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This project is funded by the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Labor
in collaboration with the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center. Federal legislation to establish these
educational programs was sponsored by Vermont Congressman Bernie Sanders.

Purpose of the Project

The Child Labor Education and Action Project (CLEA) prepares youth and adult advocates to eradicate exploitative and abusive child labor policies and practices. This Vermont-based project develops models for education and youth action that can be replicated in the US and internationally. The goal is to promote effective citizen leadership and advocacy, beginning with high school students, that strengthen the capacity of child labor reform initiatives. Funding for CLEA comes from the US Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Education, obtained with the support of Congressman Bernard Sanders. Initial funding was received from the US Department of Labor in collaboration with the Solidarity Center of the AFL-CIO. CLEA is a partnership between the School for International Training (SIT) and Brattleboro Union High School (BUHS).

CLEA is a partnership between School for International Training (SIT) and Brattleboro Union High School (BUHS). Representative Bernie Sanders was instrumental in securing the grant and has been active in activities with the students at the High School as well as at the Department of Labor Conference in Washington D.C. and at other functions.

School for International Training - Brattleboro VT

Brattleboro Union High School - Brattleboro VT

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CLEA's accomplishments for the first year include:
Download Final Report: CLEA First Year Activities for details.

1) International Conference on Child Labor Issues

-- SIT held a two-day international conference on addressing child labor issues: CLEA Conference;

2) Child Labor International Policy Advocacy Course for NGO and Labor Leaders

-- SIT expanded its policy advocacy training course, held primarily in Washington DC and New York City, for child labor activists working in nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and labor unions: description, photos, participants, course webpage;

3) Child Labor Resource Center, Child Labor Education Web Site

-- A) CLEA developed child labor resource centers at SIT and BUHS and B) a supporting child labor education web site was constructed using SIT’s technological resources and expertise;

4) Youth Advocacy and Activism Training

-- The annual Vermont Governor’s Institute on Current Issues and Youth Activism at SIT provided advocacy and activism training for young people who attended to address child labor issues.

Project Directors:

John Ungerleider, School for International Training -- john.ungerleider@sit.edu 802-258-3334

Tim Kipp, Brattleboro Union High School -- 802-257-0357 ext.232

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CLEA seeks to develop the following key outcomes:

· A network of knowledgeable youth activists who will take leadership in promoting community-based educational and advocacy efforts throughout Vermont and regionally;

. A network of potential speakers includes child labor experts and university or high school students who can address a variety of school and community audiences;

· A broad-based public education and media communication initiative that disseminates project information about child labor through resource centers;

· A more informed and coordinated international alliance of child labor activists and organizations through a collaborative project and conference planning process;

· A core group of secondary teachers trained in child labor issues and curriculum development who will be available as trainers for other educators;

· A model child labor curriculum packet available for distribution and adaptation by secondary schools nationally;

· An improved capacity for institutional and policy reform by increasing high-level training for NGO and labor leaders.

CLEA draws on the extensive youth leadership and community service learning activities of the Governor's Institute on Current Issues and Youth Activism, the curriculum development capabilities of SIT and BUHS, and the extensive network of civic action, socially responsible business and labor organizations in Vermont and nationally, including a partnership with the Solidarity Center of the AFL-CIO.

The project will also include, as part of its organizational structure and planning process, key regional, national and international leaders in the child labor movement. CLEA is as much of a coalition-building initiative as it is a concrete training and educational program for community-based activism. The project will develop new coalitions to synergize work already being done in response to the issue of child labor, bringing together those working in education and advocacy. Resources on child labor which have already been created by such groups as Free the Children and the American Federation of Teachers will be used to build curriculum and be distributed through new networks that will be created by CLEA. Through information resource centers, CLEA will facilitate timely and consistent distribution of public information about project activities and child labor concerns.

Finally, this project is designed to create substantive products and results that will be available to other communities and organizations in the US and internationally. CLEA places significant emphasis on information sharing, collaboration and public education to create an inclusive and far-reaching effort to eliminate the entrenched economic, political and social practices that victimize millions of children across the globe.

Statements from Student Participants

Rob Curry-Smithson CLEA's Education Initiative
ecurry@sover.net
Date: 12/10/99 8:24

One of CLEA's goals is organizing a conference for students around the state to discuss and learn about child labor, and it's implications for society. We will hold this in May at SIT and invite students from around the state to attend it. We believe that this will be an eye opening event for attendees that will have the power to mobilize people into action if not just raise their awareness on the subject. But we are also planning on educating students and the community about this very important topic throughout the year, with powerful speakers and films, and by creating a resource center and bulletin board. This will give students a constant reminder of the suffering children endure in underdeveloped nations. We believe that through these actions we will be able to bring this topic into the consciousness of many Vermonters, and make it harder for corporations to get away with this tremendous injustice.

Laura Freeman
moonspinner55@yahoo.com
Dec. 3, 1999

There is power in numbers, and we believe that the more people we have behind our cause, the more powerful our message will be. We plan to create a Child Labor Education and Action network. The network will encompass schools and organizations across the state. As a starting point for the network, we will use connections from the Governor's Institutes of Vermont. Several members of CLEA and Progressive Coalition have attended the Institute on Current Issues and Youth Activism and have access to an online conferencing site. We hope to contact other students who have expressed interest in Child Labor action and get them to start organizing within their school. Our goal is to start at least 15 chapters of CLEA in Vermont, so that students in schools across the state are all working towards one common goal. The greater our numbers, the more we can do.

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"To Build a School Project"
Part of the Child Labor Education and Action Project
Leila Nelson, BUHS Junior --3 December 1999

The practices of child labor committee by United States corporations are intolerable and gruesome. Students involved in the progressive coalition and child labor education and action are dissatisfied with how major corporations exploit children in Third World countries. The issue of child labor affects us in a direct and blatant way. We are joined together to bring morality and justice tot he exploited children of the world.

The most exciting aspect of our project would be to build a school in a country such as Haiti for those children who are freed of child labor. The "To Build a School Project" is a pro-active approach to bring about social and political change. The project strives to assist the affected children in a direct way instead of aiming our attention and energy at the corporations who use child labor. The project encourages activism in a positive and effective manner.

The creation of a network of high schools in the state of Vermont and the child labor conference being held in the spring will supplement our educational and organizing efforts. We must develop a fund raising strategy that will involved local businesses, the school network, and the Vermont community.

There are several objectives for this project. The most evident goal is to provide an alternative to child labor. Education is a necessity in life in order to protect ourselves from exploitation and understand our human rights. The "To Build a School Project" also strives to create a more educated and informed society in the underprivileged countries, so people will not be taken advantage of by large and manipulative corporations. The right to education should be accessible to children all over the world. Through our efforts in the Project we hope to give more children this opportunity. As we know, "knowledge is power."

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3 December 1999

Child Labor
Emily Webster, BUHS

Many steps have been taken in an effort to eliminate child labor, but it is still prevalent, especially in Third World countries. These labor practices abuse children mentally and physically and deny them an education, the most important factor in escaping poverty.

Many U.S. corporations, including Disney and Nike, place factories in Third World countries where labor is cheaper. Families in these countries are so impoverished that they often sell or rent their children to companies who then abuse them and pay them little or no wages.

6 - 16 year olds in Wal-Mart factories work 12 - 13 hour days on 31 cents hourly.

13-year olds in Indonesian Mattel factories make 21 cents hourly.

17-year old women in Pakistan making McDonalds Happy Meal toys make 6 cents per hour, 10 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Pakistani boys are paid 6 cents an hour to stitch soccer balls for Nike, Adidas, Puma, and others

Daily wages in Vietnamese factories is, on average, $1.60 while the average daily living cost of living is @2.10.

Children are often fed sugar water to blunt their h under because they cannot afford food.

Similar to Haiti, children in Honduras making apparel are not permitted to attend school - even if they are allowed they need the extra income for their families.

While many jobs promise hours that don't conflict with night schools, required quotas are set so high that children are kept working overtime or else they are threatened with loss of their job.

Children are allowed only two bathrooms breaks daily.

72-hour work weeks are extremely common among young children.

Overseas production cost for a pair of $90 Nike sneakers is approximately $1.20.

The issue of child labor affects all of us, not just the youth who are working. The oppression of these children has negative affects on society as a whole. Lack of education and factory abuse creates a platform for an ignorant society. Consumers and the Government must take action, the corporations must rethink their practices and the victims must have just working conditions and the opportunity for an education. Steps must be taken to eliminate these inhumane practices.

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