Entries by Reid Maki

Press Release: Schatz, Young Introduce New Legislation to Help Stop Child Labor

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[We’re sharing here a Press Release by Senator Schatz, 10/20/2023] Schatz, Young Introduce New Legislation to Help Stop Child Labor Bipartisan Bill Establishes New Criminal Penalties, Imposes New Steep Fines For Employers Who Violate Child Labor Laws WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) and Todd Young (R-Ind.) this week introduced new legislation to help stop illegal child labor. The bipartisan Stop Child Labor Act would increase maximum fines for violations, establish new criminal penalties, allow victims harmed by violations to file private lawsuits, and encourage collaboration between employers and government to stop child labor violations before they occur. “Right now, our laws are allowing some of the worst employers to get away with exploiting kids for labor with nothing more than weak fines,” said Senator Schatz. “Our bill will strengthen our child labor laws, hold bad employers accountable, and protect kids from this illicit practice.” “Recent data shows that child labor exploitation is not a thing of the past or a problem limited to the developing world. This bipartisan bill would strengthen our nation’s labor laws to better protect our children,” said Senator Young. This week, DOL released new data showing child labor violations at their highest level in two decades. In fiscal year 2023, violations soared to 5,792, an 88 percent increase from 2019. This is due to […]

The New York Times Magazine tells the riveting story of 14-year-old poultry worker Marcos and the traumatic injury he suffered

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Marcos was maimed while working the overnight cleaning shift at a Perdue slaughterhouse in rural Virginia–another amazing exposé New York Times reporter Hannah Dreier. Please follow this link to the story which was published on Sept. 18, 2023.  

U.S. DOL News Release: Court orders operators of 14 Bay Area Subway locations to pay employees nearly $1M in wages, damages; sell or shut down their businesses

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News Release/U.S. DOL/September 29, 2023 Labor Department finds employers endangered children, bounced paychecks, stole tips SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has ordered the owners and operators of 14 Bay Area Subway restaurants to pay employees nearly $1 million in back wages and damages after federal investigators found they directed children as young as 14 and 15 to use dangerous equipment and assigned minors to work hours not permitted by law; failed to pay employees their wages regularly, including by issuing them hundreds of bad checks; and illegally kept tips left by customers. In a rare action, the court’s order requires the owners to sell or shut down their businesses by Nov. 27, 2023, a term the department insisted on to resolve the case. The action comes after the department’s Wage and Hour Division found these and other violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act by John Michael Meza and his wife, Jessica L. Meza, who had franchise agreements with franchisor and operator Doctor’s Associates LLC to operate the restaurants in Antioch, Clayton, Concord, Cotati, Napa, Petaluma, San Pablo, Santa Rosa, Vallejo and Windsor. Investigators also found the employers interfered with the division’s review by coercing employees not to cooperate and threatening children who raised concerns or tried to exercise their legal rights. The department’s investigation also […]

Child Labor Personal Experience: Growing Up in the Fields

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by Jacqueline Aguilar, Child Labor Coalition intern   I grew up in a small rural area named Center, Colorado which has a population of about 2,000 people. Growing up my parents were always working in the fields, I remember my father coming home from work, and I would feel how raspy his hands were on my face. I would always ask myself, “Why are his hands so rough?” Eventually, I realized it was because of the hard work he did every day. In middle school, buying school clothes was difficult for my parents. I started working in the lettuce fields at the age of eleven with many of my friends. We would go in at 5:00 am and get out around 2:00 pm, my parents couldn’t take me to work because they had their own job to get to, so I would have to catch a ride with my supervisor at 4:30am and get home around 3:00 pm. Walking down those lettuce fields was draining physically, and mentally. It consisted of tired feet walking down the field with my blistered hands holding a bulky hoe and keeping an eye out on the lettuce heads making sure they grew the right way. Most days would start with the fields cold and wet with dew. I was often drenched in mud. By […]

Amazing, must-listen podcast….“Why Are States Loosening Child Labor Laws?” –New York Times child labor reporter Hannah Dreier and the CLC’s Norma Flores López on Roy Woods Jr. video podcast, “Beyond the Scenes – The Daily Show”

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Amazing, must-listen podcast….   “Why Are States Loosening Child Labor Laws?” —New York Times child labor reporter Hannah Dreier and the CLC’s Norma Flores López on Roy Woods Jr. video podcast, “Beyond the Scenes – The Daily Show”. [Recorded 4/23/23].