Comments by importers of Indian stone reported in this magazine that seem to diminish the issue of child and bonded labour in the Indian stone industry have angered some readers.
In last month’s issue of Natural Stone Specialist we reported on the Early Day Motion by Labour MP Jim Sheridan and supported by 56 other MPs calling on UK companies to avoid buying imported sandstone produced using child labour.
One importer told NSS that his Indian suppliers had told him children did not work in quarries because they were not strong enough to carry out the work and another importer warned of the danger of “taking an imperialist view” to what is an emerging superpower.
The organisation Anti-Slavery International has estimated that as many as a million children work in India’s quarries and Stone Federation Great Britain, in a new publication called Selecting the Correct Stone to help the industry’s customers chose the right stone for the job, says: “Child labour and bonded labour is still used in quarry sites in the developing world”. It goes on to say: “It is vital that the extraction site is visited and appropriate questions asked.”
The comments from stone importers reported last month angered Michael Poultney, the Managing Director of Portland limestone quarry company Albion Stone.
He says: “If we pretend that the problem does not exist and select purely on price then the quarries with the lowest costs (the ones that employ children and don’t care about health & safety) will win the work and the operators that have applied better standards for their employees will lose work and face the problem of going out of business or dropping their standards.
“As an industry we cannot and must not allow that to happen… There are good producers in India and China and we should be encouraging improvements and insisting on proper controls before orders are placed. Companies that ignore these basic principles should be exposed and shamed.”
In the February issue of Natural Stone Specialist Rob Gilbert, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Tile Depot, commented: “I might have personal qualms about the ethical issues of the production of stone there [he was talking about China and India] but there’s not much I can do about it in a competitive market.”
John Bysouth, stone consultant and stalwart of the Stone Federation, has responded by saying:  “I was saddened, depressed and angry when I read that Rob Gilbert imported stone from India and China in the full knowledge that working practices in both countries were ethically wrong.
“Saddened that in the 21st century people should be employed in a manner that would not be tolerated anywhere in the Western World.
“Depressed that employers in those countries have no feeling for their fellow workers and are quite willing to employ children and have little or no regard for safety.
“Angry that there are companies who in effect condone what is going on and turn a blind eye when it suits.
“Rob’s comment reminds me of Mr Bennett in Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice who, when knowing he should take a certain course of action, and does not do so, comforts himself by saying: ‘No doubt I shall get over it, and quicker than I should’.
“There are companies in the UK who go to great lengths to ensure suppliers in India and China have the correct employment practices, proper health & safety and arrange for audits to be carried out to see that they are being complied with.
“We should all stand together and insist that if these countries wish to deal with us then they must put their house in order.”
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