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Dear John,
Big corporations are exploiting and endangering children with their labor law violations. This has to stop.
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) prohibits minors from working in dangerous jobs such as meatpacking -- yet earlier this month, when the Feds raided a poultry plant in Kidron, Ohio, they discovered more than two dozen children illegally employed in dangerous jobs.
The Department of Labor released a report on the fiscal year that just ended, 2022-23, that showed a shocking increase of 88% in child labor violations since 2019 -- a total of 5,792 children working in violation of child labor laws.
These increases coincide with a movement in some 13 states by corporations and right-wing politicians, like Arkansas’ Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, to ease child labor laws, pushing more children into harm’s way.
Child labor laws exist for a reason: to protect minors who are not able to decide for themselves the risks and benefits they are willing to take, and who may lack the ability to physically and emotionally protect themselves from the dangers to which they are being exposed. Join the petition to Congress: Pass the Stop Child Labor Act today!
The FLSA’s fines are weak and not compelling to companies that find it easier to pay the fines and exploit vulnerable children than to comply with the laws. Operators of five McDonald’s locations in Pennsylvania were fined only $26,000 this week for making 34 children work during school hours, more than 8 hours a day, and before 7AM and after 9PM. That’s less than $1,000 per abused child!
The bipartisan Stop Child Labor Act, introduced by Senators Brian Schatz and Todd Young, would take on these abuses head-on.This proposed legislation would increase the civil penalties for breaking child labor laws to a minimum of $5,000 and maximum of $132,270 for routine violations. If a violation causes death or serious injury to a child, the fines would increase, to a minimum of $25,000 and maximum of $601,150. These fines more closely fit the magnitude of the injustice involved in these violations.
In addition, repeated or willful violations of child labor laws would result in criminal penalties, including a fine of up to $50,000 and a year in jail. The systematic abuse of children for corporate or personal profit should carry the weight of criminal charges.
Further, children who have been harmed by child labor law violations would be able to seek compensation. And grant funds would be provided for training employers in how to recognize, avoid, and prevent violations. Finally, the bill would create a permanent National Advisory Committee on Child Labor.
This legislation would provide an essential xxxxxx against the rising tide of new and proposed laws across the country that allow expansions of child labor into dangerous and unhealthy fields and timeframes. Children of color and children in low-income families are especially at risk of falling prey to these regressive laws that worsen racial and income inequality while putting children at physical risk.
Sign on today as a grassroots co-sponsor of the Stop Child Labor Act.
Without effective legislation, the abuse of children in dangerous and inappropriate workplaces will continue to increase unabated. Thank you for signing on and urging Congress to pass this vital bill that can protect the lives of vulnerable children.
Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action
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