State lawmakers want children to fill labor shortages, even in bars and on school nights
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Lawmakers in several states are embracing legislation to let children work in more hazardous occupations, longer hours on school nights and in expanded roles including serving alcohol in bars and restaurants as young as 14.
The efforts to significantly roll back labor rules are largely led by Republican lawmakers to address worker shortages and in some cases run afoul of federal regulations.
...a coordinated push to scale back hard-won protections for minors.
Lawmakers proposed loosening child labor laws in at least 10 states over the past two years...Some bills became law, while others were withdrawn or vetoed.
Legislators in Wisconsin, Ohio and Iowa are actively considering relaxing child labor laws to address worker shortages. Employers have struggled to fill open positions after a spike in retirements, deaths and illnesses from COVID-19 [Republicans are anti-vax] , decreases in legal immigration [Republicans are anti-immigration] and other factors.
Wisconsin lawmakers back a proposal to allow 14-year-olds to serve alcohol in bars and restaurants.
The Ohio Legislature is on track to pass a bill allowing students ages 14 and 15 to work until 9 p.m. during the school year with their parents’ permission. That’s later than federal law allows, so a companion measure asks the U.S. Congress to amend its own laws.
Psst, Republicans: Have Congress repeal/amend underage sex laws!
Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, students that age can only work until 7 p.m. during the school year. Congress passed the law in 1938 to stop children from being exposed to dangerous conditions and abusive practices in mines, factories, farms and street trades.
Republican Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a law in March eliminating permits that required employers to verify a child’s age and their parent’s consent. Without work permit requirements, companies caught violating child labor laws can more easily claim ignorance. Other measures to loosen child labor laws have been passed into law in New Jersey, New Hampshire and Iowa.
Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a law last year allowing teens aged 16 and 17 to work unsupervised in child care centers. The state Legislature approved a bill this month to allow teens of that age to serve alcohol in restaurants. It would also expand the hours minors can work. ...allowing children as young as 14 to briefly work in freezers and meat coolers, and extending work hours in industrial laundries and assembly lines.
How about kids working as strippers in clubs? Maybe kids could serve booze in between shifts on stage?
Teen workers are more likely to accept low pay and less likely to unionize or push for better working conditions...
“There are employers that benefit from having kind of docile teen workers,” Reid Maki, director of the Child Labor Coalition said, adding that teens are easy targets for industries that rely on vulnerable populations such as immigrants and the formerly incarcerated to fill dangerous jobs.
National business lobbyists, chambers of commerce and well-funded conservative groups are backing the state bills to increase teen participation in the workforce, including Americans for Prosperity, a conservative political network and the National Federation of Independent Business, which typically aligns with Republicans.
The conservative Opportunity Solutions Project and its parent organization, Florida-based think tank Foundation for Government Accountability, helped lawmakers in Arkansas and Missouri draft bills to roll back child labor protections, The Washington Post reported. The groups, and allied lawmakers, often say their efforts are about expanding parental rights and giving teenagers more work experience.
“There’s no reason why anyone should have to get the government’s permission to get a job,” Republican Arkansas Rep. Rebecca Burkes, who sponsored the bill to eliminate child work permits, said on the House floor. “This is simply about eliminating the bureaucracy that is required and taking away the parent’s decision about whether their child can work.”
Absolutely! And if the parent decides that her 14-year old would benefit from giving her "more work experience" as a prostitute, that could lead to a lucrative career in the world's oldest profession!
Margaret Wurth, a children’s rights researcher with Human Rights Watch, a
member of the Child Labor Coalition, described bills like the one
passed in Arkansas as “attempts to undermine safe and important
workplace protections and to reduce workers’ power.”
