Tag Archive for: Legislation

thumbnail

Congressman Morgan McGarvey Introduces Bill to Help USDOL Build Its Labor Inspectorate

[The following is a press release from Rep. McGarvey’s office dated December 06, 2023]

Congressman Morgan McGarvey Introduces Bill to Crack Down on Labor Rights Violations

WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 06, 2023) – Today, Congressman Morgan McGarvey (KY-03) introduced the Workers Protecting Our Wage Earners’ Rights Act, or Workers POWER Act, alongside Rep. Bobby Scott (VA-03), Ranking Member of the House Education & Workforce Committee, Congressional Labor Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Donald Norcross (NJ-01), and Rep. Greg Casar (TX-35). The bill will equip the Department of Labor with the resources needed to tackle federal labor law violations including child labor, wage theft, and workplace health and safety violations.

“Everyday working people are the ones who power this country, and they deserve to work with dignity, free from concerns of stolen wages or having their health and safety put at risk,” said Rep. Morgan McGarvey. “This bill creates a better future for our country’s workers by empowering the Department of Labor to crack down on bad actors engaging in conduct ranging from child labor violations to wage theft. I’m proud to lead my colleagues in the fight to prevent our workers from being exploited and will continue working to ensure every worker in our country makes good wages and has safe working conditions.”

The Workers POWER Act grew out of a federal investigation into several Louisville McDonald’s which were found in violation of child labor law and fined $212K by the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. The investigators uncovered numerous violations, including 305 minors working illegally and two 10-year-old children working as late as 2:00 a.m. Despite the best efforts of the hardworking federal investigators, reports of child labor have continued to make headlines while staffing shortages at the Wage and Hour Division remain pertinent due to underfunding.

This legislation improves the pipeline, capacity, and resources into the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). To do so, the legislation seeks to increase the slots in pipeline programs, incentivize recruitment and retention, promote reports on the needs of the Department of Labor to best enforce labor laws, and create a grant program to states to increase labor violations enforcement.

“The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) are an essential line of defense against wage theft, abusive child labor, and unsafe workplaces. Regrettably, these agencies and their staff have been left without the resources and support they need to fulfill DOL’s promise to workers. This is particularly dangerous at a time when unscrupulous employers are robbing workers of hard-earned pay and there is a surge in horrific incidents of child labor and workplace injuries and deaths,” said Ranking Member Scott. “The Workers POWER Act would help ensure that WHD and OSHA have access to a strong pipeline of talent and can provide their staff with the support they deserve.  We must invest in the individuals who dedicate themselves to protecting the rights and safety of American workers.”

“No worker should be subjected to unsafe and unhealthy working conditions. As a former electrician, I saw many friends and coworkers seriously injured and killed on the job due to dangerous and exploitative working conditions,” said Congressman Norcross, co-chair of the Labor Caucus. “I’m proud to join my colleagues in introducing the Workers POWER Act to empower the Department of Labor with the tools and resources it needs to enforce federal labor laws, protect workers, and crack down on exploitative labor practices. The health and safety of America’s workers remains one of my top priorities in Congress, and I will continue to work with both sides of the aisle to keep them safe and healthy.”

“Right now, people are being forced to work unsafe and dangerous jobs by some of the biggest corporations across the country,” said Congressman Casar. “We must increase the Department of Labor’s resources to help them tackle the increasing number of labor violations, hold these big corporations accountable, and protect U.S. workers for the long haul.”

Read more

thumbnail

201 Organizations Endorse Legislation (CARE Act) to Close Child Labor Loopholes that Endanger the Health, Safety and Educational Development of Farmworker Children

The Child Labor Coalition is reaching out for organizational endorsements of the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment and Farm Safety,  which would end exploitative child labor in U.S. agriculture. [The bill was introduced on Cesar Chavez Day, 3/31/2022 in the 117th Congress. We will post a bill number as soon as it is available.]

201 great national, regional, and state-based groups have endorsed this much-needed legislation.

We ask organizations to help us advance this vital legislation which would remove the exemptions to the Fair Labor Standards Act that allow children to work unlimited hours in agriculture at the age of 12; these exemptions also allow child farmworkers to perform hazardous work at the age of 16. A text of the bill can be found here.

The educational impact of child labor on U.S. farmworker children has been devastating. We estimate that two out of three children who work in the fields drop out of school.

The CLC’s press release explains why there is an urgent need to protect farmworker children and how the bill accomplishes this. Child farmworkers perform back-breaking work for long hours in excessive heat while they are exposed to pesticides and other dangerous agro-chemicals.

Organizations that wish to add their names to the list of endorsers, please email reidm@nclnet.org .

The 201 groups below have endorsed the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment and Farm Safety between 2019 and 2022:

Action for Children North Carolina
AFL-CIO
Alianza Nacional de Campesinas
Alliance for Justice 
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
American Federation of Teachers 
American Medical Women’s Association
Amnesty International USA 
Arkansas Human Development Corporation
Asian Americans Advancing Justice — AAJC
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance 
Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs 
Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers (AWPPW) 
Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, & Grain Millers  International Union 
Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, & Grain Millers  International Union, Local 351 (NM)
Bank Information Center
Be Slavery Free
Beyond Borders
Beyond Pesticides
Bon Appétit Management Company 
California Human Development 
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation 
Casa de Esperanza: National Latin@ Network for Healthy Families and Communities
CATA – Farmworkers’ Support Committee  (NJ, PA, MD)
Causa (OR)
Center for Childhood & Youth Studies, Salem State University  (MA) 
Center for Human Rights of Children, Loyola University
Center for Progressive Reform
Central Valley Opportunity Center (California)
Centro de los Derechos del Migrante
Child Labor Coalition 
Child Welfare League of America
Children’s Advocacy Institute, Univ. of San Diego School of Law (CA)
Children’s Alliance (Washington State) 
CLASP
Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking̶̶—CAST
Coalition of Immokalee Workers 
Coalition on Human Needs
Communications Workers of America 
Community Council of Idaho
Community Farm Alliance
Corporate Accountability Lab
CREA: Center for Reflection, Education and Action 
Delaware Ecumenical Council on Children and Families
Dialogue on Diversity 
Earth Ethics
Earth Justice
East Coast Migrant Head Start Project 
Episcopal Farmworker Ministry (NC)
Fairtrade America
Fair World Project
Families USA
Farm Labor Organizing Committee 
Farmworker and Landscaper Advocacy Project (IL)
Farmworker Association of Florida 
Farmworker Justice 
Feminist Majority Foundation
First Focus Campaign for Children 
Food and Water Action
Food Chain Workers Alliance 
Food Empowerment Project
Food Policy Action Education Fund
Food Tank
Friends of the Earth
Futures Without Violence
General Federation of Women’s Clubs 
Girls Inc.
Global Campaign for Education–US
Global Fairness Initiative
Global March Against Child Labour
GoodWeave
Green America
Hispanic Affairs Project (Colorado)
Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) 
Hispanic Federation 
Human Agenda
Human Rights Watch 
Human Trafficking Legal Center
Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility
International Bar Association’s Institute of Human Rights 
International Brotherhood of Teamsters 
International Initiative to End Child Labor 
International Justice Mission
International Labor Rights Forum 
International Rights Advocates
Jobs with Justice
Justice for Migrant Women
Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation
Kentucky Equal Justice Center
Kentucky Youth Advocates 
Labor Council for Latin American Advancement–LACLAA
La Semilla Food Center (NM & TX)
Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund – LALDEF (NJ)
Lawyers for Good Government
League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
Learning Disabilities Association of America
Learning Disabilities Association of Maine
Legal Aid Justice Center (VA)
Lideres Campesinas
MANA, A National Latina Organization 
Marshfield Clinic Health System 
Maryland Pesticide Network
Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health (Mass COSH)
Media Voices for Children 
MEO (HI)
Michigan Migrant Legal Assistance Project
Mighty Earth
Migrant Clinician’s Network 
Migrant Justice // Justicia Migrante
Migrant Legal Action Program 
Motivation, Education, and Training, Inc. (LA, MN, ND, NM, TX, WY)
NAACP 
National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP)
National Association of State Directors of Migrant Education 
National Center for Farmworker Health
National Consumers League 
National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH)
National Council of Jewish Women
National Domestic Workers Alliance
National Education Association 
National Employment Law Project (NELP) 
National Farm Medicine Center
National Farm Worker Ministry 
National Immigration Law Center
National Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Association  
National Organization for Women 
National Partnership for Women and Families
National Women’s Law Center
NC Field (NC)
New Labor (NJ)
New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty
New Mexico Voices for Children 
North Carolina Council of Churches (NC)
North Carolina Justice Center (NC)
Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP)
Northwest Workers’ Justice Project (OR)
NYS American Academy of Pediatrics, Chapters 1, 2 & 3 (NY)
NYSUT — A Union of Professionals (NY)
Oregon Human Development Corporation 
PathStone (IN, NJ, NY, OH, PA, PR, VT, VA)
Pax Christi USA
PCUN—Pineros y Campesinos  del Noroeste (Northwest Treeplanters and Farmworkers)
Pesticide Action Network 
PhilaPOSH
Phoenix Zones Initiative
Physicians for Social Responsibility, New Mexico Chapter
Polaris
Pride at Work 
Progressive Democrats of America 
Project Protect Food Systems (CO)
Promise Institute for Human Rights, UCLA School of Law (CA)
Proteus Inc. (CA)
Public Citizen
Rainforest Action Network
Responsible Sourcing Network
Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC)
Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights 
Rukmini Foundation
Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA
Rural and Migrant Ministry (NY)
Rural Coalition
SafeJobs Oregon
SafeWork Washington
SER Jobs for Progress National, Inc.
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Shine Global
Shriver Center on Law and Poverty
Sierra Club
Social Accountability International
Society for the Advancement of Violence and Injury Research (SAVIR) 
SPLC Action Fund 
Student Action with Farmworkers (NC)
Telamon Corp./Transition Resources Corp. (AL, DE, GA, IN, MD, MI, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV)
Texas AFL-CIO 
Tony’s Chocolonely
Toxic Free NC (NC)
Trinity Human Rights Group
UFW Foundation
UnidosUS
Union of Concerned Scientists
United Farm Workers of America (UFW)
United Food & Commercial Workers International Union  
United Methodist Church – General Board of Church and Society 
United Methodist Women 
United Migrant Opportunity Services (WI, FL, MN, MO, TX)
United Nations Association of the National Capital Area (DC)
United Steel Workers
United States Hispanic Leadership Institute 
Vecinos Farmworker Health Program  (North Carolina)
Verité
Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy
Voices for Utah Children
Wasatch Clean Air Coalition (UT)
Washington Lawyers Committee
Wayne Action for Racial Equality (NY)
Western New York Council on Occupational Safety and Health (NY)
Western North Carolina Workers’ Center (NC)
Winrock International
Worker Justice Center of New York (NY)
Worksafe (CA)
thumbnail

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

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)

thumbnail

Statement by Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi on the passage of India’s Child Labour Amendment Bill of 2016

2014 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Kailash Satyarthi has long been a collaborator of the Child Labor Coalition

2014 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Kailash Satyarthi has long been a collaborator of the Child Labor Coalition

The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2016 is a missed opportunity.

I was hoping that today the elected leaders of our country will acknowledge that the value of freedom and childhood is greater than the value of a vote; that they would respond to the voices of the most exploited and vulnerable children. I had hoped that the first phase of my struggle of thirty-six years would culminate in the creation of a strong law and I would work with the Government for its effective implementation.

Despite its progressive elements, the lacunae in this Bill are self-defeating.

The definition of family and family enterprises is flawed. This Bill uses Indian family values to justify economic exploitation of children. It is misleading the society by blurring the lines between learning in a family and working in a family enterprise.

The Bill reinforces status quo in society by hindering socio-economic mobility of the marginalised and furthers the rigid norms of social hierarchy.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals have fixed targets for elimination of child labour and accomplishment of universal, inclusive education for children, rights which I had fought and advocated for.  As the world progresses towards this goal, India threatens to unravel the pace of progress by opening a back door for large number of children to enter workforce.

Children of any age, under the garb of family enterprises, can now legally work in brick kilns, slaughter houses, beedi making, glass furnaces and other hazardous labour.  Children have been failed again.

However, I applaud the strong concern raised by several parliamentarians across party lines in the Lok Sabha.

The Hon’ble Labour Minister, who is a dear friend and elder brother assured that my serious reservations would be accommodated. Especially the reduced list of hazardous occupations, the ambiguity regarding the definition of family and family enterprises and the weakening of the conviction through the provision to compound offences. However, the Bill passed by the Parliament today does not address any of these concerns.

But I am a hopeful man. I believe in the children, the young people, the mothers and fathers of this country. I know we stand together to end child labour.

I call upon the conscience of our nation.

Today, justice must rise above the law.

 

thumbnail

The Children’s Act for Responsible Employment (CARE Act) would help protect child farmworkers

Child farmworker Greccia Balli. Photo courtesy of Human Rights Watch.

Grecia Balli began working in farm fields when she was 10 years old. At age 14, she decided to drop out of school because her life as a migrant farmworker caused her to switch schools frequently, making it difficult for her to keep up academically. By age 17 she no longer dreamed of becoming a police officer, which had been her goal. Her life revolved around farm work.

Grecia is one of an estimated 400,000 to 500,000 children who work in U.S. agriculture. Interviewed for “Fingers to the Bone,” a film by U. Roberto Romano and Human Rights Watch, Grecia said she felt as though she had no choices as a farmworker. “You don’t feel the same as other kids.”

Child farmworkers aren’t treated the same as other children, either, under current U.S. labor laws. Seventy-five years after its passage, the antiquated Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 continues to regulate child labor, but fails to provide children performing agricultural work with protections equal to those afforded other children. The FLSA restricts children younger than 16 years from working for more than three hours on a school day, but a loophole for the agricultural sector means children as young as 12 can legally work unlimited hours on farms before or after school, and children of any age can work on small farms, with their parents’ permission. Children 14 and older can work on any farm, without parental consent. Child agricultural workers are also permitted to perform hazardous work at age 16, while hazardous work is strictly reserved for adults in all other sectors.

Agriculture is one of the most dangerous industries and the most dangerous for children, according to U.S. Department of Labor statistics. “Children working for wages on farms are exposed to many hazards—farm machinery, heat stroke, and pesticides among them—and they perform back-breaking labor that no child should have to experience,” says Child Labor Coalition (CLC) Co-Chair Sally Greenberg, the executive director of the National Consumers League, a consumer advocacy organization that has worked to eliminate abusive child labor since its founding in 1899. “Child farmworkers deserve the same protections that all other American kids enjoy.”

As Grecia’s story illustrates, schooling is also negatively impacted when children labor in agriculture. Many of them leave school before the term ends and return after it has begun. This can lead to academic difficulties. American Federation of Teachers Secretary-Treasurer and CLC Co-Chair Lorretta Johnson notes, “Fifty percent of children who regularly work on farms will not graduate from high school.” Child farmworkers have four times the national rate of school drop-out.

For more than a decade, the CLC has endeavored to address the issue of child agricultural labor and is working to help pass the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment (CARE), HR 2234, federal legislation re-introduced on June 12, 2013, by Representative Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA) to amend the FLSA.

Read more

thumbnail

California tells Apple, Others not to use Slaves

This isn’t a repeat from the 19th century

| by Nick Farrell in Rome | Filed in Business Apple California

California has introduced a law requiring Apple and thousands of others to make sure that slave labour isn’t part of the supply chain.

According to Reuters,  the law was written following allegations that Apple and Gap used forced labour to create their products.

The law will force manufacturers to explain how they guard against slavery and human trafficking throughout their supply chain. More than 3,200 major companies which do business in California  will be required to disclose steps they take, if any, to ensure their suppliers and partners do not use forced labour.

Companies will risk getting sued by the state attorney general if they flout that law.

Apple declined to comment on the new legislation but the law comes after controversy about working conditions at huge supplier Foxconn, where there were a string of suicides.

However, it’s not clear how this law could cause Apple much trouble as the last we heard, none of the workers at Foxconn were actually forced to work there.

Apparently the law defines child labour and slavery as forced labour. Apple had some problems with some of its suppliers using child labour, but said that it sorted that out. Read more

thumbnail

New Law Aims To Shine Light On Conflict Metals

By: Michele Kelemen

December 20, 2011

Delly Mawazo Sesete wants American consumers to know what is in their smart phones, computers and other electronics and where U.S. companies like Apple are getting those rare metals.

Sesete says that, without knowing, consumers in the U.S. could be fueling conflicts in Eastern Congo. The human rights activist is from a remote part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where armed groups are wreaking havoc and get much of their funding from mining rare metals.

“All the money that armed groups get from that exploitation is used to buy weapons and other ammunition so that they may cause injury to people … men slaughtered, pillage, rape of women and young girls,” he says.

Some of Sesete’s own family members have been forced from their homes in mineral rich areas of eastern Congo. The country’s riches, he says, have been a curse. Read more

thumbnail

New Child Labor Laws Expand Work Hours

[Waunakee Tribune]

Tyler Lamb
Regional Reporter

By Tyler Lamb

Regional Reporter

A provision inserted within Gov. Scott Walker’s biennium budget revised Wisconsin’s child labor laws July 1, effectively expanding the hours 16- and 17-year-olds can work.

The state’s child labor laws now mirror federal regulations, but is it a wise idea? Critics contend the change weakens labor laws and makes sure employers don’t have to pay a living wage.

Proponents challenge the measure will provide employers with the flexibility they need to stamp out the confusion between state and federal regulations.

Last month, a provision was placed into the governor’s budget bill by Joint Finance Committee co-chairs Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) and Rep. Robin Vos (R-Rochester) without a public hearing. The measure was later approved along party lines by the Republican-controlled Legislature.

Under the old rules, minors could not work more than 32 hours on partial school weeks; 26 hours during a full school week and no more than 50 hours during weeks with no classes.

The new law no longer limits either the daily or weekly hours, or the time of day minors may work. The measure also repealed a state law which prevented 16- and 17-year-olds from working more than six days a week. Teens of all ages are still banned from working during school hours. Read more

thumbnail

107 Groups Endorse the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment (CARE), which would extend child labor protections to many children working in U.S. agriculture.

The Children’s Act for

Responsible Employment

[CARE has been reintroduced as H.R. 2234 in the current session of Congress]

The CARE Act  has been endorsed by the following 107 organizations:

  • Action for Children North Carolina;
  • AFL-CIO;
  • Alliance for Justice;
  • American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee;
  • American Association of University Women;
  • American Federation of Teachers;
  • American Rights at Work;
  • America’s Promise Alliance;
  • Amnesty International USA;
  • Asian American Justice Center;
  • Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance;
  • Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs;
  • Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers  International Union;
  • Bon Appétit Management Company;
  • California Human Development;
  • California Institute for Rural Studies;
  • California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation;
  • Calvert Group Ltd.;
  • Center for Community Change;
  • Change to Win;
  • Child Labor Coalition;
  • Coalition of Immokalee Workers;
  • Coalition of Labor Union Women;
  • Children’s Alliance, Washington State;
  • Communications Workers of America;
  • Covenant with North Carolina’s Children;
  • Dialogue on Diversity;
  • East Coast Migrant Head Start Project;
  • El Centro Latino of Western North Carolina;
  • Farmworker Advocacy Network [North Carolina];
  • Farm Labor Organizing Committee;
  • Farmworker Association of Florida;
  • Farmworker Justice;
  • First Focus Campaign for Children;
  • Food Chain Workers Alliance;
  • Galen Films;
  • Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network;
  • General Federation of Women’s Clubs;
  • Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities;
  • Hispanic Federation;
  • Honest Tea;
  • Human Rights Watch;
  • Interfaith Worker Justice;
  • International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers;
  • International Brotherhood of the Teamsters;
  • International Initiative to End Child Labor;
  • International Labor Rights Forum;
  • Kentucky Youth Advocates;
  • Labor Council for Latin American Advancement;
  • Laborers’ International Union of North America;
  • La Fe Policy Research & Education Center of San Antonio;
  • Laredo, Texas (City Council)
  • Latino Advocacy Council of Western North Carolina;
  • Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
  • League of United Latin American Citizens;
  • Legal Momentum (formally the Women’s Legal Defense and Education Fund);
  • MAFO (The National Partnership of Rural and Farmworker Organizations);
  • Maine Children’s Alliance;
  • MALDEF—Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund;
  • MANA, A National Latina Organization;
  • Media Voices for Children;
  • Migrant Clinician’s Network;
  • Migrant Legal Action Program;
  • MomsRising;
  • NAACP;
  • National Consumers League;
  • National Education Association;
  • National Employment Law Project;
  • National Farmworker Alliance;
  • National Farm Worker Ministry;
  • National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth;
  • National Association of Consumer Advocates;
  • National Association of State Directors of Migrant Education;
  • National Collaboration for Youth;
  • National Foster Care Coalition;
  • National Hispanic Medical Association;
  • National Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Association;
  • National Organization for Women;
  • National Parent Teacher Association (PTA);
  • NCLR (National Council of La Raza);
  • North Carolina Council of Churches;
  • North Carolina Justice Center;
  • Oregon Human Development Corporation;
  • Oxfam America;
  • PathStone;
  • PCUN—Pineros y Campesinos  del Noroeste (Northwest Treeplanters and Farmworkers)
  • Pesticide Action Network North America;
  • Pesticide Education Center;
  • Pesticide Watch;
  • Pride at Work;
  • Public Education Network;
  • Ramsay Merriam Fund;
  • Results;
  • Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights;
  • Social Advocates for Youth;
  • Southern Poverty Law Center;
  • Student Action with Farmworkers;
  • Swanton Berry Farms;
  • Teaching and Mentoring Communities [Formerly Texas Migrant Council];
  • United Methodist Church – General Board of Church and Society;
  • United States Hispanic Leadership Institute;
  • United States Student Association;
  • United Farm Workers of America;
  • United Food & Commercial Workers International Union;
  • United Methodist Women;
  • Vecinos Farmworker Health Program; and
  • Voices for Ohio’s Children.

 

 
thumbnail

Bill eases Child Labor Restrictions in Maine

AUGUSTA, Maine—A bill to ease Maine’s child labor restrictions faces further House and Senate action after winning preliminary House approval.

Assistant Senate Republican Leader Debra Plowman’s bill would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to work longer hours and more often while school is in session.

Those teen-agers would be allowed to work as many as 24 hours rather than the 20 per week under current law. The bill would also increase from four to six the number of hours students can work on school days. The Sun Journal of Lewiston says the bill won preliminary House approval Wednesday.

A separate bill that sought to allow lower minimum wages for youths and remove limits on their school-week work hours has been killed.

Information from: Sun-Journal, https://www.sunjournal.com