FW: House Education and Labor Committee's hearing on child labor

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Hello Everyone,

I am passing on the information below as I

thought you all may find it interesting.

Josh Shepherd

National Center For Farmworker

Health

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Subject: FW: House Education and

Labor Committee's hearing on child labor

Dear Colleagues,

I thought you might be interested in the testimony from this

recent hearing on Child Labor Law Enforcement that dealt particularly with

farming. The testimony was compiled by Congressional Quarterly and is

copied below.

Regards,

Pietra

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______________________________________________

COMMITTEE TESTIMONY

Sept. 23, 2008

Child Labor Law

Enforcement

CQ ABSTRACT SCHEDULED WITNESSES TESTIMONY

Committee Holding Hearing:

House Education and Labor Committee — Subcommittee

on Workforce Protections

CQ Abstract:

Workforce Protections Subcommittee (Chairman Woolsey,

D-Calif.) of House Education and Labor Committee will hold a hearing titled

" Child Labor Enforcement: Are We Adequately Protecting Our Children? "

Scheduled Witnesses:

Norma - former child worker, Chicago, Ill.;

Sally Greenberg - co-chairwoman, Child Labor Coalition; Passantino -

acting administrator, Wage and Hour Division, Department of Labor;

Strauss - executive director, Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs

Testimony:

Statement of Norma , Former Child Worker

Committee on House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Workforce Protections

September 23, 2008

My name is Norma and I am just one of estimated hundreds of thousands of

farmworker children working hard to feed Americans every day. My four sisters

and I began to work in the farm fields since the age of 12 during our summers

and any other school breaks we had, but we weren`t strangers to farm work at

that age. Full-time work weeks now meant 70 hours -- including weekends -- for

weeks at a time with no days off.

Growing up in a family of many generations of farm

workers, we thought life was supposed to be this hard for everyone. Even though

we saw both of our parents work hard year-round and spend every penny

carefully, we grew up poor. This taught us to value all of our possessions

differently. We knew if we wanted a nice pair of sneakers or a ticket to see a

new movie, those would be things that would have to be earned with a lot of

hard hours of difficult manual labor.

But this was life to us. We weren`t informed of what

rights we had or educated on what resources were available to help us. In the

six years that I worked in the fields, I never saw an inspector in any of the

fields I was working in. Had I seen an inspector out there, I would have

pointed out the lack of clean bathrooms sometimes half a mile away and the lack

of places to wash our hands after handling plants covered in pesticides. I

would have pointed out the missing drinking water and the containers with

day-old water we had to drink from at times. I would have pointed out the

under-age children allowed to work during regular school hours. Working in the

corn fields of Indiana or in the asparagus fields of Michigan, it felt like we were

at the mercy of the contractors with no one to look out for us and no one to

turn to for questions or concerns. One of the most terrifying moments of my

life was when an airplane accidently sprayed pesticides over the field my

family and I were working in. We ran out frantically across the street and

immediately called our contractor. He simply apologized and asked us to go to

another field to continue our work day. Who were we supposed to contact in case

we got sick from the pesticides? How would we know?

Farm labor is difficult and dangerous work. We are

exposed to many chemicals that can damage our health and migrant farmworkers

don`t have benefits like health insurance to help us with expensive medical

treatments. We are exposed to long hours in hot summer months with

back-breaking labor. We work with sharp tools and heavy machinery that can

cause a lot of damage if not used properly. Yet as children, we are trusted to

have the ability and maturity to handle all of these dangers carefully. I have

seen too many times accidents in which children working beside me have gotten

deeply cut and infected with the sharp tools we work with or sick from the

chemicals we work around. Children at age 12 would not have been allowed to

work making copies in an air- conditioned office or cleaning floors at a local

store, yet today, in America, children can legally work in harsh conditions out

in the farm fields for wages sometimes below minimum wage.

Like all other Americans across the country, the

migrant community is also concerned about today`s economy. We see in the news

how gas prices and the cost of living are on the rise. Yet what we don`t see

rising are our wages. Since Cesar Chavez, no major improvements in the lives of

migrant farmworkers have been made. They continue to receive the same pay as

decades ago. Growers claim that wages must be kept low in order for food prices

to stay affordable, but at what price? Is it worth it to exploit children and

hurt their futures so you won`t have to pay cents more for your groceries? Even

this isn`t saving Americans from the rising food price inflation. By giving

fair wages, migrant families will no longer need their children to work to

supplement their incomes and these farmworker children can focus on their

studies instead of worrying about the pending family bills.

I was blessed to have parents that put my education as

a top priority and migrant youth programs that helped give the educational

support I needed to get through my education. After overcoming many educational

hardships including interrupted school years and different state school

systems, I was able to graduate from one of the nation`s leading high schools

and complete college in three and a half years. Even though my family continues

to work in the fields of Iowa and Texas, I proudly work in an international

public relations firm in downtown Chicago.

Other farmworker children aren`t so fortunate. I

believe that at least two-thirds of migrant farmworker children drop out before

high school graduation from the pressures of migration, changing schools, and

exhaustion. This dooms most of them to a life of poverty.

Farmworker children continue to be an ignored

injustice today in the United States, the world`s greatest country. The information

is out there, but many choose to look the other way. Just Google migrant

farmworker children and you`ll get over 87,000 results. Exploitation of

children, regardless if it`s done legally or illegally, needs to stop today.

It`s more than doing what is right. It`s also about

changing the lives of these children and giving them the opportunity to make a

future for themselves.

Statement of Sally Greenberg, Executive Director,

National Consumers League

Committee on House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Workforce Protections

September 23, 2008

Thank you for inviting me to testify today. My name is Sally Greenberg, and I

serve as Executive Director of the National Consumers League. We very much

appreciate the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections holding a hearing that

asks, ``Child Labor Enforcement: Are We Adequately Protecting our Children?``

The National Consumers League believes that that answer to the question this

Subcommittee hearing poses is ``No,`` and that much more can and must be done

to better protect our young people from hazards and dangers they confront in

the workplace.

Every 10 days in America, a young person is killed at

work. Every day, more than 100 young workers under the age of 19 are seriously

injured or become ill from their jobs. My testimony today focuses on the U.S.

Department of Labor, or DOL`s poor enforcement of the federal child labor laws

and I will make recommendations about reforms I would like to see at DOL to

strengthen protections for working children. I will also make recommendations

for legislative reforms that we believe Congress should consider to help to

protect our young people from hazardous work conditions.

The National Consumers League, or ``NCL,`` is a

private, non- profit advocacy group representing consumers on marketplace and

workplace issues. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic

justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. We are the

nation`s oldest consumer organization. The NCL is the cochair, along with the

American Federation of Teachers, of the Child Labor Coalition, or ``CLC.`` The

CLC, established in 1989, is a group of more than 30 organizations,

representing consumers, labor unions, educators, human rights and labor rights

groups, child advocacy groups, and religious and women`s groups. The CLC`s

mission is to protect working youth and to promote legislation, programs, and

initiatives to end child labor exploitation in the United States and abroad.

Let me start by saying that the NCL very much supports

the notion young people can learn and grow by working, as long as they are

placed in a jobs that are appropriate and safe. We wish to focus, however, on

workplace settings and jobs that are risky or dangerous for young people and

what can be done to correct the loopholes in the law that expose youngsters to

these workplace hazards.

Much of my testimony is based on the findings of two

reports on DOL`s child labor enforcement released by the Child Labor Coalition

and published by the National Consumers League, one in June 2005 and the other

in September 2006, as well as more recent data on the same topic. I have

provided copies of the two reports to the Subcommittee, and I ask that they be

included in the record. What these reports make clear is that enforcement of

the child labor law is no longer a high priority for DOL.

Here is a quick overview that shows why this is so.

--First, the number of child labor investigations by DOL has declined

drastically. For example, there was a 48 percent decline from 2004 to 2006 -

2,606 child labor investigations in 2004, but only 1,344 in 2006.2 If we look

back more than two years, the story is even worse. The number of child labor

investigations conducted in 2006 - 1,344 - was the lowest in the last ten years

for which we have data, and may be the lowest in many decades.

--Second, the time spent investigating child labor

also declined: 58,220 hours in 2004, but only 48,005 hours in 2006. If we look

back more than two years, the story is even worse. For example, from 2001, when

the Wage-Hour division spent 73,736 hours doing child labor investigations, to

2006, the time devoted to child labor investigations plummeted by 35 percent.

The 48,005 hours spent by DOL in 2006 investigating child labor violations may

sound like a lot of time, but based on our calculations, this is roughly the

equivalent of 28 full-time employees doing child labor investigations

exclusively.3 There are an estimated 3.2 million working children in the United

States, according to the federal government.4 In other words, each of these 28

DOL child labor investigators is in effect responsible for assuring a safe and

healthy work environment for about 115,000 youth workers.

--Third, the penalties that DOL imposes are too low to

provide sufficient deterrent to companies hiring underage workers. While the

law imposes a maximum penalty of $11,000 for each violation,5 the average

penalty in 2004 was only $718, less than 7 percent of the maximum penalty

permitted. Two years later, in 2006, the average penalty was only $939, less

than 9 percent of the maximum penalty. Here`s a concrete example of low child

labor penalties. In 2006 DOL found 29 children in six Target Corporation retail

stores in New York`s Hudson River Valley who had been working in jobs prohibited

for children under age 18 because the work is so hazardous-operating

power-driver scrap paper balers and operating power-driven hoisting equipment,

like forklifts.6 DOL imposed a penalty of $92,400, or an average of $3,166 per

child, not a lot for a multibillion dollar corporation. Another example dates

from 2005. Wal- Mart committed child labor violations affecting 85 children in

24 stores, many involving youth who did jobs that DOL has determined to be

particularly dangerous, such as operating chain saws, cardboard balers, and

forklifts.7 DOL imposed $135,540 in penalties, or an average of $1,595 per

child. Given that Wal-Mart had $285 billion in annual sales, the $135,540 total

penalty is a negligible amount-the equivalent of fining someone with an average

salary a tiny fraction of a penny. The law says that the size of any child

labor penalty that DOL imposes must take account of ``the size of the business

of the person charged and the gravity of the violation,``8 but it is hard to

see how DOL has done that in its investigations, given the very low amount of

the average penalty imposed. --Fourth, DOL has almost no child labor

enforcement in agriculture.

Hundreds of thousands of children work in agriculture,

yet, in 2006, just 28 of DOL`s 1,344 child labor investigations-2 percent- were

in agriculture. In 2005 the number of child labor investigations in agriculture

was even lower-just 25. These numbers contrast sharply with earlier years. In

1999, for example, DOL conducted more than five times as many investigations in

agriculture-142. What is particularly troubling about this poor enforcement

record is that the risks of injury, illness, and death are greater for children

working in agriculture than in any other jobs. For example, children age 15 to

17 working in agriculture have over four times the risk of fatal injury of

children working in other industries.

Children under age 15 working on farms account for

about three- fourths of all work-related deaths for that age group.10 As for

nonfatal injuries, hospital emergency room and workers` compensation data have

suggested that youth injuries in agriculture tend to be more severe than

injuries in other employments.

What can DOL do to assure greater protections to

working children? There are several key steps DOL should take.

--First, DOL needs to devote more time and effort to investigating potential

child labor violations. The equivalent of 28 full-time child labor

investigators for the entire United States is simply indefensible. The child

labor provisions of the FLSA are unique in that only DOL can enforce them,

whereas the FLSA`s minimum wage and overtime pay provisions can be enforced not

only by DOL, but also by aggrieved employees represented by lawyers in court.

In other words, if DOL places less emphasis on enforcing the minimum wage and

overtime pay provisions, employees have another route to address the problem-a

private right of action.. In 2006, for example, DOL filed only 3 percent-143 of

4,207- FLSA lawsuits in federal court. But if DOL does not enforce the FLSA`s

child labor provisions, then no one else can.

--Second, DOL needs to impose much higher penalties

than in the past. Average penalties of less than $1,000 do not provide

sufficient deterrent effect. There is no deterrent effect when a large company

faces a nominal penalty after permitting underage youth to perform work

forbidden under DOL regulations. DOL could easily change its regulations, or

even just revise its internal procedures for calculating penalties, to achieve

this result. Moreover, DOL should take employers who commit repeat child labor

violations to court to get an injunction barring future violations, as the FLSA

authorizes DOL to do. Any employer that violates such an injunction can be held

in contempt of court and be required to pay DOL`s costs of investigating and

prosecuting to prove to the court that the employer has violated the

injunction.

--Third, DOL needs to update and strengthen its

regulations that list jobs that are so hazardous that no child under age 18 (or

in agriculture, under age 16) can do them. The government`s premier job safety

agency-the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or ``NIOSH``-

issued a lengthy report over six years ago recommending that more than half of

these existing regulations be revised and that 17 new regulations be added, but

DOL has acted on a paltry number of these recommendations, and adopted no

changes whatsoever for agriculture, the most dangerous work environment for

children. Six years of inaction, while children are maimed and injured on the

job, are six years too many. DOL`s refusal to protect working children by

appropriately revising the hazardous orders is inexcusable.

--Fourth, DOL needs to conduct targeted investigations

of two industries in which child laborers may be most vulnerable to death or

injury: agriculture and meatpacking. It has been nearly a decade since the

Department of Labor`s targeted Salad Bowl investigation found dozens of

children, including many under the age of 10, helping harvest the nation`s

fruits and vegetables. And in the area of slaughterhouses, the recent

investigation by the State of Iowa of the Agriprocessors plant in Postville,

Iowa found dozens of minors working illegally in what is often considered to be

one of the worst and most dangerous jobs in America. In August, NCL spoke to an

Agriprocessors child laborer who had stabbed himself in the arm while on the

cutting line and had been bandaged up and told to go back to work. The young

worker said he was routinely cheated out of hours of wages each week. He also

said that he believed his plant supervisors knew he was too young to work in

the plant but looked the other way. Given that meat processing plants tend to

attract an impoverished, mostly immigrant work force, the possibility that

child laborers may be employed in slaughterhouse around the nation should be

investigated by U.S. DOL with vigor.

--Fifth, DOL needs to publicize its child labor

enforcement activities much more aggressively. The most that DOL does typically

is to issue an innocuous press release, and in many instances no publicity at

all is given to child labor penalty cases. This approach needs to be changed

drastically to make both employers and employees much more aware of the child

labor laws, and the penalties that can result for violating those laws.

--Sixth, DOL needs to revive the Child Labor Task

Force that coordinated child labor enforcement efforts between state and

federal inspectors. Increased coordination and communication between state and

federal inspectors should increase the efficacy of enforcement efforts. What

can this Committee and Congress do to strengthen the child labor law? We have

several recommendations:

--First, Congress must increase funding for DOL Wage

and Hour inspectors. One of the primary reasons for the lack of child labor

enforcement: Wage and Hour is grossly understaffed. Less than 750 investigators

are available to go out into the field and investigate labor violations. That

translates to one investigator for every 10,000 businesses. Kim Bobo, the

executive director of Interfaith Worker Justice testified in Congress earlier

this summer, that if the ratio of investigators to businesses that existed in

1941 held today, we would have 34,000 investigators- not less than 1,000. As a

first step, NCL believes the number of inspectors should be doubled and

Congress should mandate that child labor inspections become a greater priority

of enforcement efforts. Congress should require DOL to report on its enhanced

child labor enforcement efforts not less than 18 months after funding for the

additional inspectors is provided.

--Second, Congress should eliminate many of the

special exclusions in agriculture that permit children as young as young as 12

years old, and in some cases even younger, to work in the fields. It is

unconscionable to allow 12 year olds to toil in over 100 degree heat and be

exposed to toxic chemicals and pesticides; this gaping loophole in the law

should be changed. By doing so, Congress would ensure that children working in

agriculture would be subject to the same protections as children working in all

other jobs. We are not talking here about children who work on their own

parent`s farms (who are not subject to the child labor law at all), but

children who work for hire on farms, such as migrant and seasonal farmworkers.

Rep. Lucille Roybal- Allard`s ``Childrens Act for Responsible Employment,``

also known as the CARE Act, would close these shameful loopholes, leveling the

playing field for hundreds of thousands of farmworker youth who are dropping

out of high school in high numbers.

--Third, because of the great hazards to children

working in agriculture, Congress should strengthen the protections for children

working on farms. Under existing law, the Secretary of Labor has the authority

to declare which jobs are particularly hazardous for children, and the law

provides a minimum age of 18 for such jobs-except in agriculture, where the

minimum age is 16. For example, a young worker must be 18 to drive a forklift

at a Wal-Mart warehouse, but that young worker could drive a forklift at a

fruit and vegetable packing house at age 16-even though the dangers are very

similar.

--Congress should amend the law to raise the minimum

age for doing particularly hazardous work in agriculture to 18, especially in

view of the high incidence of deaths and injuries to children working in

agriculture (as noted above). The CARE Act would remedy this problem as well.

--Fourth, Congress should impose minimum penalties for

child labor violations -say at $500-to make employers more likely to comply

with the child labor requirements.

Thank you again, Madam Chair, for calling this hearing

on whether young workers are being properly protected in America`s workplace.

The National Consumers League remains ready to work with you and your staff to

see that children in this country are kept safe and are protected against the

many dangers and hazards they may face in the workplace.

Statement of J. Passantino, Acting

Administrator, The Wage and Hour Division, U.S. Department of Labor

Committee on House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Workforce Protections

September 23, 2008

Chairwoman Woolsey, Ranking Member , and distinguished members of the

Subcommittee Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the efforts taken by the

Department of Labor`s (Department) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) to promote

compliance with the Fair Labor Standard Act`s (FLSA) child labor provisions.

Let me begin by saying that WHD is committed to full and fair enforcement of

all the laws under WHD`s jurisdiction, but WHD staff`s dedication to ensuring

that youth in this country work safely and legally is second to none. As I will

highlight, our accomplishments in strengthening child labor laws, raising

public awareness of child labor requirements, and targeting industries in which

young workers are likely to be injured or killed on the job have contributed to

safer workplaces for young workers. Like all regulatory enforcement agencies,

WHD employs a variety of tools and activities to enforce the law and achieve

compliance. The agency`s mission is to promote and achieve compliance not just

to identify violations after they occur, but particularly in instances in which

the health and safety of workers are concerned, to prevent violations in the

first instance. The agency`s child labor activities and initiatives are far too

numerous to list individually, so I will point out our key efforts and

accomplishments over the past several years.

WHD Enforcement Priorities In Improving Child Labor

Compliance

WHD has prioritized its statutory enforcement responsibilities to maximize

protections for the greatest number of workers, including those most vulnerable

in the workforce low-wage workers, immigrants, and young workers.

The absence of a private right of action to address

oppressive child labor underscores the importance of this agency`s role in

safeguarding young workers. For this reason, increasing compliance with the

child labor provisions of the FLSA is a cornerstone of the agency`s annual

performance plan. Every on- site investigation complaint or directed has a

child labor component. Every low wage initiative targeted for child labor

compliance or targeted for other compliance reasons requires that investigators

examine child labor compliance. Child labor complaints, although not numerous,

are given the highest priority within the agency.

Every WHD investigator is trained early in his or her

career to look for child labor violations. With each national child labor initiative,

investigators gain both a renewed focus and specialized training. Each year,

WHD regional and local offices plan and undertake child labor compliance

initiatives in a variety of industries and businesses, such as grocery stores,

shopping malls, theaters, and restaurants. These industries are among those in

which the agency has historically found high levels of non-compliance with the

child labor Hazardous Occupations Orders (HOs) and in which large numbers of

young workers are traditionally employed. The agency`s low-wage initiatives in

other industries, such as construction and agriculture, also require district

offices to examine an employer`s compliance with the FLSA child labor

provisions in conjunction with a minimum wage or overtime investigation or

concomitant with the labor standards statutes that apply to agricultural

workers.

In recent fiscal years, WHD regional and district

offices have developed child labor compliance initiatives in industries or

establishments that had a history of child labor HO violations or that have a

high likelihood that a young employee might suffer a work-related injury or

fatality. In fiscal year 2006, for example, WHD offices nationwide investigated

discount department store operations to determine the level of compliance with

the child labor provisions, in particular to determine their compliance with

HOs that regulate paper balers, forklifts, and teen driving. In fiscal year

2007, district and regional offices continued their emphasis on reducing

injuries and deaths to young workers by stressing compliance with the HOs. This

year, the agency placed a particular emphasis on increasing compliance with HO

No. 12, which regulates the loading and operating paper balers and compactors a

common and particularly hazardous piece of equipment found in many retail

establishments and increasingly used in nursing homes, schools, and

restaurants. The focus on HO No. 12 compliance will continue in fiscal year

2009 as offices develop their child labor initiatives for the upcoming fiscal

year.

Several key statistics support the agency`s continued

emphasis on child labor enforcement. First, the number of enforcement hours

charged to child labor compliance has averaged 57,900 over the last seven years

(from fiscal year 2001 through fiscal year 2007). This is not significantly

different than the 58,080 average child labor enforcement hours recorded during

the preceding seven years (from fiscal year 1994 through fiscal year 2000).

Second, as noted above, WHD investigators examine

child labor compliance in all on-site investigations. In the last three years,

approximately 47 percent of the investigations in which a child labor violation

was identified occurred in an on-site investigation initiated under another

statute or program area enforced by WHD primarily in investigations initiated

to determine FLSA minimum wage and overtime compliance. Third, the percentage

of child labor cases in which a child labor violation is found has increased

steadily over the last three years. Thirty- seven percent of child labor

investigations in fiscal year 2005 found child labor violations. By the end of

fiscal year 2007, the percentage had increased to 40 percent, which suggests

improvements in targeting establishments and industries with likely child labor

violations.

Fourth, WHD civil money penalty assessments per

investigation have increased from $4,558 assessed per case in fiscal year 2003

to $5,303 assessed per case in fiscal year 2007. The agency has not hesitated

to levy fines against employers found in violation of the child labor laws

proportionate to the severity of the violations. Although we have been

successful in collecting civil money penalties, as established in the examples

below, the more significant and long-term results have been demonstrated in our

ability to secure future corporate-wide compliance and cooperative public

awareness campaigns by many of the investigated companies. Recent

investigations include the following examples:

--In August 2008, American Multi-Cinema, Inc., (AMC

Theatres), headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, paid $141,570 in child labor

civil money penalties to resolve violations found in AMC theaters in several

states. As part of the resolution, AMC Theaters produced a child labor public

service announcement (PSA) on hazards associated with compactors and balers.

The PSA is being shown in theatres nationwide as part of the company`s First

Look pre-feature entertainment program, and the expected audience is 8 million

theater-goers.

--In January 2008, the Department obtained a permanent

injunction in U.S. district court against Paragon Contractors Corp., a Hildale,

Utah, contractor, for repeated violations of federal youth employment laws. The

most recent investigation uncovered a 16-year-old working in roofing operations

in violation of HO No. 16. The assessed civil money penalty of $5,280 was paid

by the company.

--In December 2007, Connecticut-based CVS Pharmacy

Inc. agreed to pay $226,598 in child labor civil money penalties after a 2007

investigation of CVS stores in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states found 78

minors illegally loading, unloading, or operating cardboard compactors and

seven minors employed in violation of the FLSA time standards. CVS Pharmacy

Inc. also agreed to ensure compliance with the FLSA at its more than 6,000

stores nationwide.

--In July 2007, Pretzel King LLC, doing business as an

Auntie Anne`s franchisee in San Bernardino, Downey, Arcadia, Glendale,

Northridge and Bakersfield, California, paid $51,500 in civil monetary

penalties for allowing eleven 14- and 15-year-olds to work beyond the hours

permitted by law and nine youths to be involved in prohibited baking

activities. The stores also allowed 60 minors to operate freight elevators,

dough mixers, and trash compactors, which are prohibited hazardous occupations

for anyone under 18 years of age.

--In 2007, Jim Enterprises Inc., a Mc`s

franchisee, paid $86,500 in penalties after WHD determined that the firm

allowed minors to perform hazardous duties, e.g., operating a trash compactor

and frying, at a Mobile, Alabama, restaurant. In addition, a Piggly Wiggly

franchisee, SCVS Inc., paid $30,000 in penalties after an investigation found

20 minors operating paper balers at two stores. These violations were uncovered

as part of the WHD`s Gulf Coast District Office local child labor initiative to

increase compliance in grocery stores and restaurants.

--In the summer of 2007, Caesars Utah LLC, doing

business as Little Caesars Pizza in Sandy, Utah, paid a $110,800 civil monetary

penalty for allowing minors to operate dough mixers and bake, among other

activities in violation of the child labor provisions. The company also agreed

to educate the public at large by creating a statewide public service campaign

called Stop, Look and Listen.

--In April 2006, Target Corporation paid $92,400 in

civil money penalties for exposing young workers to hazardous machinery in

violation of the FLSA child labor provisions. Twenty-nine minors in seven New

York/New Jersey-area stores were found to have operated either power-driven

hoisting apparatus or power-driven scrap paper balers, or in some cases, both.

The company provided WHD with an outline of the steps it planned to take to

ensure full compliance with all child labor regulations in the future.

WHD believes its continued emphasis on child labor

compliance has resulted in fewer child labor violations. The total number of

investigations in which child labor violations were found is lower today than

the total number in 2001, and the trend appears to be continuing. The number of

minors found illegally employed last fiscal year (4,672) is nearly half of the

number found illegally employed in fiscal year 2001 (8,818). The average number

of minors found illegally employed per investigation has also declined from 4.2

in fiscal year 2001 to 3.7 in fiscal year 2007. More importantly, the number of

minors found employed in violation of a hazardous occupations order in fiscal

year 2007 (1,000) was a reduction of more than half the number found working in

a hazardous situation in fiscal year 2001 (2,040). While these statistics can

be attributed in part to the overall drop in the number of teens in the

workplace, these declining trends should also be taken as an encouraging sign

that fewer young workers are employed in violation of the law.

Children who work in agriculture are among the most

vulnerable of the country`s workers. The nature of agricultural employment,

i.e., its short duration, the remote locations, and mobility of the work, pose

particular enforcement challenges. Agricultural work is difficult and

dangerous. For youth, the hazards are significant. The fatality rate for young

workers in agriculture is nearly six times the rate in other industries. Nearly

60 percent of the youth fatalities in agriculture during 1998 2002 occurred to

youths who worked on the family farms. The deaths of young family farm workers

accounted for nearly a quarter of all of the young worker deaths that occurred

in all industries during the same period.

The standards for youth employment in agriculture have

historically differed from nonagricultural employment. Under the FLSA, the

child of a farmer can do any job, at any age, at any time, on a farm owned or

operated by the parent of that child. The minimum age for employment is lower

than for nonagricultural work. There is no minimum age for employment on small

farms that the Act exempts from minimum wage requirements. The agricultural HOs

prohibit only those youth under the age of 16, who are not working on his or

her own family farm, from performing those tasks that the Secretary has found

to be particularly hazardous for youth, as opposed to nonagricultural HOs,

which apply to youth under the age of 18. Because youth are permitted to work

in agriculture at a younger age, WHD is committed to promoting their safe

employment in the industry. WHD investigators who conduct investigations in the

agricultural industry are instructed to examine compliance with the provisions

of all applicable statutes providing protections for agricultural workers,

particularly wages, housing, and transportation, field worker safety and child

labor provisions. WHD investigated four occupational fatalities that occurred

in fiscal years 2007 and 2008 involving teens under the age of 16 working in

agriculture. Of those four cases, WHD found that only one involved a violation

of the FLSA child labor provisions. The employer was assessed $11,962 in civil

money penalties the maximum allowable penalty at the time. In the remaining

three instances, there was no employment relationship.

Even in situations in which young workers are not

subject to the FLSA child labor provisions, WHD has looked to methods other

than enforcement to help young farm workers on family farms enjoy safe and

positive work experiences. As I will discuss later, WHD has developed

compliance assistance materials emphasizing occupational safety and health,

disseminated public service announcements, and collaborated with other entities

to educate parents and teens of ``age-appropriate`` task standards that parents

can use to measure the capabilities of their children in performing

agricultural work.

Compliance Assistance And Public Awareness Campaigns

Affect Compliance

Compliance assistance activities, which include providing clear and

easy-to-access information on how to comply with federal employment laws, are

key strategies in promoting voluntary compliance and should not be discounted.

Parents, educators, employers, and young workers who are aware of the federal

and state child labor requirements can make more informed decisions on when and

where young people should work. Compliance assistance and educational

activities are communicated in many ways, whether through speeches and

presentations given to school groups or by PSAs. WHD uses every available means

to provide compliance information to the public. WHD staff speak regularly to

employer, employee, community, and advocacy groups. Local offices distribute

self-audit materials and compliance guides to help employers evaluate their

employment practices against the child labor laws. WHD investigators and

managers work directly with school and work-permit officials to educate issuing

authorities on how to screen potential violations before the work actually

begins. With over 7 million covered worksites in the U.S., voluntary compliance

with the child labor laws must be encouraged and supported.

In May 2002, the Department launched the YouthRules!

public awareness campaign, which quickly became the centerpiece of WHD`s child

labor compliance and public awareness efforts. The YouthRules! initiative is

designed to increase public awareness of both federal and state rules

concerning young workers; since its implementation, the initiative has provided

an easily recognizable vehicle by which the public can obtain compliance

materials. The web page, www.youthrules.dol.gov,

provides a gateway to child labor compliance information on the internet. The

site gets approximately 500,000 views a year in part because some 75 partners,

associations, and governmental entities have linked or agreed to link their web

site to the YouthRules! site. Most recently, Major League Baseball established

an internet link from its web site to the agency`s YouthRules! page.

As part of this public awareness effort, WHD published

and distributed a YouthRules! bookmarks and a YouthRules! Employer Pocket Guide

in both English and Spanish. Similar publications were developed to educate

employers and the public about the rules for youth employment in agriculture.

Each year, WHD augments these printed and on-line YouthRules! materials with

new fact sheets, guides, and other aides for compliance. WHD developed and

posted self-assessment tools for restaurants, grocery stores, and other

non-agricultural industries to help employers assess their compliance with the

child labor laws. WHD designed posters with bold attention-getting colors and

graphics to attract young readers. Agency field personnel developed a child

labor compliance PowerPoint presentation geared towards a teenaged audience.

The YouthRules! web site contains stickers that employers may place on

dangerous equipment to warn teens and others that young workers are not

permitted to operate certain equipment, such as forklifts and paper balers.

Wage and Hour regularly updates this website to inform the public of new

developments, such as the publication of new regulations.

The Department also developed and disseminated a

YouthRules! PSA in fiscal year 2004. That first year, over 6,000 radio stations

received a taped PSA, and 10,000 newspapers received a YouthRules! news

article, including ethnic media and newspapers. That year, the radio PSA played

over 340 times on 197 radio stations with an audience of 27 million listeners

in 39 states. The print article generated 252 newspaper articles in 20 states

with a readership of approximately 15 million.

In fiscal years 2005 and 2006, WHD`s summer public

awareness campaign focused on youth employed in construction, because of

increasing numbers of young workers primarily Hispanic employed in that

industry. As part of the campaign, WHD launched a new electronic seminar,

``Youth Working in Construction,`` which is available on CD-ROM and on the

YouthRules! web site. The seminar discusses the requirements for youth working

in construction and concentrates on identifying the prohibited occupations in

construction. A radio PSA and print article were issued to highlight the new

seminar.

WHD`s first YouthRules! rally was held in 2003. The

event, at a Philadelphia mall, was highly successful, so WHD expanded the

concept in 2004 to include additional rallies in Houston and New Jersey. The

rallies are now annual events in Houston and San . Participation in the

events numbers in the thousands. In the last fiscal year, WHD updated the child

labor PSAs and distributed them to more than 1,900 radio stations, including

all 600 Spanish radio stations in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. The new PSAs

focused on youth in agriculture the industry with the highest youth fatality

rate. WHD continued public dissemination of the PSAs as part of this year`s

annual YouthRules! campaign.

These diverse public awareness and compliance

assistance activities continue a longstanding WHD tradition of promoting

positive and safe work experiences by educating parents, teens, employers,

educators, and the public at large about the federal and state rules concerning

young workers. The goal, as stated earlier, is to increase compliance and

prevent violations from occurring in the first instance and through those

efforts, safeguard the lives and futures of young workers.

Partnerships Promote Child Labor Compliance

Strategic partnerships provide opportunities and avenues to encourage

compliance in communities and among employers. Business associations, unions,

state governments, federal agencies, community groups, academia, and others

have collaborated with WHD to promote public awareness and undertake compliance

assistance activities. The added support of our partners enhances the scope and

effect of both enforcement and compliance assistance. WHD`s national

partnership activities include (but are certainly not limited to) collaboration

with the following organizations.

Federal Network for Young Worker Safety and Health

(FedNet)

The Department is a founding member of FedNet, a partnership of 14 federal

agencies that share ideas, resources, and opportunities to keep young workers

safe. This program strives to:

--Increase awareness of young worker occupational

safety and health among key community players and young workers as they enter

the workforce;

-- education, training, and outreach to promote

young worker safety and health;

--Enhance federal initiatives that create relationships with small businesses,

trade associations, and other organizations that employ young workers; and

--Promote resources that enhance employer compliance

and knowledge of federal and state regulations related to young workers.

FedNet accomplishments include safe summer job kick-offs,

brochures, and safety tips. The collaboration available through FedNet enhances

opportunities for WHD to disseminate materials and information.

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

(NIOSH) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

WHD has a longstanding partnership with NIOSH in the

areas of improving workplace safety for young workers and in the collection and

interpretation of injury and fatality data, especially as it related to

rulemaking efforts. In 1998, WHD provided funding to NIOSH to conduct a

comprehensive review of scientific literature and available data in order to

assess current workplace hazards and the adequacy of the current child labor

HOs. The report, entitled National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

(NIOSH) Recommendations to the U.S. Department of Labor for Changes to

Hazardous Orders (NIOSH report), was issued in July 2002. The NIOSH report,

which makes 35 recommendations concerning the existing non-agricultural HOs and

recommends the creation of 17 new HOs, was the impetus for the Department`s

April 2007 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM).

In addition, WHD and OSHA have, for many years, been

active members of the NIOSH-sponsored Federal Interagency Work Group on

Preventing Childhood Agricultural Injury. This group, whose membership includes

representatives of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), works to reduce

young farm-worker deaths and injuries.

Finally, WHD works with NIOSH and OSHA in a ``rapid

response`` young worker fatality notification system that keeps all three

agencies advised of youth workplace deaths.

Young Workers Health and Safety Network (YWN)

WHD has also worked for many years with the YWN, a subcommittee of the

Occupational Health and Safety Section of the American Public Health

Association, to promote compliance with the child labor provisions and to

reduce occupational injuries to and workplace deaths of minors. The YWN which

describes itself as an informal network of public health professionals, advocates,

and government agency staff includes individuals from academia, public health,

labor law enforcement, health and safety consultation and enforcement, and

labor organizations.

Interstate Labor Standards Association (ILSA)

WHD has an active collaborative relationship with ILSA, an organization of

state labor department officials. As part of this ongoing coordination, WHD

officials at the national, regional, and local organizations levels communicate

with State labor departments on various child labor activities.

U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

Given the higher fatality rates among young workers in the agricultural

industry, WHD works with USDA on many issues. WHD`s most recent collaboration

with USDA involves the reinvention and streamlining of the tractor

certification program. Under the child labor agricultural HOs, 14- and

15-year-olds may operate certain otherwise prohibited farm equipment after

being properly trained and certified in the safe operation of the equipment. In

most cases, agricultural extension service agents or agricultural vocational

school instructors perform the training, testing, and certification based on

requirements established by regulation. These requirements have become

outdated, many of the training materials are no longer in print, and because of

funding reallocations, not all states now provide the training or

certification. The interagency agricultural HO Steering Committee has overseen

the identification of the required skill sets, the development of a modern curriculum

with multiple methods of delivery, the engineering of an electronic system that

will register teachers, administer examinations, issue certificates, and

monitor the operation of the entire process. WHD continues to work with USDA to

ensure the completion of this important project.

National Children`s Center for Rural and Agricultural

Health and Safety (NCCRAHS)

NCCRAHS, based in Marshfield, Wisconsin, strives to enhance the health and

safety of all children exposed to hazards associated with agricultural work and

rural environments. NCCRAHS receives funding from NIOSH. WHD staff have served

on the NCCRAHS steering committee and have helped develop and disseminate the

North American Guidelines for Children`s Agricultural Tasks (NAGCAT). NAGCAT is

a collection of guidelines designed to assist parents and others in assigning

age-appropriate tasks for children ages 7 to 16 that live or work on farms and

ranches across North America. The guidelines are based on an understanding of

childhood growth and development, agricultural practices, principles of

childhood injury, and agricultural and occupational safety. Voluntary use of

the guidelines can help parents and others make informed decisions about

appropriate tasks for youth.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

WHD works with EEOC to ensure that young workers experience a workplace free

from discrimination and sexual harassment. WHD and EEOC jointly provide

compliance assistance to employers of workers with disabilities many of whom

are under the age of 18.

Regulatory And Legislative Initiatives Have

Strengthened Child Labor Laws

Because of changes in the workplace, the introduction of new processes and

technologies, the emergence of new types of businesses in which young workers

may find employment opportunities, the existence of differing federal and state

standards, and divergent views on how best to balance scholastic requirements

and work experiences, the Department has for many years been conducting an

ongoing review of the criteria for permissible child labor employment. Some of

the most significant accomplishments towards protecting working young men and

women in this country are reflected in the recent revisions to the child labor

regulations.

On December 16, 2004, the Department published a final

rule that amended the child labor regulations to implement statutory amendments

to two existing HOs: the Compactors and Balers Safety Standards Modernization

Act, affecting paper balers and compactors (HO No. 12); and the Teen Drive for

Employment Act, affecting teenagers whose jobs may include driving on public

roads (HO 2). The regulations also updated the types of cooking activities

allowed for 14- and 15-year-olds; revised the ``roofing`` HO to ban all work on

or about roofs by youths under age 18; updated the definition of ``explosives``

in HO 1; and reduced paperwork in processing age certificates.

As previously noted, the NIOSH report made

recommendations concerning the existing non-agricultural HOs and recommended

the creation of 17 new HOs. Upon receiving the NIOSH report, WHD conducted a

detailed review and met with various stakeholders to evaluate and prioritize

each recommendation for possible regulatory action consistent with the

established national policy of balancing the benefits of employment

opportunities for youth with the necessary and appropriate safety protections.

The 2004 final rule addressed six of the NIOSH recommendations.

In April 2007, the Department published an NPRM and an

Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) as part of its continuing efforts

to update the youth employment regulations for the 21st Century. The current

proposals would represent the most significant revisions to the child labor

regulations in 30 years. The proposals would strengthen youth employment

regulations to protect against workplace hazards, expand youth workplace

opportunities that have been judged safe and permissible, update regulations to

better reflect the modern workplace, and address many of the remaining

recommendations from the NIOSH report. WHD is in the process of drafting a

final rule based on the comments it received in response to the NPRM, and

anticipates transmitting that rule to the Office of Management and Budget

shortly. WHD continues to review the comments received in response to the

ANPRM, and the remaining NIOSH recommendations, for potential future

rulemaking.

For the last several years, the President`s budget has

included a legislative proposal to increase the amount of civil money penalties

that could be assessed for child labor violations that cause the serious injury

or death of a young worker. On May 21 of this year, President Bush signed into

law the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA). Among other

things, GINA amends the FLSA by increasing the civil money penalties that may

be imposed for child labor violations resulting in death or serious injury. The

legislation raised the maximum penalty to $50,000 for each violation resulting

in the death of or serious injury to working youth. In cases where the

employer`s violation is repeated or willful, the maximum penalty was raised to

$100,000. This new authority provides WHD with an important tool in securing

compliance with the child labor provisions.

Improvements In Child Labor Compliance A Continuing

Priority For WHD

As we have demonstrated, ensuring that young workers in this country have safe

and appropriate early work experiences has been and continues to be a high

priority for this agency. It is an integral part of every investigation, and

WHD personnel nationwide are committed to this agency goal. WHD has used and

continues to use every tool available enforcement, compliance assistance,

public awareness, partnership, regulation, and legislation to promote

compliance with the Nation`s child labor laws. We believe that we have

demonstrated success in these efforts, but as in every program, we look for

opportunities to improve. Last year, the Department began working with an

independent evaluator to assess our strategies and their effectiveness in increasing

compliance with the FLSA child labor provisions. That study is ongoing, and we

look forward to any recommended opportunities for improvements that may come.

In examining our activities and accomplishments, however, we can cite several

measures of success.

WHD has conducted two national, statistically valid,

investigation-based compliance surveys of youth employed in the grocery store

and restaurant industries. These are two industries that employ a high

percentage of young workers. The first baseline survey was conducted in 2000 to

gauge the level of child labor compliance in full-service restaurants,

quick-service restaurants, and grocery stores. A second investigation-based

survey was conducted in 2004 to determine if the levels of compliance had changed.

These two surveys were full on-site investigations that not only included

interviews of the young workers, but also included interviews with their

co-workers and employers. The investigation-based surveys allowed WHD

investigators to establish coverage under the FLSA, review payroll records, and

make conclusive determinations on whether the teens were employed in violation

of applicable federal law.

The 2004 investigation-based survey showed continued

high levels of child labor compliance in the full-service restaurant and

grocery store industries, similar to the levels found in 2000. The 2004 survey

also demonstrated improvements in child labor compliance in quick-service

restaurants in comparison to the 2000 survey results. WHD found significant reductions

in the percentage of employers with repeat violations in all three industries.

The 2004 survey investigations found that 91 percent of quick-service

restaurants were in compliance with the FLSA child labor provisions and that 99

percent of youth employed in this industry were employed in compliance. The

survey also found 73 percent of full-service restaurants were in compliance and

88 percent of youth workers were employed in compliance. Finally, 80 percent of

grocery stores were in compliance and 95 percent of youth were employed in

compliance in this industry. Ninety-six (96) percent of full- and quick-service

restaurants and 88 percent of grocery stores were in compliance with the child

labor HO provisions. The high percentage of youth employed in compliance and

the increase in compliance among prior violators can be attributed to the

compliance activities of the agency during the intervening year between the

surveys. Those efforts continue today.

The 2004 survey results are not the only indicators of

improved compliance. In FY 2007, WHD completed an investigation-based

compliance survey, i.e., the Youth Employment Survey (YES), to determine child

labor compliance in four large national retail chains, Sears, Roebuck and

Company (Sears); K-Mart; Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Wal-Mart); and Target

Corporation (Target). All four companies had a history of child labor

violations. Following the prior investigations, Sears and Wal-Mart had entered

into settlement agreements with WHD to promote future child labor compliance.

Of the 67 establishments investigated, WHD found 82

percent (55 of 67) in full compliance with the child labor provisions. All

establishments, but one, were in compliance with the child labor hours

standards. Eight-four (84) percent of the establishments were in compliance

with the child labor HOs. In total, 40 child labor violations were found

involving 36 minors; one child labor hours violation and 39 HO violations. Of

the 39 HO violations cited, 38 involved violations of HO No. 12 (balers). One

HO No. 7 (forklift) violation was found. The findings in this initiative

contributed, in part, to WHD`s decision to place an emphasis on increasing

compliance with HO No. 12 as part of its fiscal year 2008 performance plan.

Sears was fully in compliance, with no child labor

violations found. One Wal-Mart establishment was found in violation with a

single HO No. 12 violation. Three Target establishments accounted for 14

violations involving 11 minors. K-Mart has the highest rate of non-compliance,

with 7 stores having 24 violations involving 23 minors. These large corporate

enterprises, that employ minors nationwide, have far fewer child labor

violations and are far more aware of their obligations as a result of WHD`s

continued presence. While these measures of compliance are encouraging, the

declines in workplace injuries and fatalities are the most significant

indicators of improved working conditions for young workers in this country.

According to NIOSH- provided statistics, 38 youth under the age of 18 died from

work- related injuries in 2007 a significant drop from the average of 61 youth

aged 17 and under who were killed on the job during the years 1998 to 2002.

Equally encouraging is the corresponding decline in youth fatality rates from a

high of more than 3.5 per 100,000 FTE in 1999 to approximately 2 per 100,000

FTE in 2006. Injuries to young workers have also declined in recent years,

although not as sharply as fatalities. In 1999, NIOSH estimated that over

70,000 14-to 17-year-olds were injured on the job seriously enough to warrant a

trip to a hospital emergency room. By 2006, the estimate had dropped to 52,600.

The agency believes these injury and fatality results

demonstrate significant progress in addressing child labor violations. The

actions and activities of many parties have contributed to these declining

statistics, but clearly too many minors continue to be injured while working,

and even one death of a working teen is one too many. The challenge of

protecting the welfare of young workers is a shared responsibility. It rests

with federal and state officials, parents, educators, community-based and

advocacy organizations, employers, and the young workers themselves. WHD

remains committed to this challenge and will continue to promote legal

employment opportunities for young men and women that are safe, positive, and

do not distract from or interfere with their education.

Thank you again for this opportunity to discuss this

important issue. This concludes my prepared statement. I would be glad to

answer any questions.

Statement of A. Strauss, Executive Director,

Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs

Committee on House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Workforce Protections

September 23, 2008

Representative Woolsey and members of the subcommittee, thank you for inviting

me to testify this morning on the conditions endured by children who work for

wages in the farms, fields and orchards of America. I also want to comment on

the lack of enforcement of child labor laws in the agriculture industry and

recommend changes to the law that will give the same protections to children

working in agricultures as other children enjoy.

The Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs is

the national federation of nonprofit and public agencies that conduct job

training programs for eligible migrant and seasonal farmworkers throughout the

United States. In the mid-1990s, our members noticed that in many places young

children were preparing and harvesting crops, often but not always alongside

their parents or other family members. As they began looking into this, they

realized that the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) actually permits children as

young as 12 and in rare instances as young as 10 to work in agriculture. I`m

not talking about family farms, where sons and daughters of farmers learn the

business firsthand at a young age. I`m talking about working farms that employ

large numbers of workers who aren`t related to the owners.

There are about 2.5 million people who earn their

living, at least in part, by performing farmwork in this country. Among them,

tens of thousands migrate among various states each year, following the crops

and seeking work wherever they can find it. Often, families are traveling from

Texas or Florida to the upper Midwest, Southeast and Northeast. In California,

there are many workers that migrate long distances often within that state.

They are typically paid miserably low wages, receive no job-related benefits,

and have no job security. The average farmworker family earns less than $15,000

per year from all sources, well below the federal poverty level. In this

situation, they sometimes require their children to work to help bring in more

income. While there are no reliable statistics on children that work in the fields,

our research indicates that there are about 400,000 such young people below the

age of 18.

The FLSA requires that they not work during school

hours when school is in session. That is virtually the only restriction in

federal law, along with a prohibition against hazardous employment for children

15 and younger That means that a 12 year old kid can work 12 or more hours a

day during the summer, on weekends, or during the school year as long as those

hours are outside of school time. I have spoken with teenage children of

migrant families who worked after school until midnight during a heavy harvest.

That same child, if he worked in my office, could only

work at most three hours during a school day after school is out, and no more

than 40 hours a week in the summer. And my offices are air conditioned and

comfortable. The fields are not. One of my staff completed a two week visit to

North Carolina`s blueberry fields this past June and found dozens of kids, some

as young as 6, working in 105 degree heat all day long for several weeks at a

time. California, for example, has heat illness prevention standards to protect

child workers, but the Federal Secretary of Labor has not issued a Hazardous

Occupation Order for excessive heat.

The toll on the children is real. Sometimes their

families take them out of school before the end of the semester, and return

after the new school year begins. While in many places there are federally

funded migrant education programs available, those programs aren`t always

congruent with those in the home state school, so children lose the credits

they thought they were earning. They start the year behind, and have to work

doubly hard to catch up, even while they may be working in fields again after school.

Their parents typically do not have much formal education and may speak English

very poorly, so they aren`t in the same environment of learning as most of

their peers, nor can their parents afford tutors or other special aids.

The results are predictable: most migrant children,

perhaps more than 67%, drop out of school well before high school graduation.

Without a diploma, without good job skills, they often end up continuing the

cycle of poverty their parents hoped they could break. It is a tragic waste

that we cannot allow to continue. Most of these children want to succeed, know

the meaning and value of hard work, but are cut off from accessing the American

Dream as soon as they drop out.

While in my opinion, the law is not sufficiently

protective of child agricultural workers, my staff has observed violation after

violation of FLSA provisions. For example, one staff member saw children below

the age of twelve working for pay with no sign of any inspector. The law was

broken in 11 of the 12 farms she visited; where were the wage and hour people?

This needs to stop. The federal government and the states need to make a

renewed commitment to protecting our youngest workers.

In addition, Congress should equalize the protections

of these children with the rest of America`s workforce. Amend the FLSA to

protect children working in agriculture just the same as we protect children

working in nearly every other industry. Representative Lucille Roybal-Allard

introduced a bill (HR 2674) in June 2007 that would do just that. Finally, we

must dramatically increase the federal commitment to the development of

farmworker children. Legal protections alone won`t assure their progress, so we

have to invest in those actions we know will keep them in school and allow them

to become as successful as Norma has.

The reality is that under our very noses, this country

has a farm labor sector that resembles similar sectors in third world

countries. It is a disgrace that the people who prepare and harvest our food

often barely earn enough to purchase the food that their families need to

survive. The least we can do is protect their children and give them a chance

at the American Dream.

Thank you for your time and attention and I`ll be glad

to answer any questions you might have.

Statement of Lynn Woolsey Chairwoman, Subcommittee on

Workforce Protections

Committee on House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Workforce Protections

September 23, 2008

I want to welcome you all today for a hearing on ``Child Labor Enforcement: Are

We Adequately Protecting Our Children?``

While we will primarily examine the current state of

enforcement of our federal child labor laws by the Department of Labor, I hope

that our witnesses will also address how the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

treats children who work in agriculture differently than those who work in

other industries.

The fact is that children who work on a farm are

allowed to work at a younger age, for longer hours and in more hazardous

conditions than kids who work at a grocery store. This is unacceptable.

This difference is a throwback to another era when

one-quarter of Americans still lived on family farms and a majority of the

agricultural work performed by children was done on behalf of their family.

While times have changed and less than 2% of Americans live on farms today, our

laws have not.

As a result of technical advances and the growth of

large-scale agriculture, most children working in the fields are hired as

laborers on large commercial farms. This is a far cry from the family farm.

Representative Roybal-Allard`s CARE Act, would correct

this imbalance by raising protections for child farm workers to the same level

of children working in other industries. I am proud to be a cosponsor of this

legislation, which we will give serious attention to next year.

Representative Bruce Braley has just introduced a bill

to increase criminal sanctions on employers who exploit children.

Last year I introduced a bi-partisan bill, the Child

Care Protection Act, which increases penalties and establishes a ($50,000)

civil penalty for a violation which causes the death or serious injury of a

child laborer.

And my good friend, Ranking Member is an

original co- sponsor of the bill. The provisions of the bill were signed into

law this year as part of the Genetic Information Non- Discrimination Act.

This is progress.

However, as I said when the child labor penalty bill was passed, this is a

first good step, but additional enforcement measures are needed to adequately

protect our children. Unfortunately, all the legislation in the world won`t

help if we are not able to adequately enforce our child labor laws.

And it is clear that this Administration does not

appear to be focused on enforcing the laws already on the books.

Let me give you a few examples:

The Wage and Hour Division has 730 inspectors for the entire country, down from

945 in 2001. These inspectors are charged with enforcing all aspects of the

FLSA, which in addition to child labor, include minimum wage and overtime

protections.

And it appears from the numbers that the Wage and Hour

Division spends little time investigating child labor complaints as opposed to

other violations.

In 2005, for example, the Division devoted less than 5

percent of its total investigatory time on child labor matters.

And only a small fraction of this time is devoted to investigations in the

agricultural sector. In FY2007, the DOL uncovered 4,672 children who were

working in violation of federal child safety laws.

Four years earlier, DOL found double that number. I

find it hard to believe that child labor violations have decreased by half over

that time period. There are serious violations of child labor laws that need

DOL`s attention.

For example, on September 9, the State of Iowa filed

over 9,000 counts of state child labor law violations at Agriprocessors, a

meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa. You are all undoubtedly familiar with

Agriprocessors, which was the site of the one of the largest workplace

immigration raids in U.S. history.

The State alleges that 32 children, seven of whom were

under the age of 16, were employed at the plant in violation of the prohibition

against children working in meatpacking facilities. In addition, these children

were exposed to dangerous chemicals, and children under 16 were found to be

illegally operating power machinery, working during prohibited hours, and in

excess of the hours allowed by law.

These allegations also appear to be violations of

federal law, but while the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was out in

droves, DOL has been missing in action. It is hard to claim adequate

enforcement with that kind of a record, but I look forward to hearing from Mr.

Passantino and our other witness on this issue.

With that, I defer to the ranking member, Joe , for

his opening statement.

Source: CQ Transcriptions

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