Coffee chain Starbucks was severely criticized after a documentary discovered that one of the Nicaraguan suppliers was using child labor.
Children were subjected to strenuous working conditions and paid miserably by the weight of beans collected. Some of the bean sacks weighed around 100lb. Children found working on the farm were as young as 8 years old and worked eight hours per day, six days a week. They earned around $6 per day.
Seven other farms were found to use child labor, all connected to Starbucks. Oliver Holland, a human rights advocate said: “The human rights conventions are very clear in that they don’t want children’s education to be compromised”. Children who are working 50 to 60 hours per week obviously have no chance of going to school and getting the proper education.
Just last week the news broke that Nespresso also used child labor. George Clooney, who is one of the company’s advertisers for years expressed his concern and disappointment about the scandal.
