End US Child Labor:
A new coalition to act at state and federal levels
The challenge
Investigative reports by major US news outlets were uncovering children working in dangerous, illegal jobs such as industrial cleaning, factory work, and roofing - with at least 3 children being killed at work, and many others seriously injured. The US Department of Labor was reporting thousands of child labor violations being committed by the fast food industry every year.
Despite the clear dangers being faced by children across the US, multiple state legislatures sought to prioritise businesses by amending and repealing state-level laws designed to protect children - all of this in a context where federal laws already fall far below international standards on child labour.
A small group of anti-child labor actors took the opportunity to galvanise the US public to act, and started building a broad coalition of academics, trade unions, NGOs, and think tanks to fight for children’s fundamental right to safety at state and federal levels.
Common Good Global supported the client, the Campaign to End US Child Labor, to establish the public-facing campaign, coordinate between coalition members to create the campaign’s policy positions, and build its online campaigning functions.
The impact
50+ Members
The campaign outreach strategy helped build a new coalition of more than 50 national and international organisations, trade unions, and academics.
Public Advocacy
State-level actions were mounted in Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Wisconsin to stop rollbacks of child labor protections, with successes in three states.
Active Engagement
Members continue to work with legislators to stop rollbacks, and have mounted a legal campaign against the current administration on its withdrawal of support for anti-child labor initiatives internationally.
The work
Working directly with the Executive Director, US academics, and representatives from NGOs and think tanks, Common Good Global established a brand and campaign identity to appeal to US citizens and local and national government actors. As a coalition campaign, the logo had to be easy for members to apply to their own platforms, and materials, without implying that it was any one member’s subsidiary brand. Building on the high-profile news reports and DoJ investigations, motifs which played on the different industries in which child labor was being reported were used: fast food, industrial cleaning, cereal factories, meat packing factories, car parts factories, and construction.
We designed, built, and wrote the campaign website, and integrated the e-campaigning platform and the fundraising platform. E-campaigning was configured to enable supporters to take action on the main site or on the sites of any of the members.
Common Good Global also worked with coalition members to develop the campaign’s central policy statement and advocacy strategy.
After the campaign was established, Common Good Global continued to support policy and advocacy objectives and created topical social campaigns, including animations and posts for the World Day Against Tobacco.