Child Labor Coalition, Rep.
Lantos Team Up to Urge Congress to Act on Outdated Laws,
Hold U.S. Government Accountable for Failure to Meet
International Standards
Washington, DC--At a press conference on Capitol Hill
today, the Child Labor Coalition (CLC) released a report
criticizing the U.S. Government for its indifference
to protecting working children. At the event, Representative
Tom Lantos (D-CA) introduced legislation meant to rectify
many of the deficiencies outlined in the CLC report.
"The United States government is indifferent to
our children being injured in the workplace," said
Linda Golodner, co-chair of the Child Labor Coalition
and president of the National Consumers League, which
coordinates the coalition. "The government continues
to ignore even its own reports that identify serious
problems with child labor laws - and those serious problems
often translate into dead kids."
In its new report, Protecting Working Children in the
United States: Is the Government's Indifference to the
Safety and Health of Working Children Violating an International
Treaty? , the CLC takes the government to task for its
inaction and questions whether the U.S. is in compliance
with an international treaty on protecting children.
Five years after U.S. ratification of the International
Labor Organization Convention 182, which called for
immediate action for the elimination of the worst forms
of child labor, the CLC finds the government's failure
to move to correct child labor deficiencies as woefully
inadequate and possibly a violation of U.S. commitments
under this international treaty.
The problems are not difficult to find. Four government
reports, issued after U.S. ratification of the treaty
in 1999, paint a disturbing picture:
-
Outdated Hazardous Occupation
Orders : The list of prohibited machinery, tasks,
occupations, and industries for working minors has
not been comprehensively updated since the list was
developed in 1938.
-
Inadequate enforcement : On the
federal level, there is only one investigator for
every 95,000 working children.
-
Continued exposure of young farmworkers
to dangerous levels of pesticides : EPA regulations
for re-entry time into fields after they've been sprayed
with pesticides are based on a 154-pound adult male,
despite the fact that there are as many as 800,000
young farmworkers in the United States .
A History of Inaction
Beginning in 2000, U.S. government agencies
have released reports that recommend necessary changes
in policy and practice to better protect working youth.
In 2002, the U.S. Department of Labor released a report
by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health (NIOSH), which set forth 38 specific recommendations
related to strengthening prohibitions for minors related
to dangerous machinery, tasks, occupations, and industries.
The Labor Department has no regulatory timetable or
process in action for implementing these recommendations.
Meanwhile, 230,000 youth are injured in the workplace
every year, and between 60-70 youth die on the job.
December 2, 2005 will mark the five year anniversary
of the treaty going into effect in the United States.
"Where are we five years later?" asked Golodner.
"We're still gambling with the health and safety
of America's working youth, and our kids are paying
a high price. It's time for the government to end the
charade that all's well with our antiquated child labor
laws and take some action."
The CLC hopes that by forwarding the report to the ILO,
the U.S. government will be asked to explain its plan
on addressing deficiencies in child labor protection.
Rep. Lantos has introduced legislation, the Youth Worker
Protection Act, to serve as a comprehensive revision
of the federal child labor law.
"A child's primary job should be to attend school,"
said Antonia Cortese, Executive Vice President, American
Federation of Teachers and CLC Co-Chair. "The CLC
calls upon Members of Congress to support the Lantos
bill which, among other things, removes 10-year-olds
from working in the fields."
For Full Report Click Here: http://www.stopchildlabor.org/pressroom/clc%20report.pdf
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