Identification Of Case Issues And Consumer Market

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1. Identification of case issues & consumer market

When contemplating whether to conduct business in another country, it is essential that Australian Clean Green Coffee Production assess the currents ethical standards of the nation in question. Guatemala has been ranked as the “135th most unequal country in the world out of 147 countries” (Verite, 2012). Three core ethical issues facing the Guatemalan coffee industry are forced labour and work conditions, child labour, and the environmental impacts of farming. It is estimated that “in Guatemala, about 506,000 children aged 7-14 years, representing 20% of total children in this age group, are engaged in market work” (Dammert, 2010). The main contributing factor as to why child labour is…show more content…
The wages paid to workers on plantations is often below the minimum wage, and perpetuates their “debt peonage- forced labour to repay debt” (Food Empowerment Project, 2016). The Antislavery Organisation states that “the combination of paying salaries below the minimum wage and in arrears, overpricing goods in the estate shop, and providing a large part of their salaries in kind, means that when their wages are due to be pair, workers find they are left with little or no money or even indebted to the estate” (Kaye, 2008). Studies have found that “large majorities in all the communities studied report lack of payment of overtime and legally-mandated employee benefits” and that “almost half report lack of compliance with the legally-mandated minimum wage” (Coverco.org.gt, 2006). There is limited compliance and prosecution of these laws, and this is a due to the fact that “Guatemala registers a high level of corruption, which affects the ability of the police and the justice sector to ensure the rule of law and combat exploitation in the coffee sector (Verite, 2012).
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