Changes to working conditions in the Uzbek cotton growing industry have improved the lives of farmers and ended child labour in the sector. At the same time labour law reforms have helped local businesses to grow.
The change was brought due to international labor Organizations efforts that convinced the Uzbek government to change the law and ensure fair wages and working conditions of the cotton pickers. Previously school children were brought to pick cotton from fields at no or minimum cost. Now child labor in cotton fields is banned in Uzbekistan.
The country faced sanctions in disposing of its cotton because of corrosive labor practices as even the adult pickers were not adequately compensated for their hard work. The ILO saw to it that cotton pickers get fair treatment and fair wages. And it now certifies to the global buyers that Uzbek cotton is not tainted with unfair labor practices.
In fact the ILO has placed a video at its website about the current better conditions in which the cotton labor works in Uzbek cotton fields. In interviews the cotton pickers appreciate the new labor laws that have enabled them to come out of poverty.
The change was brought due to international labor Organizations efforts that convinced the Uzbek government to change the law and ensure fair wages and working conditions of the cotton pickers. Previously school children were brought to pick cotton from fields at no or minimum cost. Now child labor in cotton fields is banned in Uzbekistan.
The country faced sanctions in disposing of its cotton because of corrosive labor practices as even the adult pickers were not adequately compensated for their hard work. The ILO saw to it that cotton pickers get fair treatment and fair wages. And it now certifies to the global buyers that Uzbek cotton is not tainted with unfair labor practices.
In fact the ILO has placed a video at its website about the current better conditions in which the cotton labor works in Uzbek cotton fields. In interviews the cotton pickers appreciate the new labor laws that have enabled them to come out of poverty.