child labour
in sporting goods industry, the industry has
been putting their efforts to bring an end
to child labour. The Sports Goods Foundation
India was launched by the World Federation
of Sports Goods Industry and endorsed by FIFA.
These efforts have contributed to improving
the working conditions of adults and removing
some children from work. However, the efforts
must be accelerated and joined with civil
society organisations to increase its effectiveness
and transparency.
