Entries by Reid Maki

COVID-19: How Do We Deal with the “Ticking Time Bomb” in Agriculture?

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It’s been referred to as a “ticking time bomb” – the Corona virus and its potential impact on farmworkers– the incredibly hard-working men, women, and children who our fruits and vegetables and provide other vital agricultural work. Farmworkers perform dirty back-breaking work and are notoriously underpaid for it and at great risk from COVID-19. Farmworker advocacy groups that NCL works with or supports like Farmworker Justice, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, the United Farmworkers of America (UFW), the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, and a national cadre of legal aid attorneys have spent weeks strategizing about ways to protect the community which they know is especially vulnerable to the virus. Advocates have reached out to administration officials and Congress for desperately needed resources to support impoverished farmworker with little to show for it. Despite their essential contributions to the economy, farmworkers have been cut out of the emergency relief packages.  The Trump administration has even revealed plans to lower pay for agricultural guest workers who sacrifice home and family to come to the U.S. to perform arduous farm labor. Advocates fear that decreasing guest worker wages would drive down low wages for farmworkers already living and working in the U.S. Farmworkers are poor, with extremely limited access to healthcare. Their poverty often means they work through their illnesses. The workers often […]

COVID-19 and Child Labor

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COVID-19 and Child Labor by Verité, an organization that improves working conditions worldwide through a network of over 120 employees, consultants, and partners. As is the case in most crises, the most vulnerable in society will feel the worst impacts of COVID-19. Children, especially those from poor communities, are at particular risk of exploitation as parents fall deeper into poverty during the ensuing economic crisis and face appalling choices about how to sustain their families. Some may feel forced to send their children into the labor market while others seeking employment risk being trafficked for forced labor. COVID-19 may increase the risk of child labor in the following ways: Schools are closing for indefinite periods of time Children lacking access to the internet and technology, especially those from impoverished and rural communities, will be unable to participate in remote self-guided learning during school closures. In addition to the immediate loss of learning, some students may decide to drop out of school permanently. Experience shows that children and youth not enrolled in school are at a much higher risk of child labor. When schools reopen, parents without jobs may not have the money to pay for school fees, supplies, and uniforms. Freedom of movement is increasingly restricted This makes it more difficult for community leaders, social workers, and civil society organizations to monitor and […]

After 20 Years of Little Results, New Approaches are Needed to End Child Labor in the Cocoa Sector

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Here at the National Consumers League we are very proud that we’ve been a leader in the fight to end child labor since our founding in 1899. Thrity one years ago, we established the Child Labor Coalition (CLC), which merges the resources of nearly 40 groups that are committed to the fight to eliminate child labor. The CLC brings together several major unions and a variety of child rights and human rights groups to perform child labor advocacy. In the last few years, the coalition has focused increasing energy on child labor in cocoa.  In 2001, news broke that cocoa–the main ingredient in chocolate–was being produced, in part, by large numbers of children who were trapped in the worst forms of child labor in West Africa. An alarmed U.S. Congress decided to act.  First, it threatened to mandate labels on candy bars to help consumers purchase child-labor-free chocolate. The chocolate industry fought hard to derail the labeling system. In its place, Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) launched a multi-stakeholder initiative called the Harken-Engel Protocol. Eventually, it brought together the chocolate industry, the governments of Ghana and the Ivory Coast (where 70 percent of the world’s cocoa was produced) and the U.S. Department of Labor to try to tackle the problem. Over the next decade, over $70 […]

Boy Jockeys in Indonesia Risk Injury and Death

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By Reid Maki, National Consumers League and Child Labor Coalition I didn’t quite believe my eyes when I saw the  New York Times headline: “For Indonesia’s Child Jockeys, Time to Retire at 10, After 5 years of Racing.”  The story, written and photographed by Adam Dean, revealed that child jockeys in Indonesia’s island of Sumbawa as young as 5 are racing horses and getting hurt in the process. The cultural practice is entrenched and boy jockeys are getting younger each year. “In the late ‘90s, jockeys were usually aged from about 10 to 14 years old, but then we found the lighter jockeys to be faster, and now they are aged from about 6 to 10, Fahrir H.M. Noer, a deputy chairman of one of the races, told reporter Dean.   As an advocate who has followed child labor closely for 20 years, I was not surprised that young children might do something dangerous. More than one million children around the world are engaged in mining, which is extremely hazardous. We’ve seen photos of children in the Philippines who mine under water, connected to very precarious breathing tubes. Children work with toxic chemicals in leather tanning facilities; they help break apart giant ships. Nearly half the 152 million children trapped in child labor perform hazardous child labor.   In this […]

Why Won’t New York’s Governor Cuomo Ban the Nasty Pesticide Chlorpyrifos which Harms Children?

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  Something really curious is happening in New York State. In June, the New York Assembly passed a bill to ban the nasty pesticide chlorpyrifos that damages the development of children. That’s not the weird part. What’s surprising is that Governor Andrew Cuomo has not signed the bill, despite the fact that the NY Attorney General Letitia James joined five other attorneys general in suing the Trump administration’s federal Environmental Protection Agency because it overturned an Obama administration ban on the pesticide. “Chlorpyrifos is extremely dangerous, especially to the health of our children,” said Attorney General Letitia James. “Yet, the Trump Administration continues to ignore both the science and law, by allowing this toxic pesticide to contaminate food at unsafe levels. If the Trump EPA won’t do its job and protect the health and safety of New Yorkers, my office will take them to court and force them to fulfill their responsibilities.” “The governor shouldn’t be striving to protect some of the people some of the time, but should protect all of the people all of the time.” — Reid Maki The other states that joined the suit are Washington, Maryland, Vermont, Massachusetts, and California—the latter is the country’s largest agricultural producer (measured by cash receipts) and has decided to remove chlorpyrifos from the market in 2020. Studies have also […]

What has happened to nurturing and protecting children?

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The Child Labor Coalition is a non-partisan group that is concerned with the health and welfare of children in the U.S. and abroad. We were extremely critical of the Obama administration’s decision to withdraw proposed safety protections for children who work in agriculture—-known as “hazardous occupations orders.” We try to call it as we see it and ignore politics. We love any politician who puts children first. But today, we are stunned by the numerous attacks on children by the Trump administration and left wondering what horror is next?  Earlier this month, Customs and Border Patrol announced that it would stop education classes, legal aid, and even recreational activities for children at the border detention facilities housing immigrant children. Detained children have already been traumatized by their arduous journey to the U.S., their subsequent detention, and, in many cases, forced family separation. What Grinch would deny them schooling and playtime? Institutionalization and family separation constitute traumatic experiences that threaten the physical and mental health of children. The N.Y. Times reported on February 27th that the federal government had received more than 4,500 complaints of sexual abuse of children in immigration facilities over four years, including an increase since the Trump administration began separating families. Shouldn’t we focus our energies on reuniting families and easing the psychological damage that has already […]

Press Release: Rep. Roybal-Allard, 24 Cosponsors Reintroduce CARE Act to Strengthen Protections for Child Farmworkers

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[Released by Rep. Roybal-Allard] June 20, 2019 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Ben Soskin (202) 225-1766 Benjamin.Soskin@mail.house.gov Rep. Roybal-Allard, 24 Cosponsors Reintroduce CARE Act to Strengthen Protections for Child Farmworkers Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-40) led the reintroduction of her Children’s Act for Responsible Employment and Farm Safety (CARE), which raises labor standards and protections for farm worker children to the same level set for children in all other occupations.  The congresswoman announced the CARE Act’s reintroduction at a press event in the U.S. Capitol alongside advocates including Mónica Ramírez, the president of Justice for Migrant Women; Norma López, the chair of the Domestic Issues Committee for the Child Labor Coalition; and Brenda Alvarez-Lagunas, a former child farmworker who recently made national news for her valedictorian speech at her high school graduation.  Congresswoman Roybal-Allard reintroduced today’s bill with 24 House cosponsors.  “America is morally obligated to protect the rights, safety, and future of every child in our nation,” said Congresswoman Roybal-Allard.  “Sadly, our child agricultural workers do not enjoy these protections.  They currently face a double standard that lets them work at younger ages, for longer hours, and in more hazardous conditions than child workers in any other industry.  If we value our youth, if we support fair and decent treatment for all children, then we must pass […]

CARE Act’s 24 Co-sponsors in the 116th Congress

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The Children’s Act for Responsible Employment and Farm Safety was introduced by Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard on June 20, 2019 with 24 original cosponsors (bold). For the goals of the CARE Act, click here.   Nanette Diaz Barragán (CA-44) Karen Bass (CA-37) Tony Cárdenas (CA-29) David Cicilline (RI-01) Yvette Clarke (NY-09) Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) Ruben Gallego (AZ-07) Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18) Marcy Kaptur (OH-09) Barbara Lee (CA-13) Andy Levin (MI-09) Alan S. Lowenthal (CA-47) Stephen F. Lynch (MA-08) James P. McGovern (MA-02) Gwen Moore (WI-04) Grace F. Napolitano (CA-32) Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC) Mark Pocan (WI-02) Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (MP) Janice D. Schakowsky (IL-09) Adam B. Schiff (CA-28) José E. Serrano (NY-15) Albio Sires (NJ-08) Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24)

The $64,000 Question: How Can Consumers Avoid Supporting Companies that Exploit Farmworkers

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“Which companies are good? Which companies can I safely buy from without risk that their products are made by child labor or forced labor?” These are questions you get asked all the time when you work for a consumer group like the National Consumers League or if you help run an anti-child labor gorganization like the Child Labor Coalition (CLC). We would love to be able to answer these questions, but without constant monitoring, which is extraordinarily expensive and challenging, it’s extremely difficult to say which companies are doing a good job rooting out problems in their supply chains. A little help may be coming, however. Legislation in the Washington State Assembly would require large companies to report out on labor abuses in their agricultural supply chains. It’s well known that farm labor is one of the lowest paid, must vulnerable work forces in the U.S. Most farmers are great people. We don’t doubt that, but agricultural labor has many peculiarities which contribute to making labor exploitation more common. Much of farm labor is immigrant–a significant portion of the labor force are undocumented immigrants. “Farm workers risk being seen as disposable and invisible, stripped of their human dignity and worth,” said Indira Trejo, who works for the United Farm Workers, the legendary farmworker union that has worked to reduce labor […]

Cocoa Child Labor and Deforestation Strategy Session to be held December 18th

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Cocoa Strategy Session Announcement   Members of the Child Labor Coalition’s Cocoa Committee are convening a strategy session in Washington, DC on Tuesday, December 18, 2018. The meeting will take place at Fairtrade America, 1400 Eye Street, NW, suite 425.   The goal of the Cocoa Committee’s efforts is to reduce child labor, child trafficking and deforestation in West Africa, where more than two million children help produce cocoa, a critical ingredient in the chocolate that so many of us consume.   Mighty Earth’s Etelle Higonnet will provide a number of updates to participants, including a discussion of efforts by the European Union to enact legislation that would work to make cocoa supply chains more responsible.