UI to get federal funds to research child labor Posted Saturday, December 16, 2000 by Katherine Hutt Scott, Gannett News Service Iowa City Press Citizen WASHINGTON - Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin has arranged for the University of Iowa to get $900,000 in federal dollars this year to research one of his pet issues: abusive and exploitative child labor in the global economy. The money is in the final budget package Congress approved Friday for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, said a statement from Harkin's office. He is the top Democrat on the Senate subcommittee that allocates money to the Department of Labor. The budget also includes $1 million for the Department of Labor to distribute to projects that will promote student and faculty involvement in the effort to end sweatshops around the world, Harkin's statement said. The University of Iowa can apply for that money, which will be awarded on a competitive basis. "The United States has been a world leader in fighting abusive child labor," Harkin said in his statement. "But, sadly, the fight is far from over. That's why I am so pleased that world-class researchers at the University of Iowa are receiving these funds to further the crusade to end abusive child labor around the world." The $900,000 will be used to fund research by the university's Center for Human Rights, founded last year after the university commemorated the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Harkin is an honorary member of the center's executive council, said Burns H. Weston, the center's director. The center will research where and why children younger than 14 are forced to work and what can be done to stop that practice, Weston said. One possible solution is to persuade multinational companies to promise not to use child labor, he said. The center will use some of the funds to establish a network of researchers across the United States, including academics, human rights activists and business people, to pinpoint ways to curb exploitative child labor. Tipped off by Harkin's office about the $1 million Department of Labor allocation, the center applied last month to the agency for $500,000 to train graduate students and university faculty to serve as monitors to ensure that multinational companies that manufacture products with university logos don't use sweatshop labor. Weston said he didn't know when the Department of Labor would decide whether to award the money.
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