Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34) introduced "The Children’s Act for Responsible Employment" (CARE) today to end the double standard  existing in child labor laws that results in inadequate protections for children working in our nation’s agricultural fields.  The congresswoman chose June 12th to introduce her legislation in commemoration of World Day Against Child Labor (use this as a link to the above attached release from the Child Labor Coalition), which focuses this year on ending abusive child labor practices in agriculture.

“It is unacceptable that children who work in agriculture, one of this country’s most dangerous occupations, are less protected under U.S. law than juveniles working in other occupations,”
Congresswoman Roybal-Allard said. “The CARE bill addresses this inequity by raising labor standards and protections for farmworker children to the same level set for children in occupations outside of agriculture.”

While retaining current exemptions for family farms, the CARE Act (H.R. 2674) brings the age and work hour standards for children working in agriculture up to the standards set for all other forms of child labor.  Under the measure, teenagers would need to be at least 16 years of age to work in agricultural fields and at least 18 years of age to perform particularly hazardous work.  The bill retains an existing exemption that permits 14 and 15 year olds to work in certain agriculture jobs, during limited shifts and outside of school hours.  The measure also provides farmworker children with greater protections against pesticide exposure in the fields.

“Farmworker children often work long hours, use hazardous farm equipment, earn sub-minimum wages, and are continually exposed to hazardous pesticides,” Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard said.  “Our farmworker children deserve the same protections given to children in other industries; if they are too young they should not be working, and if they are working, they deserve protection from long hours and unsafe work practices.”

David Strauss, who is the Executive Director of the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs and a member of the Child Labor Coalition, said about CARE: "I commend Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard for her strong effort to eliminate this unconscionable discrimination in federal law against poor, mostly Hispanic, farmworker children.  I urge all Americans to contact their Members of Congress and ask them to support this important legislation."

In addition to addressing the age and hour requirements for child farmworkers, CARE addresses several other problem areas:

To serve as a stronger deterrent for employers who violate child labor laws, the bill increases the maximum civil monetary penalties for child labor violations from $11,000 to $50,000 and increases the maximum criminal penalties from six months imprisonment to five years.  The bill also raises the maximum penalty to $100,000 for willful or repeat violations that lead to the death or serious injury of a child worker.
To provide children with greater protections against pesticide exposure in agriculture, CARE raises the labor protections for pesticide exposure to the levels currently enforced by the EPA. 
To improve information gathering, the measure requires data collection on work-related injuries, illness, and deaths of children under age 18 in agriculture, as well as an annual report by the Secretary of Labor on child labor in the U.S.
 

-- ### --