abusesaffiliationarrow-downarrow-leftarrow-rightarrow-upattack-typeburgerchevron-downchevron-leftchevron-rightchevron-upClock iconclosedeletedevelopment-povertydiscriminationdollardownloademailenvironmentexternal-linkfacebookfiltergenderglobegroupshealthC4067174-3DD9-4B9E-AD64-284FDAAE6338@1xinformation-outlineinformationinstagraminvestment-trade-globalisationissueslabourlanguagesShapeCombined Shapeline, chart, up, arrow, graphLinkedInlocationmap-pinminusnewsorganisationotheroverviewpluspreviewArtboard 185profilerefreshIconnewssearchsecurityPathStock downStock steadyStock uptagticktooltiptwitteruniversalityweb

這頁面沒有繁體中文版本,現以English顯示

內容有以下的語言版本: English, 日本語

故事

2024年2月14日

USA: Private auditors fail to detect child labour in supply chains of major supermarkets & renowned food brands

In December 2023, the New York Times reported on the failure of private auditors to detect migrant children working in the food supply chains of several large companies in the USA.

In dozens of interviews, auditors said that sometimes their firms provide little more than a veneer of compliance for global corporations, which overstate how rigorously they review sprawling supply chains.
Hannah Dreier, The New York Times.

The article alleges auditors fail to detect child labour due to several factors, including moving too quickly, leaving too early, or not reviewing the part of the plant where minors work. The article also highlights how auditors' reliance on paperwork rather than in-depth worker interviews leads to the failure to detect child labour as children may use forged documents.

Auditors allege they also struggle to record labour rights violations due to the pressure from the auditing firms that pay them, the companies reviewing the inspection, and the suppliers themselves. For example, an auditor for UL Solutions, which provides social compliance audits, said he was placed on a remediation plan after failing Walgreen suppliers for abusive working conditions.

The article alleges migrant children were:

  • Working in the supply chains of Walgreens’ supplier Monogram Meat Snacks.
  • Working at Packers Sanitation Services, which provides cleaning services to plants supplying to McDonalds and Costco.
  • Working at a Mississippi slaughterhouse that supplies to Chick-Fil-A.
  • Working in the snack food factory Hearthside Food Solutions, supplying to baby food company Gerber, the makers of Starburst and Skittles candies (Mars Food Services), the makers of Oreos (Mondelēz International), and the makers of Cheez-Its (Kellanova).
  • Working in dairies supplying to milk processor Darigold, which supplies to Costco, McDonalds, Nestle, and Safeway. Here, the article emphasises companies' failure to detect child labour in sub-suppliers in industrial farms.

In the above instances, audits run by companies at the top of supply chains failed to detect child labour. The article also highlights how auditors' reports flag issues relating to age verification. An auditor representing Walgreens found there was no way to verify the ages of workers at a supplier – the factory also supplies to Sysco, Hefty, and Walmart. The staffing agency used by the factory is allegedly now under investigation for possible child labour violations.

Costco, Darigold, Gerber, Kellanova, Mars, McDonalds, Hearthside Food Production, Hefty, Mondelēz International, Monogram Meat Snacks, Nestlé, Packers Sanitation Services, Safeway, Sysco, UL Solutions, and Walgreens responded to the journalists’ requests for comment.

In January 2024, the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre invited Chick-Fil-A, Costco, Darigold, Gerber, Kellanova, Mars Food Services, McDonald’s, Mondelēz International, Monogram Meat Snacks, Nestlé, Packers Sanitation Services, Reynold’s Consumer Products (the makers of Hefty), Safeway (part of Albertsons), Sysco, UL Solutions, Walgreens, and Walmart to respond to the article’s findings.

We also additionally asked the companies at the top of supply chains where child labour was discovered in suppliers, including Chick-Fil-A, Costco, Darigold, Gerber, Kellanova, Mars Food Services, McDonald’s, Mondelēz International, Nestlé, Safeway (part of Albertsons), and Walgreens, to disclose the steps they have taken to investigate and remedy workers for the abuse reported, and to disclose any human rights due diligence they undertake prior to entering into contracts with suppliers and when monitoring working conditions at suppliers.

We also invited the social auditing company, UL Solutions, to disclose the steps it takes to detect child labour through its audits at factories in the USA.

Darigold, Gerber, Hearthside, Kellanova, McDonald's, Nestlé, Packers Sanitation Services, Reynolds Consumer Products, Safeway (part of Albertsons), UL Solutions', Mondelēz International, and Walgreens' responses can be read in full below. Chick-Fil-A, Costco, Mars Food Services, Monogram Meat Snacks, Sysco, and Walmart's did not respond to the Resource Centre's request for comment.

In February 2024, a blog published by the International Labor Rights Forum further explores the inefficacy of audits to detect labour rights abuse, and provides four alternative methods, including paying living wages and providing decent working conditions; employing workers directly; enacting policies that provide for the right to decent work and 'labour citizenship'; and by investors and buyers making sourcing decisions based on the presence of unions and collective bargaining agreements.

企業回應

Gerber 瀏覽回應
Kellanova (formerly Kellogg) 瀏覽回應
Chick-fil-A

沒有回應

Mars

沒有回應

Mondelēz International 瀏覽回應
Sysco

沒有回應

McDonald's 瀏覽回應
Monogram Foods

沒有回應

Packers Sanitation Service (PSSI) 瀏覽回應
Costco

沒有回應

Walgreens (part of Walgreens Boots Alliance) 瀏覽回應
Nestlé 瀏覽回應
Reynolds Consumer Products 瀏覽回應
Walmart

沒有回應

Albertsons 瀏覽回應
Darigold 瀏覽回應
Hearthside Food Solutions 瀏覽回應

時間線

隱私資訊

本網站使用 cookie 和其他網絡存儲技術。您可以在下方設置您的隱私選項。您所作的更改將立即生效。

有關我們使用網絡儲存技術的更多資訊,請參閱我們的 數據使用和 Cookie 政策

Strictly necessary storage

ON
OFF

Necessary storage enables core site functionality. This site cannot function without it, so it can only be disabled by changing settings in your browser.

分析cookie

ON
OFF

您瀏覽本網頁時我們將以Google Analytics收集信息。接受此cookie將有助我們理解您的瀏覽資訊,並協助我們改善呈現資訊的方法。所有分析資訊都以匿名方式收集,我們並不能用相關資訊得到您的個人信息。谷歌在所有主要瀏覽器中都提供退出Google Analytics的添加應用程式。

市場營銷cookies

ON
OFF

我們從第三方網站獲得企業責任資訊,當中包括社交媒體和搜尋引擎。這些cookie協助我們理解相關瀏覽數據。

您在此網站上的隱私選項

本網站使用 cookie 和其他網絡儲存技術來增強您在必要核心功能之外的體驗。