Nestle Says Requirement to Report Use of Slave Labor Would Cost Consumers More Money

 
While the Free Thought Project often reports  on the megacorp Nestle and their rampant abuse and exploitation of  drinking water supplies across the nation, few are aware that the  company has been found using slave labor.  What’s more, as governments across the world attempt to crack down the  use of slave labor by requiring companies to report on its use, Nestle  is fighting it, saying that it will end up costing consumers at the  register. Late last month, Nestle issued a warning against proposed legislation  that would require them to report on their efforts to weed out slavery  within their company. 

The company says the cost of checking to see if  they are forcing people to work against their will end up being passed  on to the consumer. As the Sydney Morning Herald reports,  companies operating in Australia with an annual turnover of $100  million or more would be required to annually report on the risks of  modern slavery within their business and the actions they’ve taken to  address those risks under the federal government’s draft Modern Slavery  Bill 2018. 

Nestle owns over 2000 brands and operates in 189 countries and has a  history of using slave labor to produce its products. Yet they are  warning against the legislation that would have them report on issues  related to human trafficking, slavery, sexual servitude and child labor  within their businesses’ operation and supply chains. 

In a senate committee last month, Nestle claimed that the reporting  requirements to keep them from participating in slavery and human  trafficking would add “cost and time” to its businesses and suppliers  “which will need to be borne somewhere.” “While we are of the view that the mandatory requirements are  sensible, in practical terms this difference means that multinational  companies will have to prepare bespoke statements for each country in  which they are required to report,” Nestle’s submission said. ” … Not all suppliers may bear those costs themselves; some may pass them on to customers/consumers.” 

As TFTP reported in 2016,  Nestle became embroiled in controversy, as the company went public with  the admission that slave labor had been found in the multinational  company’s supply chain in Thailand. Nestle claimed at the time that they  would promise to self police and rid themselves of this problem. 

One would think that since they claimed to already be self-policing,  that simply passing this information on to the Australian government  would be an easy task. However, evidence of Nestle’s lack of follow  through on self-regulation can be clearly seen in the Engel-Harkin (aka  the Cocoa Protocol), in which it promised to self-regulate and  ultimately end child slave labor in their supply chain — signed in 2001. According to an article by The Daily Beast: 

Eight companies—including Nestlé, Mars, and Hershey—were  signatories of the massive accord, pledging $2 million to investigate  the labor practices and eliminate the “Worst Forms of Child Labor,” the  official term from the International Labor Organization, by 2005. When  the July 2005 deadline arrived with the industries yet to make major  changes, an extension was granted until 2008. When the next deadline came and went, a new proposal arose. By 2010,  the companies basically started anew with a treaty called The  Declaration of Joint Action to Support Implementation of the  Harkin-Engel Protocol. This document pledges to reduce the worst forms  of child labor by 70 percent across the cocoa sectors of Ghana and Ivory  Coast by 2020.

Those that have followed the use of slave labor in the supply chain  of theses large multinational corporations understand that these  companies consistently claim they will self regulate and yet the use of  child slave labor within the cocoa industry has increased dramatically. 

A report  from the Payson Center for International Development of Tulane  University, and sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, found the  number of children working in the cocoa industry in 2013-14 increased 51  percent to 1.4 million, compared to the last report in 2008-09. 

A company who has faced no consequences after being caught stealing  water, and draining natural aquifers across the planet to fill plastic  bottles will likely have no problem complying with the reporting law if  it passes. However as their history shows, the idea that it will lead to  positive change is unlikely. The best way to stop Nestle from using slave labor in their  production lines is to stop buying their products. Below is a list of  some of their popular brands and products to help you understand just  how far their reach goes. 

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