US child labour protections under red threat as Republicans attempt rollback

United States saw a 37% rise in child labour law violations in 2022, Guardian reported. This comes at a time Republicans are pushing reforms at state and federal levels to roll back several protections ensured under labour laws. Lawmakers in different red states are eying to expand permissible work hours, broen of jobs minors are permitted to perform and are even looking for ways to protect employers from any liabilities for injuries or sickness, Guardian reported. 

Last month, in Iowa, Republican lawmakers proposed a bill to expand s of work 14 and 15-year-olds will be permitted to perform. legislators in Iowa also proposed to extend permissible working hours and reduce liabilities of employers. se attacks on basic foundations of child labour laws in country have attracted criticism from many. Charlie Wishman, President of Iowa Federation of Labour, AFL-CIO, called move regressive. 

“It’s just crazy to me that we are re-litigating a lot of things that seem to have been settled 100, 120 or 140 years ago,” he said.

“All of se protections have been put in place for a reason. Child labour law is re to make sure that kids are working in age-appropriate work activities or occupations that are appropriate for ir age. We think this is a rewrite of our child labour laws in Iowa that are going way, way, way too far and has potential to put kids in dangerous situations,” he ded.

According to Guardian, similar concerns were also shared by Marcy Goldstein-Gelb, co-executive director of National Council for Occupational Safety and Health.

“In Iowa legislation, one of provisions is to exempt employers from civil liability due to company’s negligence. It is astounding that y would have gall to knowingly acknowledge that more young people will be harmed, but focus on exempting businesses,” she said. 

US states push for a rollback while figures show a different story

Iowa is not only American state eying to relax restriction in child Labour laws. state of Ohio, anor red state, reintroduced a bipartisan bill which aims to expand working hours of 14 and 15-year-old minors.

In January 2023, Minnesota introduced a similar bil. States like Wisconsin, New Jersey, etc. also proposed similar pieces of legislation in ir respective states. vocates of rollback cited "labour shortage" as a part of reason for such a move. 

While different states are pushing for a rollback, rise in instances of child labour violations in country has become a matter of concern. Last year, US Department of Labour stated that re has been a massive increase in child labour violations in country since 2015.

“Since 2015, department’s Wage and Hour Division has seen increases in child labour investigations and violations. In fiscal year 2021, division found 2,819 minors employed in violation of law and assessed employers with nearly $3.4 million in civil money penalties,” Department of Labour asserted in a statement.

Furr, companies like Hyundai and Kia (supply chains in Alabama), McDonald’s, Dunkin Donuts and Chipotle have been accused of child labour violations in past.