The Labor Department’s top attorney is concerned about efforts to weaken child labor laws. There are plenty of such bills to worry about.

In the wake of the 2010 midterm elections, when so-called tea party Republicans were riding high, a surprising number of GOP officials took aim at an unexpected target: child labor laws. It might’ve seemed as if a decades-old national consensus had taken root, but many Republicans were eager for a new public conversation on the topic.

Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, for example, suggested child labor laws might not be constitutional. Paul LePage, then the governor of Maine, called for rolling back his state’s restrictions on children in the workplace. Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa even argued that new child labor laws might help combat childhood obesity.

Ahead of his ill-fated 2012 presidential campaign, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich went so far as to argue that existing child labor laws were, as he put it in 2011, “truly stupid.”

In time, the issue largely faded from the Republican Party’s to-do list, but it appears to be making a comeback. The Washington Post reported yesterday that Seema Nanda, the Labor Department’s top attorney, called efforts to weaken child-worker protections “irresponsible,” as there are plenty of reasons for her to be concerned:

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a rising Republican star, on Tuesday signed legislation into law that eliminated age verification requirements for youth workers younger than 16 years old. A similar proposal is advancing in Missouri. Iowa legislators are considering a bill that would allow 14- and 15-year-olds to work certain jobs in meatpacking plants and shield businesses from civil liability if a child laborer is sickened, injured or killed on the job. A bill in Minnesota would permit 16- and 17-year-olds to work construction jobs.

The New Republic this week reported on a related effort in Ohio, which has already passed one chamber in the state legislature, and newly adopted policies in New Hampshire.

As my MSNBC colleague Ja’han Jones explained, the timing of these efforts could be better: The new state law in Arkansas, for example, “follows a stunning revelation from the Labor Department that one of the world’s largest food sanitation companies, Packers Sanitation Services Inc., had employed at least 102 children — some as young as 13 — to work hazardous factory jobs in eight states. Some worked overnight shifts using ‘caustic chemicals to clean razor-sharp saws,’ the Labor Department said.”

Despite this, policymakers in a surprising number of states are apparently trying to make child labor great again.

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow...tes-try-make-child-labor-great-rcna74354

Trying to bail out businesses at the cost of rescinding the very laws created to protect school age children in our own country.

Child labor violations are on the rise as some states look to loosen their rules

Child labor violations have been on the rise since 2015 after declining for years, according to data from the U.S. Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division. The total number of violations is much lower than it was two decades ago, but experts are still troubled.

In 2015 — the low point in the data — the Wage and Hour Division found 1,012 minors employed in violation of child labor laws, with an average of 1.9 per case. In 2022, that number more than tripled to 3,876, averaging 4.6 per case.

"We're doing more outreach and education," which helps people recognize violations, says Jessica Looman, principal deputy administrator of the Wage and Hour Division. "We also are doing more investigations."

The division is finding more minors per case, and it's not clear why. Investigators are also finding more minors working in hazardous occupations, where children could get seriously injured.

"Those numbers are creeping back up again, and that's a real concern to us," says Looman.

It's important to hold employers accountable, "but this is also an issue that is community based. It is school based. It is parent based," Looman says. "All of us together as a society and an economy have to come together and make sure that we are protecting our kids. And when we look at the increase in child labor violations, we have to ask ourselves the question, how are we letting this happen in 2022, 2023?"
What does child labor look like in the U.S.?

Child labor negatively affects the education and health of children who engage in it, experts say. Employers are responsible for ensuring a safe workplace that complies with child labor laws, Looman says.

Part of the division's focus is on prevention — educating teens about their rights and employers about their responsibilities and strategies to ensure compliance. The division also has a range of enforcement mechanisms at its disposal to respond to violations of different levels of severity, from fines to injunctions.

Looman says most violations occur in places where it's appropriate for minors to work, meaning teenagers are working too many hours at a grocery store or operating a fryer and staying too late at a fast-food chain. For example, in 2022, more than 100 kids across several McDonald's locations in Pennsylvania were illegally scheduled to work too many hours or too late at night. Subway, Burger King and Popeyes restaurants in South Carolina were fined for similar violations in 2022.

But Looman says the division is troubled by the fact that investigators are finding more children working in dangerous jobs.

There's no excuse for "why these alarming violations are occurring, with kids being employed where they shouldn't even be in the first place," Looman says.

This month, Packers Sanitation Services paid a $1.5 million fine for employing 102 children to work in dangerous meatpacking facility jobs across eight states. Last summer, Reuters revealed that children as young as 12 — many of whom were migrants — were hired to work in a metal shop owned by Hyundai.

These cases represent common types of hazardous-occupation violations found by investigators — namely cleaning or operating dangerous machinery.

The U.S. generally has good child labor laws, except for agriculture, says Reid Maki, director of child labor advocacy for the National Consumers League and coordinator of the Child Labor Coalition, which works to end abusive child labor. Minors as young as 12 can work long hours, and agriculture's hazardous-occupation orders aren't as strict as in nonagricultural industries.

While child labor violations can affect minors of all backgrounds, "a lot of the kids we see working in exploitative situations tend to be from immigrant families" and Latino, Maki said.

They're often harvesting fruits and vegetables. In a 2019 study, 30 child farmworkers in North Carolina ranging from 10 to 17 told researchers they were pressured to work quickly in dangerous conditions, faced wage theft and worked long hours in the heat.

"We walk a lot. That's hard. Sometimes your hands hurt," a 13-year-old boy who picked tomatoes told the researchers. "And your back, sometimes it will be hurting."

But immigrant children are vulnerable to other kinds of labor, too, from construction to meatpacking. Immigration raids in the early 2000s inadvertently revealed the children of migrant workers employed in meatpacking plants, and advocates like Maki have been concerned about child labor in those facilities ever since.

Maki says such workplaces are "one of the worst environments for children to be in."
Labor shortages are driving efforts to loosen child labor laws. They could be contributing to violations too.

In a tight labor market — like the current one — employers sometimes prefer to fill jobs with minors, who tend to be cheaper and more docile workers, Maki says.

"At a time when they were saying there are labor shortages, they were finding kids that would do the work," Maki says of the recent Packers Sanitation case. "I think they felt that if they could get kids, they would take them."

To ease labor shortages, lawmakers in some states have introduced legislation to loosen child labor laws, including in some of the most dangerous jobs.

Bills introduced in January in Minnesota and Iowa would allow some teenagers to work in construction and meatpacking plants, respectively. The Iowa bill would also let some youth under 16 drive themselves to work and extend the hours teenagers could work. In 2022, efforts to expand teens' working hours passed in New Jersey but weren't signed into law in two other states.

Supporters of legislation to allow minors to work more jobs and more hours say it fills an economic need and can teach them responsibility and financial literacy.

"Having kids get the opportunity to work is important," Jessica Dunker, president and CEO of the Iowa Restaurant Association, said in testimony to Iowa lawmakers. She also said minors who want to work deserve the same level of choice as those who want to participate in other after-school activities.

Maki says he and other advocates aren't against safe, part-time work for teens, where "they can learn work ethic and work skills."

But he says that allowing children to work longer hours increases the risk they'll get into car accidents — driving in the dark, exhausted — and that the jobs these bills allow minors to take are dangerous.

"There's no safe part of a loading dock," Maki says. With the provision in the Iowa bill that would lessen businesses' civil liability if child laborers got sick, injured or killed on the job, "it's as if they know that kids are going to get hurt."

https://www.npr.org/2023/02/26/1157368469/child-labor-violations-increase-states-loosen-rules

Businesses keep breaking child labor laws? That's okay, we'll just make what they're doing legal.

I’m betting minimum wages are fairly low in those states as well. We be dancing madly backwards since 2016.

I dont have a problem with teens working. I was a baby sitter when I was a teen. But I dont think those jobs are appropriate. Let them deliver newpapers. Or work for a lawn company. Rake leaves. More power to them for building a strong work ethic.

But they need them in the meat packing and construction biz. pronto not raking leaves.

Colorado GOP selects combative, election-denying new leader

LOVELAND, Colo. (AP) — The Colorado Republican Party on Saturday selected a combative former state representative who promised to be a “wartime” leader as its new chairman, joining several other state GOPs this year that have elected far-right figures and election conspiracy theorists to their top posts.

The move in Colorado comes as the party totters on the brink of political irrelevance in a state moving swiftly to the left.

Former State Rep. Dave Williams, who unsuccessfully tried to insert the phrase “Let’s Go Brandon” into his name on the party’s primary ballot last year and insists — incorrectly — that former President Donald Trump won the 2020 election, was selected by the party’s executive committee out of a seven-person field.

Williams crossed the required 50% threshold on the third ballot after being endorsed by one of his competitors, indicted former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who had failed to surpass 10%. Peters faces seven felony charges for her alleged role in illegally accessing voting machines in her county. She has denied the allegations while becoming a prominent national figure in the election conspiracy movement.

A three-term state representative from a conservative district in the city of Colorado Springs, Williams unsuccessfully challenged Rep. Doug Lamborn in the Republican primary last year. The Colorado Secretary of State’s office rejected his effort to include a popular conservative phrase denigrating President Joe Biden in his name on the ballot. A judge agreed Williams could not be known as Dave “Let’s Go Brandon” Williams.

In his speech to nearly 400 hardcore Republican activists and party leaders, Williams reprised the themes he hit during his campaign — that the party’s recent poor performance in Colorado is simply due to it not fighting hard enough, not any disconnect between its activists and the majority of the state’s voters.

“Our party doesn’t have a brand problem,” Williams told the group. “Our party has a problem with feckless leaders. ... We need a wartime leader.”

Election deniers have won three other state party chair positions recently — in Idaho, Kansas and Michigan — and as his party is reeling from a brutal 2022 election year.

Republicans lost every statewide election last year by double digits and are down to their lowest share of the state Legislature in Colorado history. They have not won a major statewide race since 2014 and lag well behind Democrats and unaffiliated voters in registration.

Like six of the seven candidates who ran, Williams advocated trying to overturn a ballot measure that requires the party to allow unaffiliated voters to cast ballots in its primary. All of the candidates except Kevin McCarney, a former Mesa County party chairman, expressed skepticism that Biden legitimately won the 2020 election.

Williams’ main rival ended up being Erik Aadland, a combat veteran and political novice who ran an unsuccessful race for a congressional swing seat in the Denver suburbs last year. Although he’s also questioned the 2020 election results, he advocated for discussing elections in less aggressive language and based his speech Saturday around the theme of how “love trumps hate.”

Still, he also spoke in combative terms about how the party should move forward after Williams’ selection.

“We are besought by a radical left that wants to destroy this country, and we need to come together and win elections,” Aadland told the crowd.

https://apnews.com/article/republic...EfFBcf4PdDwtC4SMWjP1CBD4Q9ZAOTS-RI0f7WUo

And there you have it. They think politics is now a war and that it needs wartime leaders.

Criminals electing criminals! wonderful

McDonald’s caught using 10 year-old workers until 2 a.m.

Two 10-year-old children were found working at a Louisville McDonald’s restaurant — sometimes until 2 a.m. — the US Department of Labor said Tuesday.

The revelation was part of an investigation into the child labor law violations in the Southeast. The agency also found three franchisees that own more than 60 McDonald’s locations in Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland and Ohio, “employed 305 children to work more than the legally permitted hours and perform tasks prohibited by law for young workers,” the Labor Department said in a statement.

The franchisees, Bauer Food, Archways Richwood and Bell Restaurant Group, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. CNN has also reached out to McDonald’s for comment.

“Investigators from the department’s Wage and Hour Division found two 10-year-old workers at a Louisville McDonald’s restaurant among many violations of federal labor laws committed by three Kentucky McDonald’s franchise operators,” the release said. “Investigators also determined two 10-year-old children were employed — but not paid — and sometimes worked as late as 2 a.m.”

The three franchisees face a combined $212,754 in civil money penalties for the child labor violations, the release said.

“Too often, employers fail to follow the child labor laws that protect young workers,” said Karen Garnett-Civils, the agency’s wage and hour division district director, in a statement. “Under no circumstances should there ever be a 10-year-old child working in a fast-food kitchen around hot grills, ovens and deep fryers.”

https://nbc-2.com/news/2023/05/03/m...CrD42rCek54S1e483eBBaEE5Vt3rJUFhlORzX9dI

What does that have to do with Republicans?

Much of this child labor is coming from illegal immigration, which Republicans are trying to stop.

About as much as the illegal immigrant who murdered those 5 people in Texas, but then again........we have to understand that everything bad is the fault of the Republicans according to some.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/17/us/politics/migrant-child-labor-biden.html

Hey libtards, how about explaining this.

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/05/1161...ours-in-jobs-that-violate-child-labor-la

Maybe because minimum wage in Kentucky is $7.25 an hour since Republicans won't raise it? And they can't get adults to work for such a cheap wage so they hire kids due to their greed? I know, we're not supposed to talk about that.

So it's not about child labor laws but about where those children are from?

So you're ok with illegals trafficing children for illegal labor. And that it's a huge problem in this country.

Sounds about right for a libtard.

There you go. no debate without name calling. But don't worry, Vers nor any of your other cronies will notice. Child trafficking is a horrible crime. But could you try to explain what that has to do with companies in America breaking child labor laws?

It looks like you're using what you say is a whatabout when others do it.

Please try to class up your act in response.

I'm discussing the major problem. You can't handle it.

Oh look here's another article about Biden ignoring the child labor problem.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/biden-ignored-migrant-child-labor

This would be a great example of a straw argument. In case, ya know, you needed one.

I guess if you feel paying a wage below the poverty level wage isn't a reason adults can't afford to work at such low wages and that's why businesses hire so many minors is somehow a straw argument you have a point. But in this case it's a valid reason.

Now if you could only explain what child trafficking has to do with American businesses breaking child labor laws..... #whatabout

It is a straw argument. People aren't exploiting children because the minimum wage is low, they are doing it for free, or virtually free, labor. If this was minimum wage issue they would be paying the children minimum wage. They aren't.

While that may be a fact, the min. wage - just stop with it, okay?

First off, fast food restaurants are hiring people at $12 to $15 an hour, right now, today. Gas stations start at around $12. Fast food workers, unless they are shift managers or up, and gas station clerk jobs are NOT full time jobs, and not meant to be livable wage jobs.

If you know someone working a full time job, and doing even semi decent at it - that is making $7.25 an hour, that person needs to leave that job. Shoot, REAL full time jobs at a factory are starting people off $15 to $18 an hour right now.

So the state min. is $7.25 an hour...........big deal. No one is making that.

When talking about wages being paid in fast food, is that where you live or in Louisville Ky.? How many times do I have to show you that the very reason minimum wage was created was to provide a liveable wage for Americans?


You seem to actually be giving validity as to why they hire so many minors and I agree with you. No adult can live on those wages unless they're in management. Now can you explain why, what and how that in any way excuses companies breaking child labor laws?

Neat. Goal posts moved again.

I'm saying no one, no adult, is making $7.25 an hour. IF, they are, they have literally no skills whatsoever, at all, by any stretch.

You're saying minimum wage is too low - it's not a livable wage. I'm stating facts that no adult in existence is making minimum wage when even gas station clerks make more than that on day one. Period.

Absolutely ridiculous.... was there any consequences?? I guess I'm ignorant... didn't think a major cooperation would hire children... disgusting...

I get your point - but I think you might be making some assumptions. Having a quick look online I have found several bits of data showing many workers/jobs starting below $9 per hour. And this link from 2020 suggests 17,000 people were employed at minimum wage.

https://kystats.ky.gov/Content/Reports/WP-LF_Update_May_2021.pdf?v=20210528090441#:~:text=In%20Kentucky%2C%20the%20minimum%20wage,workers%20that%20were%20paid%20hourly.

And while it's easy to make assumptions about the people who work minimum wage and what skills they may have - I think there are probably some people who are simply desperate for any number of reasons. I think you or I or most people would up and move if that was our choice, others don't always have that option.

I can't remember a time in my entire life of over 66 years on this planet that I have seen more Help Wanted signs on display. The wages might not be great, but they are far above minimum wage. Places like Target, Walmart, etc are offering free college tuition in order to enticing people to work for them. I know from first hand experience how hard it is to find people willing to work and I pay $20 to $26 dollars depending on prior experience. Of course, one of our political parties is incentivising people not to work and instead rely on government assistance. I don't care what anyone says..........citizens not working is unhealthy for any nation! Meanwhile, the bleeding hearts cry about how tough things are for certain groups of people while placing the blame elsewhere.

Exactly what are the parties "doing to incentivize people not to work?" Far more people are working in the gig portion of the economy now. try looking into that. The world is changing.

No arch, nobody "changed anything". You simply don't wish to address the actual issue here. Even at 10-12 dollars an hour adults can't make a living on that. You're the one who brought up the topic of those people making 10-12 dollars an hour, not me.

It's why they are forced to hire so many minors. But to work more than so many hours or certain shifts you must be a certain age. As a result they have minors doing jobs and pulling shifts that aren't legal.

At least you could own up to that reality.

A personal anecdote… I have a friend that has a masters in nutrition. She works for a non profit that helps feed those in the community that struggle to feed themselves. She makes so little that she qualifies for help from the non profit she works for.
Part of the low pay is due to them being unable to afford to keep her at full time hours because they can’t afford the benefits for her, or many of their other employees.

Yes, she knows she could get a job elsewhere making more. Hospitals pay nutritionist well. Etc. She wants to give back to her community through working at action based groups. Not working for the corporate machine. She has another similar part time job for another type of community advocacy group. It doesn’t pay much better but between the two she makes ends meet. Her quitting wouldn’t change the fact that the non profit still needs a nutritionist. So someone is going to work for them and be poor enough to use them.

Murika.

What many fail to realize is that millions of people collecting benefits are full time workers. And while I agree with those who say they would much rather help those trying to help themselves, should people really be advocating that full time workers don't make enough money to live above the poverty level and must also depend on government assistance?

Federal Social Safety Net Programs: Millions of Full-Time Workers Rely on Federal Health Care and Food Assistance Programs

Millions of American adults who earn low wages rely on federal programs to meet basic needs, such as Medicaid for health care and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for food.

To learn more about the people who use these programs, we analyzed employment data from 11 states and Census data.

We found:

About 70% worked full time

Most worked for private sector employers in places like restaurants, department stores, and grocery stores

Others worked for state governments, public universities, or nonprofit organizations

Some employers in selected states had thousands of beneficiaries in their workforces

https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-21-45

I find it rather sad that people focus more on the 30% of those receiving benefits that do not work full time than focus on and advocate for the 70% that do. And then people wonder why I call that corporate welfare.

Echoing corporate America’s political talking points and ignoring the real threats is what one party ALWAYS DOES. Just accept that fact and move on. It’s exactly why we are here, where we are as a nation, now.

And I'm trying to NOT be someone that is collecting benefits from the gov't. It's tough. The town raise income taxes. The county raised property taxes, and our school just got passed a 9.96 mill "emergency" levee, which will cost me just a fuzz under $1000 EXTRA per year. Yet, if I raise my prices to just stay even, people gripe about it.

This big squeeze is effecting all working class and poor people arch. I totally get you because I feel the same. I’ve probably qualified for disability for years, and so far have been able to avoid taking a penny in ‘aid’ from Uncle Sam. But I’d be lying if I said I’m not considering it and it just goes against how I was raised to the point that it feels dirty. So we’ll just keep plugging along until we can’t. I don’t care if others get aid though, never have. that’s what the programs are for. But taking aid when you don’t need it is wrong imo, so I haven’t so far.

I know too many people that scam the system, but do it "legally". Ticks me off. And, I just keep writing larger and larger checks to the tax mEn.

I know people will gripe about it arch. I know it costs more and more to live. I think most people are struggling with it. As a matter of fact I'm sure most people are struggling with it because it's easy to see average incomes in America and the percentage of people making above and below the average income. It's a fight millions upon millions of Americans are struggling with.

But you nor can any of your competitors stay in business by going broke. People are going to complain any time anyone raises their prices. But those people complaining aren't paying your bills. They aren't paying for your groceries or filling up your vehicles.

I'll tell you a quick story. When I worked for someone else I worked mainly south of Dayton in more affluent communities and higher priced homes. When I started my own business I worked mainly north of Dayton and focused on a large more middle class housing development which engulfed the entire town. The prices I charged were exactly the same prices my former employer charged south of Dayton. As time went on some of my competitors found out how much I charged and I was asked how in the world I was getting so much work because they felt my prices were so high in comparison.

The key was my help was very experienced and we did custom work. Not of the cookie cutter variety known for in that town. Those who appreciated such high quality had no problem paying for it. Sadly many homeowners had bad experiences with contractors not showing up on time, not getting done on time and leaving a huge mess behind. My references played a huge role in getting new work. I don't know anything about your community or the people in it. So I won't claim to know how my approach would work for you. But you can't just not keep up with the cost of living because people complain about it.

Don't mix up major corporations with franchise owners. I am sure McDonalds proper is making very serious investigations into the actions of the franchise owners. McDonalds Corp doesn't look in to every employee hired by franchise owners.

my guess is that they were not on the payroll. Their own children or "children of employees" that the franchise owner paid in cash or in some manner that hid the fact that they were working.

wink, wink, nod, nod..

“Investigators also determined two 10-year-old children were employed — but not paid — and sometimes worked as late as 2 a.m.”

Other than those specific cases, the article didn't say much about individual circumstances. I'd say most of the violations were legit "on the payroll" employees of legal working age... and the violations were the work hours they were working.

Not sure of the laws now in Ohio; but when I owned a restaurant the law was "no more than 3 hours and not later than 8pm on a school night" -- unfortunately, they considered Friday a school night even though the school week was over. Neither of those restrictions work very well on a busy Friday night in a restaurant. Many employees who wanted to have their son or daughter make some extra cash bussing tables would reply "oh, it doesn't matter if it's five hours 'til 10pm... I'm okay with that". Yeah, well the state of Ohio is not. I had a buddy in the biz that was heavily fined for an employee working five hours every Friday when some disgruntled parents turned him in after their daughter quit.

Not excusing these actions by any means, just pointing out that they are using the cases of two employees at one franchise to paint a picture of some wide spread wrongdoing that looks a lot worse than it may be. But man, the numbers don't lie -- over 300 employees at 60 franchises definitely paints a terrible picture of them flat-out ignoring the law.

That does sound pretty stupid that they consider Fridays as a school night. I know my first actual payroll job I worked was as a dishwasher at an overnight diner. I was either 14 or 15 at the time and I worked third shift on Friday and Saturday nights. While it wasn't anything special, at that age I was happy to have that job. I'm not sure I quite understand the whole " are using the cases of two employees at one franchise to paint a picture of some wide spread wrongdoing" part of your post but I guess that's a conclusion one could arrive at.

I don't think you can be legit and on the payroll as a 10 year old.

That's too funny. My first time card and paycheck was for the same esteemed title: "Bar Crowd Dishwasher".

$3.85 per hour and I smelled like a wet pig every night lol. I started cooking by the next summer. 😁


No, that was poorly worded on my part. Just pointing out that this is probably a "more beneath the surface" type story.

Right. That's why I pointed out the part that said they weren't even being paid.

They were either family members or indentured slaves; you make the call on that one.

By the next summer I was working for a small town newspaper bundling papers and loading the trucks. I'd had my fill of egg stained plates!

More hours and better pay.

That's about $7/hour more than the slaves in the Congo make to mine the minerals for the electric car batteries that the liberals can't buy fast enough... it's about $5/hour more than the kids in Asia earn for making the shoes that Nike provides to their millionaire players who wear "Black Lives Matter" and "Fight Oppression" on their jerseys... it's a lot more than the 170 million child laborers make in then clothing and textile industry around the world (some in NYC) who probably contributed to the shirt or the jeans you are wearing right now... it's better working conditions than Jeffrey Epstein's underage sex slaves and the list of his "friends" that has never been made public, even after he didn't kill himself.... you either care about exploitation of kids or you don't, putting Republican in the title makes little to no sense.

I have no idea what any of that has to do with child labor laws in America.

I don't disagree with anything you said other than the fact that we have laws here, in our own country and obviously it's Republican legislation that has been proposed in an attempt to undermine those laws and protections. The people we elect have direct control over our own laws but no control over child labor laws on a global scale.

Ahh the lowly dishwasher.

After graduation we moved to Florida, like most, I left behind many friends, and was homesick, so the next summer I moved back to Ohio. I struggled finding work quickly, so to ensure I could make my car insurance payments and such (Was lucky to have an Aunt and Uncle let me live with them when I returned), I took a job as a dishwasher at the IronGate in Westlake, 6-1am, then I picked up a second job at a Shell Station 7am-3pm.

I worked a lot, but I enjoyed my co workers and still had fun, being young helps. I eventually did get a job as a draftsman with RW Becket in Elyria, cut dishwashing to just mon-thurs nights 6-1am, and the Shell station to just Sat and Sun 7-3pm. Gotta do what you gotta do.

Needless to say I got tired of it, and moved back to Florida a couple years later, after realizing my image of hanging in friends and such wasn't going to be as some went to college others started families, and I just pretty much working or sleeping most of the time.

So you don't have a problem openly supporting child/slave labor in other parts of the world? I find having 10-year-old kids working at McDonalds at 2:00 am appalling... but no more appalling (in fact significantly less appalling) than 14-year-old kids in the Congo who are mining minerals with their bare hands, in the hot sun, with inadequate food and water, for no money, while inhaling toxic dust the whole time... So if you own an electric car or have ever touted the benefits of why people should buy electric cars, your opinion on child labor laws in this country or any other don't mean squat to me because you don't really care. And that includes the entirety of the democratic party... so you putting "Republican" in the title has gotten you what you deserve, a fight over left and right and very little talk of child labor laws.... and for the record, child labor laws are broken in every state all the time, it's only the fact that it's "McDonalds" that makes this a story because if it was the name of some textile factory in Brooklyn, nobody would care... but it happens there as well.

What part of "I agree with you" did you miss?


Can you tell me which party or who I can vote for to change child labor laws in foreign nations? You keep talking about things happening in nations we have no control over no matter which party we vote for. I'm talking about things happening in our own country we can help control with who we vote for.

Of course I think child labor on a global scale is horrible. I'm just still not quite sure what that has to do with watering down laws and protections for children in our own country. Or which party we can vote for to change child labor laws in foreign countries. Are you trying to say that since child labor is so bad on a global scale we should not point out who is responsible for undermining the child labor laws here at home? Or is it since child labor laws are so bad everywhere else we shouldn't continue to protect child labor laws here in the U.S.?

You seem to be pointing out a problem American voters and politicians have no control over and compare it to a situation voters and politicians here in America can control.

Learn to se your words. Maybe you can explain who we can vote for to protect child labor laws on a global scale? Or maybe why we shouldn't point out who is undermining our own child labor laws in America?

I didn't think so.

170 million child laborers in the fashion industry. That's shocking and appalling. I did not know.

But I guess if we are tarnished or told we can't object to child labor if you ever touted the use of electric vehicles - probably most of us can't object to child labor because there has to be a pretty good chance that somewhere in our closet there is a garment sourced with cotton or other materials from child labour. We should just move on I guess.

The part where that's not exactly what you said? (I mention this so the bots are not led astray ya know).

Here is the deal. We can only control what happens in 'Merica. So it is a bit irrelevant as to what someone in the Congo or Asia earn. Cost of living is all based on where you live. I could get a 3 bedroom flat for $150/month over there... It is their government that has the ability to control labor laws, not ours. Any capitalist understands that why all the labor went overseas.

However in "Merica: California is expensive, Mississippi is cheap. Now, we could not buy the stuff.... buy 'Merican... if you can find it.

I don’t care for rolling back child protections, but I started working with my dad as an 8 year old kid in a contractors family. Paying me 50 cents a day to pick up tools was an easy way to keep me happy and not pay a sitter. But I learned the trade. By 14 I could finish concrete as well as any man, and knew enough to run a crew in a bind. Other contractors would hire me to help on big projects as a kid. None of my grandsons could even imagine that. I do think you lose some of your innocents and childhood working too early, but I also think it teaches you the value of work, which often seems to be missing today.

I agree with this.

You should hear my grandkids when I tell them these things. Straight think I’m lying to them even though my mother, their GGma, tells them I’m telling the truth. Hell I made 300-500 a week during summer in the early 80s at the ages 14-18, my oldest grandson just lasted 5 weeks on his first job and quit… We’re not made the same even though he’s 25% my DNA. I love him dearly but he graduates this year and is as clueless as a newborn pup.

But having that much cash as a kid can mess you up too. I was a the biggest weed dealer in my school for a while, simple because I had the cash to buy it all the time. Usually had a QP in my locker, car, or at the house. Yes, I was an idiot GEN Xer, but my weed was free.

I had chores when I was a kid too. Got a job as soon as legally able. I know its a trope, but the new generation is too soft.

You’re younger. Things changed a lot after we went through. I was one of the last to legally drink at 18, my 4 year younger brother had to wait until 21 to legally drink. I could buy smokes as a kid without a note or parent nearby. Or if we did get refused (rarely)we just used cigarette machines. They cleaned all that up too.

We had this small golf course near where I lived and we knew the owner very well. He gave me and my friends permission to fish in his ponds, creek, and a large part of an abandoned gravel pit that was full of big fish. So we we all over his course. We got a little older and wanted to drink (13 or 14) and the golf course had unmonitored beer machines. We’d jump the fence when he was closed, locked up and gone, and buy beer from those machines then go party. Lol. Today, he’d go to jail for that and we’d all be in juvenile hall. Back then, when we got caught doing bad crap, the old boys will be boys got us out of almost everything.

When I was 13 my dad would lug me down to the shop he and a partner owned and got to sweep up metal shavings for 7-8 hours. Great way to spend your Saturdays. He paid me $1 per hour. When I got old enough to drive I 'quit" that job and worked at Uncle Bills for $1.25 per hour to start.

Uncle Bills was kind of like Walmart before Walmart. It wasn't as big, but sold everything from garden supplies to stiff, scratchy clothes.

You remember those clothes. Your Mom would get you all gussied up for school picture day in new clothes so stiff you didn't even want to move.

https://www.google.com/search?q=youtube+monty+python+four+yorkshiremen&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS959US959&oq=youtube+monty+python+four+&aqs=chrome.0.0i512j69i57j69i64.12649j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:e4366b2d,vid:ue7wM0QC5LE

All this talk of 'the old days' reminds me of this wonderful 3 minutes from Monty Python. Enjoy.

It's too late. You've already gone astray.

I'm good with astray, I don't think the party group think.

Yet it so often sounds that way.

Protecting those bots are ya?

Thus far you haven't needed protection.

True, I can protect myself.

As if liberals are the only folks buying electric cars a wearing Nikes. That’s rich DC. Who’s making all the big bucks here? Betcha it’s not the woke liberals bro.

Define "woke"

A term republican goof balls use to define liberals who disagree with their ridiculous and extreme policies.

So you are using it as a republican goof ball? Interesting.

Ok captain obtuse.

Kids working and not being paid...... SLAVES

I think you are way wrong there my man. Most of the "elite", if that is the word you want to call them are liberal.

They need you, voting for them to keep them rich. You are still a slave my friend. They have the wool pulled over your eyes. As soon as they don't need you, to the wood pile you go.

Seriously man, you need to become a Republican if you want the chance to make money and succeed beyond the government cheese they are feeding you. If not, you are doomed to what you are given, and I get it, many people are only interested in what is given to them.

Just wait until they stop giving it to you. Then what? You aren't going to like it then.

Seriously, you need to think about that, but you may be past the point of hope. I hope not.

You seem to be saying that Perfect is getting money from the government. That's he living on handouts.


WTH man?

What do you say to all the impoverished Republicans living in the south?

Rich and Poor are not drawn on political lines.

Heck 90% of the stuff that separate us is not drawn on political lines, they just like to make it seem that way.

Division amongst the masses, means power and authority to the aristocrats. They pull strings to make the wind blow whichever way helps them most.

Which was very much the point I was trying to make. I live in Tennessee and so does Peen. I would have thought he would certainly understand that. But his comments certainly do not make it appear that way.

Yeah, sorry my post was a JC, not really directed at your comment specifcally.

No problem. I was just pointing out that we agree.

Eww boy…. …..I’m not the one being led around by the nose ring by a few right wing extreme lunatics with insane policies and fascist ideals. But thanks for playing.

That thinking was pounded into my head during the Reagan years too. But I can’t imagine clinging to that BS all the way through the Trump years. The Republican Party has become vile and made it’s followers the same. Toxic is the most fitting label.

It’s a fascist way of thinking. They want their supreme white elite to prevail. Even as a minority the self proclaimed white elite will fight to the end to keep their supremacy from being replaced by others who have been suppressed by them. It’s history repeating itself once again. Rinse repeat.

It's a catch all phrase they use as some negative label to represent everything they despise. Basically the opposite of asleep.

Nothing but political posturing like las time. Once again, this demeans what it means for an impeachment process.

Smells like "because they did it, we can do it too!"

What a mess we have in Washington.

Back to our regularly scheduled program.....

Iowa governor signs bill loosening child labor laws

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa teenagers could work more jobs and for longer hours under a bill signed into law Friday by Gov. Kim Reynolds.

The Republican governor signed the law after it was approved by the Legislature earlier in May with only Republican support. Several states are embracing a rollback of child labor laws in response to complaints from business owners that they can’t find enough workers. Iowa’s April unemployment rate was 2.7%.

“With this legislation Iowa joins 20 other states in providing tailored, common sense labor provisions that allow young adults to develop their skills in the workforce,” Reynolds said in a statement.

Child welfare advocates worry the measures represent a coordinated push to scale back hard-won protections for minors.

Legislators removed language in earlier versions of the bill that would have let state officials allow 14- and 15-year-olds to work in jobs now banned for minors. Some potentially dangerous work such as mining and meatpacking also would be off limits to those younger than 18.

The new law would let 16- and 17-year-olds work in areas such as manufacturing as long as it was in a work-based learning program given an exemption by the Iowa Department of Education or Iowa Workforce Development. Those jobs could potentially mean the teens would operate power saws or join in demolition.

Under the new rules, 16- and 17-year-olds also could serve alcohol in restaurants as long as business owners have written permission from the worker’s parent or guardian. Two adult employees would need to be in an area where the children served drinks, and restaurant employees would need to complete sexual harassment prevention training.

The law would also let children younger than 16 work up to six hours a day while school is in session. They previously could work no more than four hours.

Reynolds on Friday signed a dozen bills into law ahead of the Memorial Day holiday weekend, including high-profile legislation that bans instruction on gender identity from classrooms through grade six, and books that include sex acts from school libraries.

https://apnews.com/article/iowa-gov...cgyeBGsFSol7e64FVf0WmWRgY4WzLkcCu16IUkmI

Child labor laws being rolled back in multiple states

3,800 minors were employed in violation of federal child labor laws in 2022

Support: This is a good thing, keeping kids off the streets and working

Critics: Taken to extremes of having to work longer hours, do tough jobs

CHICAGO (NewsNation) — States across the nation are moving to ease child labor laws as the federal government is finding a rising number of violations of laws still on the books, some involving grade-schoolers who have jobs.

The US Department of Labor found two 10-year-olds working at a McDonald’s in Kentucky, unpaid and sometimes working until 2 a.m.

This is just one of hundreds of child labor violations recently uncovered by the agency.

In fiscal year 2022, federal investigators reported a 40% increase in kids working in hazardous conditions compared to just five years ago. More than 3,800 minors were employed nationwide in violation of federal child labor laws. That’s up 140% since 2017.

The number of children being employed illegally has been steadily growing, with a 69% increase since 2018. Last year, the U.S. Department of Labor found that 835 companies were employing about 3,800 children in violation of labor laws.

In the past two years, hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied migrant children have crossed into the United States and many end up working to try to make ends meet.

Some labor experts blame the ongoing worker shortage made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Economic Policy Institute, in the past two years, 10 states have introduced or passed laws that have weakened child labor laws. The 10 states include Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

People in favor of the move say this is a good thing, keeping kids off the streets and in the workforce. But critics say weakening child labor laws will actually weaken the economy, not grow it.

“They’re learning how to handle various aspects of a job. Maybe cooking, cleaning, running a cash register,” attorney Andrew Reed said. “There’s a flipside. They are taken to the extreme of having to work longer hours than they’re supposed to or doing jobs they most likely shouldn’t be doing.”

One of those jobs is being around liquor. Despite being far under the legal drinking age, the Iowa state legislature passed a bill on Wednesday that will roll back hazardous work protections for 14- and 15-year-olds. It will also allow 16-year-olds to serve alcohol.

In neighboring Wisconsin, legislators are working to get a bill passed that allows 14-year-olds to actually serve liquor.

https://www.newsnationnow.com/business/child-labor-laws-multiple-states/

Hey, if we can't get adults to work for below poverty level wages we'll just roll back child labor laws so we can hire the children to do it.

Safety Officials Investigating Death of Wisconsin Teen After Freak Sawmill Accident

Michael Schuls, a 16-year-old high school student, died at a pediatric hospital after being injured in an industrial accident at a sawmill where he worked, authorities said.

Worker safety authorities are investigating the death of a 16-year-old Wisconsin boy who suffered injuries during an industrial accident at a sawmill where he worked, officials said.

Michael Schuls was a high school student who "enjoyed fishing, hunting, spending time with his family, and hanging out with his friends and his dog, Buckley," reads his online obituary. He also played football, basketball, baseball, and soccer at Florence High School.

The teen was found unresponsive at Florence Hardwoods, where help had been summoned for the injured boy, according to the Florence County Sheriff’s Office.

He died July 1 at a pediatric hospital in Milwaukee.

His death comes as several states including Wisconsin are considering allowing children to work in more hazardous jobs for longer hours on school nights and allowing teens as young as 14 to serve alcohol in restaurants and bars.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the death and has made a referral to the U.S. Department of Labor for possible child labor violations regarding dangerous jobs, a Labor Department spokesman told Wisconsin Public Radio.

A cause of death was not released.

The Associated Press reporter the sawmill company declined comment, citing the ongoing investigation.

A GoFundMe account for Schuls' family said the teen was “working at Florence Hardwoods when horrible tragedy struck.” The boy was on life support before he died, according to the site.

“Our small community is in absolute shock,” a post says. A celebration of his life is scheduled for July 15.

https://www.insideedition.com/safet...dqvpWvPCkH0kD8IhIxWssRtRFm6i0nY2J1cBEgh8

A 16 year old working at a sawmill?

Who the heck thinks it's a good idea to let a 14 year old serve alcohol?!?

US States To Allow 14-Year-Olds To Serve Alcohol At Bars And Restaurants

Ten US states are planning to reshape the employment landscape for teenagers, granting them extended working hours.

Several US states are contemplating relaxing their child labour laws, which will allow youngsters to serve alcohol in bars and businesses to make students work for longer hours. Ten states are planning to reshape the employment landscape for minors, granting them extended working hours on school nights and expanding their job responsibilities. This comes after the Governor of Arkansas, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, signed a bill that abolished work permits for children under 16, according to news agency Associated Press.

“The Governor believes protecting kids is most important, but this permit was an arbitrary burden on parents to get permission from the government for their child to get a job,” a spokesperson for the Republican governor said.

Under the Republican-led initiatives across various states, child labour laws are undergoing significant changes. These initiatives aim to broaden the scope of work opportunities for children and increase their working hours, even on school nights. Iowa legislature recently made headlines by passing a bill in April that permits children aged 14 and 15 to work in industrial laundromats, meat freezers and engage in ‘light assembly work’ in specific factories, the report added.

Moreover, minors aged 16 and 17 may soon find themselves serving alcohol at restaurants and bars, as these establishments also offer food services. These changes also seek to extend the permitted working hours for children under the age of 16. Currently restricted to a maximum of four hours per day, the proposed adjustments would expand this limit to six hours.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has time until June 3 to make a decision on signing the bill into law. Following Iowa’s lead, Republicans in Wisconsin introduced a similar law in May, aiming to permit children as young as 14 to serve alcohol in bars. Ohio is also considering a similar proposal, looking to eliminate the current restriction that prohibits underage students from working past 7 PM on school nights, according to the report.

https://www.news18.com/viral/us-sta...hol-at-bars-and-restaurants-7926151.html

There was always a good reason to not allow kids to do certain things before a particular age. (Driving for instance.. not allowed before 15.5 and in most states, 16 years of age.

Someone somewhere along the line determined that their brains weren't developed at certain ages. So they didn't want them doing certain things until they got older.

I guess that doesn't mean much when there is an economic component to the situation.

MAGA trash.

More states want to let kids work as bartenders

More states are letting teenagers serve alcohol at bars and restaurants, part of a growing rollback of child labor protection laws across the United States.

Since 2021, at least nine states have introduced bills to lower the minimum age for serving alcohol, according to a report released Thursday by the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. Seven states — Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, New Mexico and Alabama — have enacted them.

More states are pushing to follow. In Wisconsin, legislators are seeking to lower the alcohol service age from 18 to 14, and Idaho lawmakers want to lower it from 19 to 17.

Restaurants and industry groups like the National Restaurant Association have pushed these bills as they face challenges hiring workers. The leisure and hospitality sector had 1.3 million jobs open in May, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Around 80% of restaurant operators say they currently have job openings that are tough to fill, according to the National Restaurant Association. Millions of restaurant workers have left the industry in recent years over low wages and poor working conditions.

But lowering the minimum age to serve alcohol will put teenagers at risk of sexual harassment, underage drinking and other harms, labor experts warn. The restaurant industry already has the highest number of child labor law violations, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

“Laws that lower the alcohol service age will subject more young people, at younger ages, to potentially dangerous working conditions at low wages — all in service of employers’ pursuit of cheap labor,” said Nina Mast, an economic analyst at the Economic Policy Institute, in the report.

Efforts to lower alcohol serving ages are part of a larger push to loosen child labor protections in states around the country.

Federal laws providing minimum protections for child labor were enacted nearly a century ago. But in the past two years, at least 14 states have introduced or passed laws rolling back child labor protections, the Economic Policy Institute reports.

In March, Arkansas rolled back a number of child labor protections across the state, including a measure that had required employers to obtain work certificates for children under the age of 16.

Child labor violations are also rapidly growing.

Since 2018, the US Department of Labor has seen a 69% increase in children being employed illegally by companies. The department last year found that 835 companies it investigated had employed more than 3,800 children in violation of labor laws.

In one of the largest child labor cases in history, Packers Sanitation Services this year paid $1.5 million in civil penalties for employing minors in hazardous occupations and having them working overnight shifts at 13 meat processing facilities in eight states owned by JBS, Cargill, Tyson and others.

President Joe Biden’s administration announced plans to crack down on labor exploitation of migrant children across the country, the New York Times reported, following an investigation conducted by the newspaper into the explosive growth of migrant child labor throughout the country.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/21/busi...u2sug3Crm9DpBDAu50xD71oenX9rBqb67dzjCLpg

Well they should be allowed to sell weed too then. Maybe even work the poles for all the GOPer pedos… Friggin Ohio…