Where are the Protections for Child Farm Laborers in America? (Gingrich: kids clean the toilets)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.care2.com/causes/where-are-the-protections-for-child-farm-laborers-in-america.html

by Crystal Shepeard December 11, 2013 5:30 pm



During the 2012 presidential election, Newt Gingrich said in a GOP debate that we should fire janitors and have the kids clean the toilets in order to teach them some responsibility. Others equated removing restrictions on the age a minor could work as a character builder akin to a summer job cutting lawns. After all, how is a 14-year-old working 40 hours a week any different than spending 40 hours a week in school and extracurricular activities?

This was happening amid another fight against child labor laws that had been going on since the summer of 2011. In August of that year, the Department of Labor proposed updates to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to include stronger protections for child labor. The new guidelines would expand the types of industries and work deemed hazardous and off limits to anyone under the age of 18. It also would bring parity between agricultural and non-agricultural child labor provisions already in the act.

There are few child labor laws covering the nearly 500,000 children that work on family-run farms. Another 300,000 children work as field hands, some as young as 12 years old. Field hands can perform “hazardous” work as young as 16, jobs that are prohibited in other industries until age 18. These minors can work up to 70 hours per week on summer breaks – even at 12 years old – and still not be in violation of the law. Most of these children, including those on family farms, work on farms that are either contracted with or run by large corporations such as Archer Daniels Midland, Monsanto, and tobacco giants like R.J. Reynolds.

The Nation’s in-depth investigation into minor agricultural workers reveals the devastating effects of lax regulation and oversight for child labor in the industry. There is very little data on injury and deaths of children because there is no governmental agency in charge of collecting it. During her investigation, Mariya Strauss was able to find 39 cases of injury or death in the previous 18 months. She admits that this list is not complete, as she was unable to get any concrete data from the Labor Department, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration or regional and state Occupational Safety and Health Administration offices. In the end, she relied largely on local news reports and the files of farm worker advocates and researchers.

FULL story at link.