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PRESS RELEASE: Passage of House bill sends message that Congress does not care about child farmworker safety

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CHILD LABOR COALITION & FIRST FOCUS CAMPAIGN FOR CHILDREN PRESS RELEASE

For immediate release: July 27, 2012
Contact: Reid Maki, (202) 207-2820, reidm@nclnet.org; Ed Walz, (202) 657-0685, edw@firstfocus.net

The First Focus Campaign for Children and the Child Labor Coalition (CLC) today expressed their grave concern over Wednesday’s passage of HR 4157 by the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill, passed by voice-vote and without proper hearings or approval through the normal committee process, would prohibit the U. S. Department of Labor (DOL) from issuing occupational child safety rules for children working in agriculture—rules that were withdrawn by DOL earlier this year. As Congress debated HR 4157, the CLC weighed in with a letter urging members to vote against the legislation.

“At a time when the nation is reeling from a national tragedy and millions of Americans are struggling to survive in a depressed economy, the House of Representatives focused its limited time on passing legislation that bars already withdrawn regulations,” said Child Labor Co-Chair Sally Greenberg, executive director of the National Consumers League. “When DOL withdrew these child safety rules in April, it said that it would not re-issue the proposed rules during the remainder of the Obama Administration. By passing HR 4157, the House is wasting resources on a non-issue and sending out a dangerous message: the House of Representatives does not care about the health and safety of children working in agriculture.”

“When the facts are crystal clear and children’s lives are on the line, Congress should put kids ahead of politics,” said First Focus Campaign for Children President Bruce Lesley. “The American people deserve better from Congress than snap decisions on life-and-death issues for kids with no substantive debate.”

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NCL’s Five Most Dangerous Jobs 2012 Report Helps Teens Stay Safe at Work

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It’s that time of year again in the United States: teens are pounding the pavement looking for summer work. Having a job can be an important part of youth development, but the worst work – the ones on this year’s Five Most Dangerous Teen Jobs – should be avoided in some cases or accepted with caution in others.

Jobs for teens are an important part of youth development, providing both needed income and teaching valuable work skills. According to research, teen jobs increase future earnings and also decrease the likelihood the working teen will drop out.

Since 2000 the percentage of working teens has fallen 40 percent—in part because the federal government has cut back on funding for youth programs and in part because of the global economic recession. Job competition may lead working teens who are desperate for work to seek jobs that are unsafe for them.

The National Consumers League (NCL) provides its annual update of its Five Most Dangerous Jobs for Teens to help teenagers and their parents make safer job choices and to increase awareness of job dangers they may encounter.

NCL is also concerned that some states a few states weakened child protections in 2011, and the federal government withdrew proposed rules that would have made work for teens in agriculture much safer.

Each day in America, 12 to 13 workers of all ages die and some of the victims are youth workers. In 2010, 34 workers under 18 died in the workplace—nearly half of those workers (16) were under 16 years old. In the 18 to 19 age group, another 56 workers died.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) estimates that each year about 146,000 youth sustain work-related injuries. That translates to 400 young workers injured on the job every day.

NCL’s Five Most Dangerous Jobs for Teens in 2012: (full report appears at the end of this article)

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Schooling and Conflict

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In underdeveloped countries, every additional year of schooling reduces an adolescent boy’s risk of becoming involved in conflict by 20 percent. According to one study, a country that enrolls more than 87 percent of its children in school decreases its risk of conflict by nearly 75 percent.