Huicholes del Tabaco: the people of tobacco

In dry season, all family members of the ethnic group Huicholes, from the Sierra
Madre in Nayarit leave their communities to look for jobs as tobacco labor from
growing, cutting and harvesting on the Northern coast of Nayarit state, in Mexico.
Workers usually accompany with their entire families: pregnant women, kids and
newborn children. They work under high-risk environment, even hazardous which
can damage to the children’s growing up and their lives and health’s. They
permanent contact with chemical pesticides and fertilizers, under the sun all day.
They don’t have clean drinking water, proper place to taking bath and washing
their clothes; so, they only use water from the irrigation canal that comes from
Santiago River – one of the most contaminated rivers in Mexico. Despite more
than 90% of tobacco production in Nayarit goes to international companies like
British American Tobacco and Phillip Morris which got billions of dollars in
earnings, they haven’t taken responsibility for those tobacco labor in outsourcing
parties. Tobacco companies in the world just try to find-out the way to cut off the
cost, low-cost labor is also one of their methods. 6-year-old children is starting for
working. Tobacco industry currently is a matter of the cynical behavior, which is
not only just health concern but also a matter of child labor and child mortality. It
raises question “How CSR is used in the tobacco industry?” Based on Zadek,
tobacco industry is still in defensive stage – focus mainly on the profitable, without
looking at the long run nor social responsibilities.