Kids belong in school, not work.
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Dear Friend,

For 100 years Mickey Mouse has been an image of childhood, innocence, and
laughter. But now it's in danger of being associated with rolling back
child labor protections...YIKES?!

[ [link removed] ]*Tell Mickey to use his squeaky, but mighty voice to tell the Florida
Restaurant and Lodging Association (FRLA) to stop advocating for rolling
back child labor protections and publicly remove FRLA’s support from HB
49. 

Yes, you read that right. Rolling BACK child labor laws meant to protect
children’s health, workplace welfare, and education.

Here’s the cheese: The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association (of
which Disney is a prominent member) is lobbying hard to pass HB 49, a bill
that rolls back labor protections for children because they want more kids
working in the service industry without protections from working more than
8 hours a day - DURING SCHOOL HOURS. It gets worse - more on that below.
[1,2] 

[ [link removed] ]As parents who spend our money on Disney movies, games, toys, and theme
parks we need to SIGN ON to urge Mickey Mouse to take a stand with us and
protect our kids from bad laws!

Wondering what this bill does? It’s definitely got some evil villain
vibes. 

According to an analysis from the Florida Policy Institute, this
legislation (as of January 9th 2024) would allow employers to schedule our
teenage kiddos (16 and 17 year olds) for unlimited hours, without breaks,
overnight, and for more than six days in a row — whether during school
months or not. [ [link removed] ] HB 49 also preempts (or blocks) local governments from
passing curfews for teen workers that are stricter than state law. And now
there is a Senate counterpart, so the Legislature is serious about these
proposals. Specifically, the HB 49 rollbacks for 16 and 17 year old teens
would:

* Allow employers to schedule them for more than 8 hours a day DURING
the school week, 
* Allow employers to schedule these teens (who would typically be in
school) for more than 30 hours per week when school is in session, 
* To put them on the schedule to work DURING SCHOOL hours and more than
6 days in a row, regardless of if school is in session,
* Allow employers to schedule these students before 6:30am or after 11pm
- even if there is school the next day, and
* Schedule these teens for more than four hours with a 30 minute break. 

I mean the numbers just don’t add up? When are these kids supposed to go
to school! 

They can’t. That’s the point. 

I don’t know about you, but I don’t think Mickey Mouse or Winnie the Pooh
would want our teens to miss school or drop out of school entirely to work
full-time before their time. No one’s going to be whistling while they
work then that’s for sure. 

[3]SIGN ON to tell Mickey Mouse and Disney to help keep our kids in school
learning, growing, and safe by opposing HB49 child labor protection
rollbacks! 

Even if you don’t live in Florida, trust me, this is still your fight.
This bill won’t necessarily just stay in Florida. 

Florida’s bad laws have a way of spreading to other states – like our book
banning laws that are now in other states across the nation. [ [link removed] ] In fact,
other states are already looking into it. [ [link removed] ] This is just the next in a
long line of attacks on our kids. First they took our kids diverse books,
then they passed laws to defund our kids' public schools, and now they are
putting corporate profits over our kids' education and well-being by
trying to encourage our teens to work full-time jobs before their time. 

Moms are TIRED. Tired of these attacks on kids. Our kids (from the
youngest to the teens) have the right to learn and grow without being
asked to be adults before their time. 

[4]Tell Mickey Mouse to be the hero of our story and help keep our kids in
school. 

**And then please forward this to other parents, friends, and neighbors so
Mickey Mouse can hear us loud and clear! 

Together, we will protect our kids’ right to grow and thrive, 

 

Nina, Ruth, Donna, Kristin, and the whole MomsRising.org & MamásConPoder
Team

 

References:

[1] [5]Florida lawmakers advance bill that would weaken child labor
protections for 16- and 17-year-olds, December 2023, Orlando Weekly 

[2] [ [link removed] ]Regulatory Reform & Economic Development Subcommittee, December
2023, Florida House of Representatives

[3] [ [link removed] ]Fast Facts: HB 49 Would Undo Decades of Child Labor Protections in
Florida, October 2023, Florida Policy Institute 

[4] [ [link removed] ]DeSantis’ book banning in schools spreads across nation, critics
say, May 2023, Orlando Sentinel  

[5]  [ [link removed] ]Some lawmakers propose loosening child labor laws to fill worker
shortage, May 2023, PBS Newshour


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