John,

One hundred years ago, children used to work in dangerous jobs from mining to meat packing. But in 1938 that changed with the passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act―one of the last achievements of the New Deal, which limited child labor by setting the general age to enter the workforce at 16 years old, curtailing the number of hours children can work, limiting how late they can work on school nights, and protecting children from working in unsafe occupations.¹

But today, child labor violations are sharply on the rise, with the Department of Labor reporting an 88% increase in overall child labor violations between 2019 and 2023.²

In response, the Biden administration is implementing new enforcement strategies to protect children from labor exploitation. But those increased protections are under threat in upcoming government funding bills being released this week.³

Read Deborah’s email below for more details on child labor exploitation, then send a message to your members of Congress demanding no caps or cuts to the Department of Labor, which would directly impact the agency’s ability to protect children from labor exploitation.

The exploitation of children in the workforce overwhelmingly impacts children of color, immigrant children, and children in low-wage-earning families―putting children in danger and exacerbating racial and income inequality.

Thank you for taking action today to protect children from greedy, exploitative corporations.

Meredith Dodson
Senior Director of Public Policy, CHN Action

¹ Celebrating 75 Years of the Fair Labor Standards Act
² Policies for states and localities to fight oppressive child labor
³ Child Labor Coalition lauds Wage and Hour’s child labor enforcement strategies that includes creating a fund for victims and use of “hot goods” provisions

-- DEBORAH'S EMAIL --

John,

Illegal child labor is on the rise and the Biden administration is responding.

Last month, after weeks of surveilling two meatpacking and slaughterhouse facilities in Virginia and Iowa, the Department of Labor (DOL) held a janitorial service accountable for sending dozens of children to work overnight shifts, cleaning razor-edged machinery with high-powered hoses, scalding water, and dangerous chemicals.

One 16-year-old interviewed said that he’d been employed for two years, working as much as 54 hours each week, cleaning dangerous machines in overnight shifts, even when school was in session.¹

DOL investigators also found that a 13-year-old had suffered serious injury when his arm was mangled while cleaning a conveyor belt. The child was hospitalized for 12 days and missed months of school.

Under the Biden administration, the Department of Labor is implementing new enforcement strategies to protect children’s rights, including implementing a “victim’s fund” so that when teens are found to be working illegally, they have resources to move forward and reassemble their lives.²

DOL has also doubled the fines on corporations found to be exploiting children in the workplace.

This week, the House will release its proposed funding bill for the Department of Labor. We’re demanding the Appropriations Committee reject funding caps, which will limit the DOL’s ability to combat exploitative child labor.

Write to your members of Congress now urging additional funding for the Department of Labor to continue cracking down on child labor violations, not arbitrary funding caps―which serve to weaken labor protections for children.

Last year, a report from the Economic Policy Institute found that the number of minors employed in violation of child labor laws increased by 37% over the previous year.³ And in the same year, the DOL found 955 violations of child labor laws involving almost 5,800 children.⁴

Child labor violations in the U.S. workforce are sharply on the rise, in part because of some employers seeking to pay workers less in a tight labor market, an increasing number of states rolling back laws protecting children, and an industry-wide effort to eliminate such protections on both the state and federal level.

In fact, at least 10 states have introduced or passed laws rolling back child labor protections during the previous two years.⁵

Take action now and demand Congress reject funding cuts for the Department of Labor, which would directly impact the agency’s ability to protect children from labor exploitation.

Thank you for taking action today to protect our kids and our future.

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, CHN Action

¹ Company fined $650K for hiring children to clean meatpacking plants
² Child Labor Coalition lauds Wage and Hour’s child labor enforcement strategies that includes creating a fund for victims and use of “hot goods” provisions
³ Child labor laws are under attack in states across the country
⁴ THE EXPANDING SCOURGE OF CHILD EXPLOITATION IN THE U.S. WORKFORCE
⁵ America is divided over major efforts to rewrite child labor laws