Entries by Lisa McDonald

“I Was Losing Pieces of My Childhood,” Former Child Farmworker Urges Action to End Child Labor in Speech to Be Remembered

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By Reid Maki, Director of Child Labor Coalition The recent 6th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour included high-ranking officials from over 100 governments, the ILO, trade groups, and employer groups. I heard many speeches from child labor experts with decades of experience, but former NCL intern Jacqueline Aguilar, only 23 and a recent college graduate, gave by far the most compelling and poignant remarks. In 2023, Jacky interned for me at the Child Labor Coalition, a program of the National Consumers League.  She came to us through a remarkable program for former Migrant Head Start students led by the National Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Association, a member of the Child Labor Coalition. Jacky spoke on a panel with a half-dozen government officials and a trade unionist. She recalled her experiences in the United States as a child laborer in agriculture. Members of the Child Labor Coalition are concerned that, in any given year, there may be as many as 300,000 minors working in agriculture. They work legally at tasks most adults cannot do because of gaps in child labor law that apply to agriculture. These exemptions allow children to work unlimited hours in the fields (if they aren’t missing school) beginning at the age of 12. Jacky spoke from the heart about the impact child labor […]

Holding Corporations Accountable for Child Labor: NCL Endorses New Bipartisan Bill

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Media Contact: Lisa McDonald, Vice President of Communications, 202-207-2829  Washington, DC – Today, the National Consumers League’s (NCL) Child Labor Coalition (CLC) is proud to support Congresswoman Hillary Scholten’s reintroduction of her bipartisan Justice for Exploited Children Act alongside Congressman Ryan Mackenzie (PA-07). This legislation would increase both civil and criminal penalties for companies that violate child labor standards established in the Fair Labor Standards Act. Under current law, penalties for child labor violations are as low as $10,000 in some cases – and the maximum prison sentence is 6 months, even if violations result in the death or serious injury of a child. “The Child Labor Coalition and the National Consumers League both welcome—and endorse—Rep. Scholten’s and Rep. Mackenzie’s Justice for Exploited Children Act, with its significantly increased child labor fines,” said Reid Maki, director of child labor advocacy for the National Consumers League and coordinator of the Child Labor Coalition. “Just three years ago, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division cited low fine levels as an obstacle to its efforts to root out hazardous child labor in meatpacking factories. It has been clear that current child labor fine levels are not sufficient to elicit the compliance of large corporations, with annual revenues of hundreds of millions of dollars or more. Fines must be significantly higher if we are to protect our children from dangerous workplaces.”  The Justice for Exploited Children Act would update […]

Major Child Labor Victory in Ohio, Governor DeWine Vetoes Senate Bill 50

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Washington, DC – Today, the National Consumers League’s Child Labor Coalition is very pleased to announce a significant victory in our fight to strengthen child labor laws in Ohio. Governor Mike DeWine has vetoed SB 50, legislation that would have weakened Ohio’s child labor protections by allowing 14- and 15-year-olds to work until 9 p.m. on school nights.    “The Child Labor Coalition, in partnership with Policy Matters Ohio and the Economic Policy Institute, strongly urged this veto, and we commend additional allies—including the Ohio AFL-CIO and many other organizations—who stood up to protect the well-being and educational success of Ohio’s youth,” said CLC Director, Reid Maki. “We are grateful to the Governor for bravely bucking the legislature and putting the interests of teens before profits and will continue to advocate for our nation’s children.”    Last month, NCL lead numerous advocacy organizations in writing a letter to Ohio Governor Mike DeWine urging him to veto Senate Bill 50, the legislation would have allowed 14- and 15-year-olds in Ohio to work on school nights until 9 p.m., extending the current cutoff from 7 p.m. It is an additional danger to our nation’s most vulnerable to be out late while partaking in jobs that put their safety at risk.   “Learning to work is an essential part of growing up.  Businesses across Ohio each day give young people the opportunity to learn the so-called soft skills that will serve them well when they become adults.  In analyzing this bill, it is important to define what it would do and what it would not do,” said Governor DeWine. “I believe it unwise to provide 14- and […]

Child Labor Coalition Applauds Introduction of the CARE Act of 2025 on Universal Children’s Day

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Washington, DC — Today, on World Children’s Day, Representative Raul Ruiz (CA-25) reintroduced the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment and Farm Safety (CARE Act) in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Child Labor Coalition (CLC) strongly supports this essential legislation, which modernizes outdated federal child labor laws and extends long-overdue protections to child farmworkers—among the nation’s most vulnerable laborers.  “Our nation has a moral duty to protect every working child,” said Reid Maki, Director of Child Labor Advocacy and Coordinator of the CLC. “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.”  The CARE Act closes loopholes that have long allowed children in agriculture to perform hazardous work at age 16—an age two years younger than what is required in all other sectors. It raises the minimum age for children to work on farms from 12 to 14, and it makes these critical changes while preserving long-standing family farm traditions by ensuring that new protections do not restrict children working on their parents’ farms.  Maki emphasized the deep historical harm caused by these outdated rules: “It’s astonishing that discriminatory loopholes allowing very young children to work 70- or 80-hour weeks in dangerous conditions have […]