Labor Trafficking

When I worked in vocational ministry over a decade ago,

One of my areas of focus was human exploitation.

My job was to teach people about the subject and

To equip church members and organizational leaders from across the state to do the same.

During those years, I was very mindful of

How my actions affected the environment (land exploitation),

How media was using its power to influence society (media exploitation), and

How products were harvested, made, distributed, or sourced (labor trafficking).

I was involved in boycotts and petition campaigns and

I had my own compost bin in the backyard of the apartment that I was renting.

While years have passed and my mindfulness has faded a bit,

The lessons I learned during those years are still with me.

When I can, I still do my part,

And I when I can’t, I feel guilty…

 

Which leads me to the guilt I recently felt when I realized that a company I had purchased from most likely uses child labor and is involved in questionable ethical practices.

 

I didn’t know.

If I had known, then I would have steered clear of the deals that sucked me in.

And boy did they suck me in!

After I’d ordered so many things—

For myself, for friends, for school, for home—

And spent way more money than I should

On deals that seemed too good to be true,

A friend said,

“If it seems to good to be true, then it probably is.”

 

That statement both humbled me and brought me back to reality.

 

I should have known.

I should have known that such deals come at a price—

And the price is human lives.

It is forcing underage children to work in sweatshops.

It is not paying workers a fair wage for working in unsafe, inhumane conditions.

It is promising workers one thing but not living into that promise.

It is taking immigration documents and holding persons hostage.

It is labor trafficking.

 

God: Help us to be mindful of the things we purchase and the ways our actions affect people we will never meet. We are all part of a broken system much bigger than ourselves. Help us, however small and insignificant we may feel, to do our part to heal it. Amen.