Child Labor Coalition Applauds Senator Luján’s Reintroduction of the CARE Act

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Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, reintroduced the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment in Agriculture (CARE) Act to ensure child protections and safety standards for children in the agricultural workforce. This legislation is endorsed by the Child Labor Coalition (CLC).

“Children have their whole futures ahead of them, and our country must do more to protect those working in the agriculture industry,” said Senator Luján. “Across the country, thousands of children work under hazardous conditions in the agriculture sector, putting their health and education at risk. That’s why I’m reintroducing the CARE Act to raise the standard and bring our agricultural labor laws in line with other industries to better protect children and improve their working conditions.”

The CARE Act takes steps to improve child worker safety by adjusting the age and work hour standards for children in agriculture to the standards for children working in all other industries. Among its other provisions, the bill would also increase the civil and criminal monetary penalties for child labor violations and provide children with greater protection against pesticide exposure.

“Our nation has a moral duty to protect every working child,” said CLC Chair Sally Greenberg.  “Farmworkers remain among the most exploited and unprotected workers in America. Children deserve safe working conditions and the same rights afforded to young workers in every other industry. Updating these antiquated laws is long overdue.” 

Full text of the bill can be found here.

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About the Child Labor Coalition

The Child Labor Coalition is a leading alliance of 38 labor, human rights, consumer, faith-based, and child advocacy organizations working to eradicate child labor in the United States and around the world. Together, coalition members advance policies and partnerships that protect children from exploitation and promote opportunities for every child to thrive. 

 

Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi to Keynote a Conversation on Ending Global Child Labor

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Media Contact: Lisa McDonald, Vice President of Communications, 202-207-2829

Washington, DC – Nobel Peace Laureate and global child rights advocate Kailash Satyarthi will join leaders in child labor advocacy, academia, diplomacy, and international development on Monday, October 5, for “Solving Global Child Labor with Compassion,” a public event hosted by the National Consumers League’s (NCL) Child Labor Coalition at American University’s School of International Service. Register here.

Event Details

When: Monday, October 5, 2026, 2:30-4:00 p.m.

Where: Abramson Family Founders Room, School of International Service, American University, 3468 Nebraska Ave. NW, Washington, DC

Keynote: Kailash Satyarthi, Nobel Peace Laureate and Founder of the Satyarthi Movement for Global Compassion

Admission: Free and open to the public; registration required.

The program will open with remarks from Rachel Sullivan Robinson, Interim Dean of American University’s School of International Service, and Sally Greenberg, Co-Chair of the Child Labor Coalition.

Following Satyarthi’s keynote, Judy Gearhart, Research Professor at the Accountability Research Center at American University’s School of International Service, will moderate a panel examining the continuing challenge of global child labor and approaches to addressing it. Satyarthi will be joined on the panel by Tim Ryan, Chairman of the Global March Against Child Labor, and Jon Jacoby, Chief Executive Officer of GoodWeave International.

The event comes as the international community continues working toward the elimination of child labor worldwide. The discussion will explore the role of compassion in confronting child exploitation and consider how advocates, governments, businesses, researchers, and consumers can contribute to protecting children and advancing their rights.

NCL has a longstanding commitment to combating exploitative child labor through its coordination of the Child Labor Coalition (CLC), whose 38 member organizations work to protect children from hazardous and exploitative work in the United States and abroad.

Satyarthi has been a longtime partner in the global movement to eliminate child labor and has previously joined NCL and CLC initiatives to advance children’s rights.

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About the Child Labor Coalition

The Child Labor Coalition, co-chaired by the National Consumers League and the American Federation of Teachers, brings together organizations committed to combating exploitative child labor and protecting the health, safety, education, and well-being of working minors.