Philip Morris Said to Benefit From Child Labor

[MattSh]

MOSCOW — One woman said children as young as 10 working in the fields developed red rashes on their stomachs and necks as they harvested tobacco for use in cigarettes made by Philip Morris.

Another migrant laborer working in the tobacco fields in Kazakhstan said a farmer confiscated her identification papers and withheld pay to force her to continue working despite dismal conditions.

Human Rights Watch, the group best known for documenting governmental abuse and war crimes, plans to release a report on Wednesday showing that child and forced labor is widespread on farms that supply a cigarette factory owned by Philip Morris International in Kazakhstan, in Central Asia.

While child labor should be condemned in any setting, the report said, employing children on tobacco farms is particularly hazardous because tobacco field laborers are exposed to high levels of nicotine while doing their jobs.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/business/global/14smoke.html?ref=global-home

[rooboy]

1. You know things are bad when you can't even get ethical behaviour from a tobacco company. n/t

[d_r]

2. I was in tobacco fields

and stripping houses at that age, but honestly I was just goofing off and not working for a living or anything.