Deregulating child labor

[douglas9]

In February, a federal investigation found that Packers Sanitation Services illegally employed at least 102 children “in hazardous occupations” across 13 meat processing facilities in eight states. The children were found “working overnight shifts” and using “caustic chemicals” to clean “razor-sharp saws,” “head splitters,” and other equipment. At least three children were injured.

Two of the meatpacking plants implicated are in Arkansas. Nevertheless, this month, Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) signed a new law that makes it harder to ensure kids are working in safe conditions

Previously, children younger than 16 needed an employment certificate to work. The certificate, which was granted by the Arkansas Department of Labor, required the signature of a parent or guardian and proof of age. This process is “one of the only oversight mechanisms for child labor in the state.” Proponents say eliminating these safeguards will “streamline the hiring process for children under 16.”

The “Youth Hiring Act of 2023” gets rid of the certificate, allowing 14- and 15-year olds to work without parental sign-off or age verification.


https://popular.info/p/deregulating-child-labor

[CrispyQ]

1. I asked my repub cousin how he justifies this & his answer was,

"I don't live in Arkansas. I didn't vote for her."

[Igel]

2. I never heard of anything like this.

I got a job when I was 15 and had no employment permit from the state.

I *think* one of my parents had to sign my application, but that was it. Nothing at the school and if my employer got a certificate for me, he never said. That was Maryland in the '70s, where apparently the now state has to grant permission if you want a job and you're under *18*.

(Never ran into this when I dealt with church kids in Oregon, either, but that was in the '80s. Employers were expected to be ethical, and parents/guardians were to parent and guard. But the investigation only focused on employers: "These children should never have been employed in meat packing plants and this can only happen when employers do not take responsibility to prevent child labor violations from occurring in the first place." (from the link to the story about the actual consent order.)

The news story that accompanied this made it clear that the kids in the federal investigation were sent to this country to be with relatives and let that drop. But it sort of makes you wonder if maybe the parents and relatives weren't in on it. Easy to get unaccompanied minors into the US, get them housed with relatives by an older consent decree, maybe have some kickbacks to the employer.

[CrispyQ]

3. Oh yes, I'm sure there are some guilty parents, too.

Not justifying it, but sometimes poverty leads to bad decisions. We could solve so many ills of our society if we'd just create an economy for all, instead of this farce we call capitalism, which isn't a level playing field at all & seriously tilted in favor of the rich.

We had to be 16 to work in my small town & of course, everyone knew everyone.

[Duppers]

4. TY. The Koch brothers again & Blackstone...

Blackstone has owned Packers Sanitation since 2018.
https://pestakeholder.org › news › b...
Blackstone-owned sanitation company

Since 2007, PSSI has been through a succession of private equity owners. Leonard Green & Partners and AlpInvest Partners purchased PSSI in 2014, and The Blackstone Group bought PSSI in 2018.Apr 6, 2022

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packers_Sanitation_Services_illegal_employment_of_children


douglas9, thank you for posting this.
It is a great example of how GOP-ism works.

[slightlv]

5. I held part time jobs (during school hours and after school)

but I was on a school program called "DE" (Distributive Education, I believe). It was the alternative to Home Ec, which I sucked at so BAD...! It was suppose to give you experience and a leg up on getting a decent job after high school, especially in a little town where there weren't many jobs.

I worked at a Henry's Hamburgers for years. Then another high end restaurant. But I also had the chance to work the back of a bakery, learning the trade. Also, several office jobs along the way. All in all, a good experience.

But this isn't what Sanders is doing or promoting. And what she's doing is going to get kids killed. And may she be sued out the butt by parents who should have been notified their kid had hired to do dangerous work, simply by virtue of being their parents. I mean, after all, a female child, if she needs anything to do with reproductive health, has to have her parents sign off on everything.

Again, it really looks like the R's are working to cull the herd, both current and future.

[chowmama]

6. I briefly filled in as a practice manager

at a clinic. We had a minor, around 14, come in to apply for kennel duty and anything else we had for work. He explained that this was fine with his parents and that he was looking to supplement the family income for their ministry. They homeschooled him and there were weeks he worked almost full-time with his father as well.

I explained that the law stated that we had to know from week to week what his non-school working hours were, as we were strictly forbidden to exceed the total hours he was allowed to work at his age. He assured me that this was not a problem, as nobody would be reporting anything to authorities. It sounded like he was already exceeding the limit at his father's job (independent contractor).

He was entitled, in charge, and really didn't take anything I said seriously. Even if the paperwork involved in obeying the law wouldn't have been insanely complicated (even if he told the truth, which was becoming increasingly unlikely), he took no directions and barely paid attention. In the tour of the facility, I explained a system we had to identify dangerous animals which only a very few people were authorized to handle. He informed me he would have no problem handling anything.

Yeah, that's a hard nope. We'd have come in some morning to find a large pile of 14-year-old hamburger and a sizeable lawsuit from his parents who taught him to behave that way. It's for the ministry, after all. Hell, I'd have bet that any time he didn't get his way, he'd have threatened to report us for overworking him. He was very upset that we didn't hire him. I don't think his father was happy, either. I'd wonder about his mother, but I don't think she was allowed to have an opinion.

But this is a state where the laws about minors and labor have some real teeth. Where they don't - Do you think the parents who are ok with their kids working instead of learning realize that they're putting themselves out of jobs? Why hire an adult, when you can pay their kid half as much? How good a job can your kid hold down, when they have no real education and no time to get one? We're way past the kind of society where you can get by with just enough literacy to read the Bible and just enough arithmetic to pay your bills. What kind of future are you providing for your family and generations to come by allowing this? Voting for this?

The Gilded Age was only gilded for an elite few. There are still people dumb enough to think these elites are someday going to let them into the club. I wouldn't even mind them Darwin'ing themselves out of being a factor, but they can't without taking the rest of us with them.