DATE=05/07/02

TYPE=INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT

TITLE=DAWN WALKER/ILO-CHILD LABOR

NUMBER=3-176

BYLINE=TOM CROSBY

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

INTERNET=

/// Editors: This interview is available in Dalet under SOD/English News Now Interviews in the folder for today or yesterday ///

V-O-A INTERVIEW WITH DAWN WALKER-I-L-O/CHILD LABOR

BY V-O-A'S TOM CROSBY

INTRO: The newest report from the International Labor Organization says there has been progress in the decade since its launched its campaign against child labor. But it also says there is a long way to go, and it estimates one child in every eight still works in hazardous conditions.

Dawn Walker is the Executive Director of the Canadian Institute of Child Health. She tells V-O-A's Tom Crosby the I-L-O report in terms of Canada and the United States is somewhat accurate:

MS. WALKER: It is accurate to some degree, but we are still concerned about the occupational hazards that young people face in a variety of different types of sites, and also issues like benefits and salaries and that type of thing, in terms of employment policies and young people.

MR. CROSBY: When you talk about the sites where these people work, what do these young people do?

MS. WALKER: Well, it depends. You can look at simply some of these fast-food outlets that we have in both the United States and Canada, and looking at the hours of work. Often it is very young people who are there late at night, in terms of closures. And we have had a number of incidents where young people have been the victims of violence at night. People are working alone. Security offices often hire very young people. Courier systems often hire very young people. And often the environments in which they work are not subject to the same standards as they may be if they had full-time adult employees.

MR. CROSBY: When we talk about children working in hazardous conditions elsewhere in the world, often times we are talking about children who are vastly underage working in such things as child prostitution, that kind of thing. That's not really what you're seeing here, though, are you?

MS. WALKER: No, although we cannot minimize the fact that we do still have child prostitution in Canada and the United States and the Americas, however, it is illegal; but we still do have child prostitution in very young people living on the street. But no, that's not what the report is referring to, generally, in terms of youth or young workers in Canada and the United States. But in other countries, certainly issues around textile industries, farming, agriculture, street prostitution and also mining.

Where sometimes the issues around mining are concerned is that the companies are owned by North Americans, and even though there may be regulations that children no longer work in the mines, children are often the couriers. They are the ones that carry in either food or equipment, water, that type of thing. And there is a real concern about the type of environments that these young people are in.

MR. CROSBY: In Canada and here in the United States, of course, there are minimum age requirements before people can work, aren't there?

MS. WALKER: That's right, for the most part, in industries that are not family led. Yes, there are minimum age requirements. And it varies between 14 to 16, depending on both the type of industry and where it is in terms of the country.

MR. CROSBY: I do remember, many, many, many years ago, when I was young, that waivers were possible if your parents approved.

MS. WALKER: Yes, exactly. I think agriculture may be in one of those areas. And it is a double-edged sword; it can be really beneficial to both the young people and the sector. I remember growing up, picking berries -- my goodness, I hate to think at what age -- but it was never in an abusive situation. And so I think we have to be really careful about whether it's something both a young person wants to do and that the environment in which they're working is fair, just, and that sort of thing.

OUTRO: Dawn Walker, the Executive Director of the Canadian Institute of Child Health, talking with V-O-A's Tom Crosby. The International Labor Organization says worldwide there are nearly 250 million children between the ages of five and 17 working in hazardous industries.

NEB/TC/SAB