40,000 To Hershey: Stop Sponsoring Child Labor By Halloween

by Amanda Kloer · 2011-10-13 11:12:00 UTC
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More than 40,000 consumers have joined a popular campaign on Change.org calling on Hershey to commit to buying cocoa produced without child labor, forced labor, or trafficked labor in time for Halloween.

Raise the Bar, Hershey!, a coalition of organizations fighting ongoing labor abuses such as child slavery and child labor in the cocoa industry, is leading the campaign on Change.org following what they say is Hershey’s continued refusal to commit to purchasing Fair Trade cocoa for its chocolate candies.

“A decade ago, Hershey signed an agreement to help fight child slavery and other abuses in the cocoa industry,” said Elizabeth O’Connell, a member of the Raise the Bar, Hershey! coalition. “Yet it has done far less than other chocolate companies to address these abuses. This Halloween, thousands of consumers are telling Hershey they’re fed up with cocoa tainted by the abuse of children.”

News of the online petition campaign’s success is likely to increase pressure on Hershey. In addition to the petition, Raise the Bar, Hershey! is planning a call-in day, a Fair Trade Halloween costume contest, and rallies at Hershey stores in New York, Chicago, and Niagara Falls. The coalition has also produced a mock-commercial in an attempt to reveal the labor exploitation behind the Hershey chocolate many trick-or-treaters will receive this Halloween.

“What the consumers and activists of Raise the Bar, Hershey! have accomplished is remarkable,” said Amanda Kloer, Director of Organizing for Change.org, the world’s fastest-growing platform for social change. “With limited resources but strategic planning and execution, they’ve recruited more than 30,000 supporters, developed a hard-hitting video, and launched a social media campaign. Change.org is about empowering anyone, anywhere to demand action on the issues that matter to them, and it has been incredible to watch this timely campaign take off.”

The petition campaign has been covered by major news outlets across the country, including CNN, New York Daily News, and PC World. Raise the Bar, Hershey! says they are hoping to get a response from the company before Halloween.

Photo credit: Jelene

Amanda Kloer is a Change.org Editor and has been a full-time abolitionist in several capacities for seven years. Follow her on Twitter @endhumantraffic

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