Child labour in the Tavari Union

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Child labour has been a consistent theme throughout the history of the countries of the Tavari Union, all of which descend from the legal and cultural traditions of Tavaris. The Tavat Avati, a Tavari religious text that outlines expectations for moral living, describes labour in general as a virtue and calls upon Tavari families to put their children to work once they reach the age of 12. In all Tavari Union countries except Acronis and Rodoka and the Isles, as well as Vakani Dalar, 12 remains the legal minimum working age, though with significant restrictions. Modern Tavari law draws a distinction between “child labour,” which is work performed by those 11 or under, and “adolescent labour,” performed by those between the ages of 12 and 15. The former is illegal, while the latter is permissible in certain industries with particular safety regulations and limitations on the number of hours an adolescent can work. Tavari law places absolutely no restriction on labour performed by children aged 16 and 17, which is considered adult labour as a holdover from pre-Great War Tavari law that set the age of majority at 16. This was moved to 18 to match the prevailing global standard in 1919, but labour law was never adjusted to match. The issue of child labour remains politically controversial and is, generally speaking, in decline, but the institution has been persistent due in large part to prevailing cultural norms in Tavari society.

There remain a number of jobs that are stereotypically considered “children's jobs” across the Tavari Union in the modern day. Many Tavari rail and transit systems still use ticket gates staffed with employees to validate tickets rather than machines, due in large part to the tradition of Tavari money honour that leads many Tavari to prefer conducting business face-to-face with a person. These ticket clerks are almost universally adolescents, and the job of “ticket boy” or “ticket girl” is perhaps the most famous and visible example of child labour in Tavaris—they wear distinctive formal uniforms and historically featured heavily in marketing for TavariRail. It is not uncommon in Tavari cities to see children selling street food, shoeshining, newspapers, or “directory services” like providing directions to nearby attractions or services. These services tend to be expected by older Tavari people, among whom regular Internet access, especially mobile internet, is still relatively low.

Adolescents are also commonly hired by businesses of all kinds as cleaners, and in some places it is still relatively common for children to be employed as domestic workers or “home helpers” for the elderly, often arranged by their parents privately with a neighbour or some other community member “under the table,” especially by families in poverty. Historically, nearly every household in Tavaris had some manner of domestic worker in employ; today it is a minority, but where they do exist, most of them are adolescents.

A significant amount of controversy is generated in regard to child labour in agriculture, where it is supposed to be strictly regulated to the point of being virtually banned, but is still relatively common. Especially in labour intensive sectors that have a long history of cultural significance, like the sugar and cocoa industries, illegal child labour—both in legally employed adolescents being illegally overworked or withdrawn from school to work, and in illegally employed children being made to work before the legal age—is still an issue. The countries of the Tavari Union are leading producers of sugar and its byproducts, coffee, and chocolate, but face significant competition from countries across the world, including ones where wages are lower and labour is more easily available, putting pressure on Tavari firms to seek cheaper labour in the form of children. Family-run farms have a reputation in the Tavari Union of being likely to force their children to work, but corporate farms have also faced enforcement actions and criminal repercussions for violating labour laws.

Some industries are entirely closed to adolescents, such as mining, meatpacking, and manufacturing. Child and adolescent labour were once quite common in these industries, but a series of reforms put in place after both public pressure campaigns led by mostly Akronist reformers and a series of labour revolts at the turn of the 20th century succeeded in ending child labour in these fields in particular. Children and adolescents also cannot work in any job that requires any sort of formalised training or certification, such as the skilled trades, or in any job requiring a secondary school diploma or university degree. Apprenticeships for adolescents in the skilled trades largely faded after the Great War but in most cases were never formally banned and there has been some recent political and social pressure to restore them, to limited effect. The traditional Tavari carpentry apprenticeship, which lasts 12 years, began accepting 14 and 15 year olds in 2022 for the first time in more than 50 years, but the Carpenters’ Guild has reported little uptake, and no other major trades have followed.

In general, the Tavari political right tends to advocate in favour of adolescent labour. This has been a particularly central plank in the platform of The Liberals, the oldest Tavari political party and one that has been firmly linked to the Tavari business community for its entire history. Proponents of it claim that it inculcates the values of hard work, discipline, and good business sense in adolescents, that it keeps adolescent crime rates low, that it ensures important job roles are filled in society, and that it reduces demand for foreign labourers, who the Tavari right tends to disdain. Proponents also claim that orcs, who comprise nearly nine in ten people in Tavaris, age more quickly and thus can (and should) work earlier than other species. Orcs also reproduce at lower rates than other sapient species, which has long been cited by adolescent labour advocates as a reason why it is necessary for orcish societies like Tavaris to permit adolescent labour—otherwise, advocates claim, there would not be enough people to fill all the necessary jobs. Despite more than a century of sustained political opposition and a gradual chipping away at the presence of child labour, advocates have succeeded in mostly retaining its fundamental role in society.