Honor Cesar Chavez by protecting farmworker children

[Omaha Steve]

http://peoplesworld.org/honor-cesar-chavez-by-protecting-farmworker-children/

by: Pepe Lozano April 2 2010

March 31 was Cesar Chavez's birthday and as way to honor his commitment to farmworker rights, civil rights groups and labor leaders are urging supporters to call their lawmakers and ask them to endorse the Children's Act for Responsible Employment.

The measure, known as the CARE bill (HR-3564) aims to protect the safety, health and well-being of farmworker children. The bill would adjust the age and work hours for children in the agricultural business to the same standards as other sectors, ensuring equal protections for all children. It also has provisions to increase enforcement of child labor laws.

Currently 77 members of the House of Representatives have sponsored the legislation, but more are needed to get the bill passed.

Farmworker rights groups say working in agriculture is one of the most dangerous occupations in the U.S. and hundreds of thousands of children work in fields throughout the country. Child farmworkers as young as twelve often work 8-12 hour days under dangerous and grueling conditions, they note. They risk poisonous pesticides, injuries, and suffer fatalities at five times the rate of children working in other jobs. As a result of their long hours, they drop out of school at alarming rates and nationally barely half graduate from high school.

"As we celebrate the National Farmworker Awareness Week and Cesar E. Chavez Day, please take a moment to think of how the food got to your table," said Norma Flores, program director for the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Program's Children in the Fields Campaign in a recent statement.

Flores continued, "There are an estimated 400,000 children harvesting the foods that you eat and despite popular belief most are American children. All children, regardless of how they look or how they speak, are precious and deserve to be protected," she said.

FULL story at link.