A Panel Discussion with the Labor Secretary and Advocates about the Plight of Farm Worker Children
Washington,
Sep 16 -
“Secretary Solis, (shown sitting on the stage) thank you for hosting this distinguished panel to highlight the deplorable and often dangerous conditions facing children who work in the fields and the orchards of our country.
The plight of these children is an issue we have been trying to shine a light on for years and we are encouraged and energized that you are leading our Labor Department and have a seat in the President’s Cabinet.
I know I speak for all who are here, when I tell you Madam Secretary, we are excited about the fact that we finally have a Secretary of Labor who respects and understands working families and the challenges they face.
We are even more excited by the fact that we have a Secretary of Labor who is willing to take on those challenges and work with us to improve the quality of life of children working in agriculture.
As you know there are many champions of working families in the room. I want to acknowledge and thank the members on the panel, Mark Lara, Silvia Aldana, Dolores Huerta, David Strauss and Robin Romano for their many years of dedication fighting to protect farm worker children and to provide them with the opportunity to leave the fields and go into the classroom where they belong.
I also commend all of you for being here today. Your presence is a clear indication that like our Secretary and our panelists, you understand our moral obligation to protect the rights, the safety and the educational future of our most precious resource: our children.
In a few minutes you will have the privilege of watching clips of Mr. Romano’s often heartbreaking documentary, the Harvest.
What touches me the most about the children portrayed in the documentary is their yearning for a better life beyond the unrelenting work of harvesting our nation’s crops; a life of opportunity that is made possible through education.
Unfortunately, as schools opened in the last few weeks, absent from the classroom were thousands of children who remained working in the fields.
Most of these children start the academic year late, and continue working long hours leaving them little time or energy to do their homework. The results are predictable. Studies show that 50 percent of youth who regularly perform farm work drop out of school.
Tragically, these farmworker children are being deprived of the educational opportunities that could help them escape a lifetime of work picking fruits and vegetables in the hot sun. Regrettably, our country also loses the talents and potential contributions of these young people.
Adding to the heartbreaking circumstances of these children is that our labor laws do not equally protect them.
The children of agriculture earn sub-minimum wages, use hazardous farm equipment and are continually exposed to dangerous pesticides.
These dangerous and exploitive conditions, illegal in every other industry, simply do not reflect how we as Americans value our children.
That is why yesterday I introduced the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment, better known as the CARE Act.
The CARE Act raises labor standards and protections for farmworker children to the same level set for children in all other occupations.
Specifically, it raises the minimum age for agricultural work to 14 and restricts children under 16 from work that interferes with their education or endangers their health and well being.
The CARE Act also prohibits children under the age of 18 from working in agricultural jobs, which the Department of Labor has specified as particularly hazardous. This is consistent with current law governing every other industry outside of agriculture.
My hope is that we will be able to pass the CARE Act in this Congress.
While the film will show you there is a great deal that needs to be done, the passage of the CARE Act would be a giant step forward in providing the children of agriculture with the fundamental protections they so desperately need for a better life.
I look forward to working with Secretary Solis and all of you to ensure passage of the Care Act.
Again, thank you to my friend Hilda Solis for gathering us here today.”
