Who's Picking Your Berries? Feds Find Young Children on Strawberry Farms

[Synicus Maximus]

Source: ABC

Nearly two years after ABC News cameras uncovered young children toiling away in Michigan's blueberry fields, federal investigators have found yet another disturbing example of illegal use of child labor in the berry industry.

Three southwest Washington strawberry growers were fined $73,000 last week after the U.S. Department of Labor found children between the ages of six and 11 working in their strawberries fields in June.

While an exemption in the federal child labor law allows 12- and 13-year-olds to work for unlimited hours on large agricultural operations, children under the age of 12 are strictly prohibited from working under similar conditions.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/feds-find-young-children-working-strawberry-farms/story?id=14281166

---

I picked berries as a kid and worked unlimited hours with no pay.

[BanzaiBonnie]

1. I'm torn on this one

I picked berries when I was young. I think you had to be 10 or 12. Then would "hire" you and you could get on the bus to go to the strawberry fields at 6am. Then the bus brought you home in the afternoon. If you were a goof off or trouble maker they would not let you come back. It was hot, mucky work, but it was the only work available for us kids. It was not dangerous (AFAIK) and I was happy to have something to do for a few weeks of the summer. Later in the summer, I picked green beans. Also, a world of difference in picking in the California heat as opposed to the Pacific Northwest.

On the other hand I understand the problem that people have who might be trying to actually make a living picking fruit. Low wage, no benefits... and that they might have to bring their children with them to the field... Lots of issues here.

It's tricky.

[totodeinhere]

6. I understand what you are saying. But the problem I see is that if

we allow this, where do we draw the line? Surely some unscrupulous employers would try to take advantage of it. Perhaps we need to err on the side of caution when it comes to child labor.

[trud]

7. yeah,

I also worked in the summer as a kid, as did my brothers and cousins. Grandparents were immigrants, so the chance to work and make money was wonderful and expected.

[pnwmom]

10. Were you working at age 6? n/t

[Downwinder]

11. Herding cattle and riding roundup.

[pnwmom]

17. You're lucky you're still alive then!

I'm partly kidding, partly not.

My husband comes from a family of ranchers. From a mother's perspective, worse than the physical risk is the sheer distance and time involved in getting medical care if there is an injury. And when my husband was growing up, there wasn't even any phone service. If you, for example, broke your back, you'd get loaded up and taken an hour and a half to the nearest town of 5,000, which wasn't equipped to treat your injury. Then you'd have to wait for a special flight to another hospital (a couple hundred miles away).

[Downwinder]

19. I was always on a good mount. Smarter than I was. Kept me pretty

much out of trouble. more of a problem at about 12, you start thinking you are smarter than the horse. I am of mixed mind about the whole thing. Kids can't work around anything dangerous until they are 18. But we give them a car that will go 130 MPH at 16. We grew up knowing our limits and able to evaluate hazards. Not saying I never did anything foolhardy, but I knew the dangers involved.

When I broke my hand, a pony rolled over me, my mother was concerned that we might have weak bones. There was a boy in the Doctors office with a broken arm. He was leaning up against a bicycle that fell over. She decided that at least we were doing something.

[trud]

27. no, probably 8 or so. n/t

[crunchie]

20. I picked berries in the summer

month's, got on the "berry truck" at about 5am., got to the field at 6am. Five cents a quart for strawberries and seven cents for raspberries. Just me and my brothers on a truck with all migrant workers. Mom believed it would give us some cultural enlightenment, as I was raised in a small, mostly Caucasian community in northern Michigan. I was kind of jealous of the Mexican migrants because they really out picked me. They would make $20.00/$30.00 a day and I would come home with about $2.00, after paying for my ride and buying a coke. I was about 10 years old.
It was extra money for us and not a job, I think that's the difference.









f

[SomeGuyInEagan]

29. Not so tricky ... it's the law.

Twelve is the federal legal minimum now (I have no idea what it was when you picked, if there was one at all). Anything younger is breaking federal law. Not tricky at all.

There is a very good reason why we have government oversight for child labor, health and safety (both for workers, consumers and those who live near factories and farms). Even as watered down as it is.

I know plenty of people who work in environmental health and safety, both in companies and government, and I have done factory and ag work myself. When profit is involved, there are always those who will sacrifice the health and safety of others to make it. I have seen it myself.

[Lezzie]

2. Where were the parents?

Are they working illegally too? Also, if the parents were working along side them, maybe they couldn't afford childcare. Very sad situation for all.

[pnwmom]

4. Welcome to DU, Lezzie! n/t

[Lezzie]

8. TY

I'm an out and proud out bleeding heart liberal!

[pnwmom]

9. Then you'll find a lot of friends here.

:hi:

[AverageJoe90]

25. Welcome! You'll be making friends before you know it.

[pnwmom]

3. Were you six?

[jtuck004]

5. Ages 6 to 11. No school? Will the kids get part of the $73K? /nt

[trud]

28. It;s summer. n/t

[jtuck004]

31. It is now, but this was back in June when strawberries were ripe

maybe even May, since it is warmer down there than it is up here (partly why some of my garlic isn't ready yet). The kids were still in school across the street when this was going on.

In some other reading on this the feds were checking these places out on weekends and in the evening, so they were probably there with no other options for care. It also said they didn't pay min wage to the kids, so they were probably helping the parents.

The owner gets a little more production for freee that way.

Tough, though. Parents have no other option for care, the owner is likely not going to provide care, so this could mean parents will either be out of a job, or we will hear of them being arrested for leaving the kids at home without care after the kids get hurt.

I understand the need for anti-child labor laws, but one would think we could figure out better provisions in this country.

[McCamy Taylor]

12. Big difference between working a family farm and being child labor.

[Stumbler]

15. Bingo.

True to my cynical nature, I can see only too many ways large-scale agribusiness can exploit these laws and these kids.

[pnwmom]

21. Yeah. Working on a family farm is more dangerous than most other jobs children might do.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2608515/pdf/jnma00355-0033.pdf


Page 11

Farming is stated to be the second most dangerous
occupation in the United States because of the
risk of fatal or disabling injury.9'-94 In the United
States in 1991, there were 923,000 children under
the age of 15 years and 346,000 ages 15-19 residing
on farms or ranches. Another 800,000 children lived
in households of farm workers and may work on
farms along with their parents. There are an estimated
100,000 children each year who suffer a preventable
injury associated with agricultural production.
91 In adolescence, agricultural machinery is
involved in a number of deaths. Farm machinerycauses about 85% of all machinery-related deaths in
children and is categorized separately in NCHS
data.' In addition to fatal and nonfatal injuries resulting
from tractors, farm machinery, livestock, building
structures, and falls, children are exposed to
other farm-related hazards such as pesticides, fuel,
noxious gases, airborne irritant noise, vibration, and
stress.
In 95% of farms, the safety regulations of the
Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) are
not covered. Regulations by OSHA impose standards
for protective devices and require regular
inspections of farm equipment in farms employing
ten or more workers. Smaller farms are exempt.92'94
The farm owner is responsible for the safety of both
adults and children. The National Committee for
Childhood Agricultural Injury Prevention has made
a number of recommendations to address the farm
injury problem9l including: a national system for
childhood agricultural injury prevention; adequate
funding of prevention programs; guidelines for children's
and adolescents' work in agriculture; public
awareness; maintaining a comprehensive national
database of fatal and nonfatal injuries; research on
the costs, risk factors, and consequences associated
with child and adolescent agricultural labor; strong
evaluation methods to determine the effectiveness of
education and training on farm safety; education of
workers, parents, and health professionals on farm
safety issues; and the use of appropriate protective
gear with safety guidelines.

Occupational health surveillance programs and
fatality reviews in states via the departments of
health often highlight circumstances in which children
are injured while at work.95 Both legal and illegal
child labor may lead to injury, especially where
there exists a mismatch between developmental
capabilities and the job requirements and the lack of
use of protective gear.

[Downwinder]

23. Added to this we had the fallout from the Nevada test site.

Which was the most dangerous?

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[defendandprotect]

14. Rise of the right will naturally bring a return to child labor -- for decades they've been moving

on it --

This won't end with simply taking away Social Security and Medicare --

they seek slave labor -- and have "harvested slave labor all over the globe" -- !!


The only way the rightwing can rise is via political violence -- and we've had

50 years of it out in the open!!

[harmonicon]

16. not this shit again...

just like last time, for some crazy reason, we have child-labor apologists. I don't fucking care if your grandfather worked in the coal mines when he was 10 years old. It doesn't make it ok.

When you picked berries as a kid for no pay, I assume you don't mean that you were owned as a slave. I picked berries too. I liked it. I also fed calves and tipped hay bails, etc. However, I never did this on farms that weren't my family's, and never as a job to support my family. Shit... I also vacuumed, but I wasn't a domestic servant. I still do loads of stuff for no play; cooking, cleaning, etc. Yet I don't think that's a justification for child labor or slavery.

[pnwmom]

18. I agree. No one here would dream of romanticizing slavery, but child labor is okay. n/t

[crunchie]

22. I picked berries in the summer

month's, got on the "berry truck" at about 5am., got to the field at 6am. Five cents a quart for strawberries and seven cents for raspberries. Just me and my brothers on a truck with all migrant workers. Mom believed it would give us some cultural enlightenment, as I was raised in a small, mostly Caucasian community in northern Michigan. I was kind of jealous of the Mexican migrants because they really out picked me. They would make $20.00/$30.00 a day and I would come home with about $2.00, after paying for my ride and buying a coke. I was about 10 years old.
It was extra money for us and not a job, I think that's the difference.

[FlaGranny]

24. From the time I was old enough to remember

I used to go with my mother every summer to pick blueberries. So did a lot of other kids. I really wouldn't call it working though. We got our pails tied on and we picked a few pints, sometimes maybe even an entire tray of blueberries. For pay we got tickets that could be turned in for cash or we could take them to the snack stand that the berry farmer owned and trade the tickets for sodas and candy. It was the country and the mothers picked for extra cash and if they wanted to pick berries they HAD to bring their kids along. We kids had a grand time. Our mothers all told us that when we heard someone call out the word "inspector" we should all stop picking berries and find something else to do. If a stranger showed up the word got passed along and we would scatter. On the way home we'd stop at the local lake and clean up. I ate way more berries than I picked until I was 7 or 8 and then my picking caught up and passed my eating. I remember the fun way more than I remember the dirt and heat. The chiggers could get to you though. I'll never forget the lady who would suddenly start singing "Maresy doats and doesy doats and little lambsy divey. A kiddley divy too, wouldn't you?" Ah, the trip down memory lane.

I said all that to say that all kids in the fields aren't the same. If you "let" the kids do it it's not the same as "forcing" them and I know it can be hard to tell the difference at first glance.

[Kennah]

26. So all the youthful romance aside ...

... people still think it's OK for a 5 year old to work a commerical farm, not even getting paid minimum wage, and supplying Wal-Mart?

This ain't the fucking family farm.

[fasttense]

30. Picking berries under your parent's or relatives supervision is a whole lot different

than picking berries as a worker.

On the family farm you have people who love you and want to protect you. So, they are not likely to work you without water, shade, food or bathroom facilities. Most relatives will look out for the kids and keep them away from poisonous chemicals and dangerous equipment used on most farms.

I appreciate that young kids like to make money but allowing them onto an industrial farm where even adults can lose hands or fingers, where poisonous chemicals are sprayed in the field next to where you are picking, where the nearest shade, water and medical care is miles away, is a situation ripe for abuse.

If your parent is there it might be safer for you but pickers have quotas. How can a parent supervise their children while trying to meet the demands of the boss? Even if the children are standing on the field's edge they will get covered in insecticide drifts from the other field.

I use to pick flowers in Florida with immigrants. Some would bring their children. I'll never forget how while I was lying on a flat bed truck putting in plants the sprayer was dumping poison over the fields next to us. I ended up soaking wet from it and so did the little girls playing on the edge of the field.

I quit the next day.

[jtuck004]

32. I did a bit more reading of the stories on this, and the trade magazine is urging

growers to send workers home that show up with their children. "Even if it's your best worker...".

So the gov may get $73K - being appealed. And people who need work lose income.

I have real problems if the owner is getting increased income. The kids and parents are being shortchanged and taken advantage of, just for a little income. But the reason we have child labor laws is because we want a stronger country and a better chance for kids than they would have if they are used up and thrown away by selfish little business owners.

Not because they are working in a field - that could be a great classroom. The kids report to a sitter who teaches sustainable agriculture, math, bookkeeping, reading (keeps books on labor history around to teach reading from), paid for by contributions from the growers. They would be safe, their parents could work. Wonder if they would be field workers or farm owners when they grow up?

I highly suspect a few seasons of that would turn out a better kid than a few of the little snots across the street, with people that come in and spray for weeds on the playground, a grounds crew that sets out sprinklers from their little gas-powered work cart, baseball, football, band camp in the summer - I can't imagine how much gas is burned by all these parents chauffeuring their kids around. It's a public middle school, and they have no idea how lucky they are. For now.

A few years ago 40% didn't graduate. Now it has improved to "only" 30%. Maybe they need more groundskeepers. Or maybe fire them and get the kids out picking weeds and grooming the baseball field. Or maybe the schools are out of date for the times. (But I digress).

[udbcrzy2]

33. My husband picked cotton in Arkansas

[alp227]

34. how about employing unemployed adult US citizens

instead of children or imported Latin Americans? Thanks for posting.