Tag Archive for: US Agriculture

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Filmmaker SusanMacLaury: Protections For Farmworker Children Matter More Than Ever (Link to Free Film Screening during the last week of March 2024))

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By Susan MacLaury, March 23, 2024  –

In 2010, Shine Global released the feature-length documentary, The Harvest (La Cosecha), about three young migrant farmworkers – Zulema, Perla and Victor -who traveled across the US with their families harvesting several crops. They lived in substandard housing, worked without minimum wage protections, and routinely missed weeks of school which severely affected their academic performance.

The Harvest was Shine Global’s second film. Given the success of our first – War/Dance – I erroneously assumed that finding the funds to make it would be no problem. I was wrong. It wasn’t until actor/social activist Eva Longoria joined us as an Executive Producer of the film that we were able to complete it. Eva was already supporting the efforts of Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez, and was a champion for farmworkers. Eva and her colleagues raised 80% of the film’s funding through generous donors.

She not only helped financially, but also joined us in DC to host a screening of the film for members of Congress where she supported passage of the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment in Agriculture (CARE) Act, authored by then representative Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA). The bill would have amended the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), significantly increasing protections for child farm workers by “bringing the age and work hour standards set under FLSA for all other forms of child labor.”  Rep. Roybal-Allard brought this bill to committee multiple times over the years but it never made it to the floor for a vote.

Reform was needed then. It is needed now.

Since 2015, US child labor violations have increased 300% and in the last 3 years alone instead of protecting children, 28 states have sought to roll back child labor laws. In response to this, Shine Global has joined more than 50 organizations in the Campaign to End US Child Labor to call for urgent reform to protect children from dangerous exploitation in the workplace.

Last week (March 21, 2024), Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) has picked up the mantle and introduced the CARE Act of 2024 to increase  civil and criminal monetary penalties for violations and provide greater protection for workers of all ages to pesticide exposure. A similar House bill now has 45 co-sponsors. Please reach out to your legislators to let them know your opinion and urge them to protect children working in agriculture.

Shine Global is proud to screen “The Harvest (La Cosecha)” for free online for National Farmworker Awareness Week, March 25-31. Audiences can register at this link to watch the film at any point during the week (ending March 31, 2024)to learn more about the conditions for farmworker children and why they urgently need to be protected. Shine Global has created accompanying multi-disciplinary curriculum for grades 7-12 and community discussion guides that are free to download from our website: https://shineglobal.org/for-educators

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International Labour Organizaton (ILO) Experts Comment on U.S. Government Efforts to Implement Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor

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[Adopted in 2016 and published in 2017]
 
Articles 4(1), 5 and 7(1) of the Convention. Determination of types of hazardous work, monitoring mechanisms and penalties. Hazardous work in agriculture from 16 years of age. The Committee previously noted that section 213 of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) permits children aged 16 years and above to undertake, in the agricultural sector, occupations declared to be hazardous or detrimental to their health or well-being by the Secretary of Labor. The Government, referring to Paragraph 4 of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Recommendation, 1999 (No. 190), stated that Congress considered it as safe and appropriate for children from the age of 16 years to perform work in the agricultural sector. However, the Committee noted the allegation of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) that a significant number of children under 18 years were employed in agriculture under dangerous conditions, including long hours and exposure to pesticides, with risk of serious injury. The Committee also took note of the observations of the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) and the United States Council for International Business (USCIB) that section 213 of the FLSA, which was the product of extensive consultation with the social partners, is in compliance with the text of the Convention and Paragraph 4 of Recommendation No. 190.
 
The Committee took note that the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) continued to focus on improving the safety of children working in agriculture and protecting the greatest number of agricultural workers. In addition, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) increased its focus on agriculture by creating the Office of Maritime and Agriculture (OMA) in 2012, which is responsible for the planning, development and publication of safety and health regulations covering workers in the agricultural industry, as well as guidance documents on specific topics, such as ladder safety in orchards and tractor safety.
 

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