Slaves

A whistleblower reported misleading statements against child labour made by Nestlé. Further investigation said the majority of the field workers for Nestlé cocoa were child workers. 60% of their farms are in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. These countries had 1.48 million children working dangerous jobs in farming during 2018-2019. The Democratic Republic of Congo provides 70% of the cobalt in the world. 1.5-2 million people in unregulated mining in Congo, leading to common fatalities. Cobalt is highly magnetic and allows for the creation of superalloys. This is a critical component to create digital technologies, such as electric cars. Bangladesh and Central America have thousands of factories employing children, with sub-par working conditions to create textiles. There were mass protests in Bangladesh due to low minimum wages in 2023. A culture of fear and overworking staff is commonplace. Bosses even go so far as to threaten the families of their workers. Nepalese workers in Saudi Arabian Amazon warehouses were lied to and forced to pay a fee to obtain employment by recruiting agencies. Their accommodations were infested with bed bugs and food was difficult to acquire. This was compared by Amnesty International as human trafficking. Prisoners working in Alabama has its root in slavery, starting around the same time of the Civil War. Workers were paid nothing for government jobs and $7.25 to work an average 30 hours in over 500 companies. However, 40% of wages, $5 for rides, and $15 for laundry is taken a month by the state. Turning down work can be punished with delayed parole, moving prisons, and denying family visits. Cargill was revealed to have contracted Packers Sanitation Services Inc., a cleaning company for their protein factories. 27 children, as young as 13, were found to be working in Cargill plants in Kansas and Texas. PSSI has been found to employ over 100 minors working with hazardous materials in 13 factories. At least 3 have suffered injuries. Most child labour cases have found that the kids were migrants from Central American countries, namely Guatemala. At least 260,000 migrant children with no parents entered the US in 2021-2023.