Coalition protests child labor in Pakistan

NEW YORK (CNN)-- They often work 10 hours per day for as little as 60 cents to produce soccer balls for sale around the world at a price of up to $50.

Labor experts say that about 3,000 children from a region in eastern Pakistan produce 35 million soccer balls per year, with 5 million balls exported to the United States. Activists estimate that up to one-quarter of the workers involved are children between the ages of 5 and 14.

A coalition of groups recently kicked off a campaign in Washington called "FoulBall" to discourage the import, sale and use of hand-stitched soccer balls made by children in Pakistan.

"No more will we and our children play with the labor of your children," said Dan McCurry of the International Labor Rights Fund said. "And that is the promise which we will keep."

Thirty-eight members of Congress, led by Rep. Joseph Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, joined the protest Thursday. They wrote to the International Olympic Committee saying that soccer balls to be used at Olympic Games in Atlanta were produced by bonded workers as young as 6.

"They work up to 80 hours a week, earning as little as 6 cents an hour," the letter said.

The letter called on the Olympics not to use balls "tainted by the hands of child laborers."

A prime target of the protest is the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA). Criticized for putting its seal on soccer balls that may have been stitched by children, FIFA is now working with the International Labor Organization to draft a new code for manufacturers.

"We are concerned that the good name of FIFA, the good name of soccer is upheld," said Keith Cooper, communications director for the group. "But far more important than that is to eradicate the problem for the children who are being terribly exploited. It has to stop."

The American Youth Soccer Organization has advised its members to request balls that were not made by children.

Officials at Nike and Reebok say the companies are taking steps to make sure their contractors don't use child labor.

And the Soccer Industry Council is planning to help pay for awareness and inspection programs in Pakistan.

Top labor officials say it is also vital to prevent children from seeking other means of survival such as prostitution or begging.

"We are working with Bangladesh, Pakistan and other poor nations to build schools, to make sure these young children have an opportunity to get out of the factories," said U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich.

CNN Correspondent Brian Jenkins and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related sites:

• International Labor Affairs Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor
• 3rd World Child Labor

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