This is from the website for Professional Staff Congress, the faculty and staff union at the City University of New York (Local 2334 of the American Federation of Teachers):
http://www.psc-cuny.org/clarion/may-2011/repeal-20th-centuryMay 2011
"Repeal the 20th Century"?
By Peter Hogness
Are child labor laws an example of “big government telling parents how to raise their children”?
That’s the view of Missouri State Sen. Jane Cunningham, sponsor of a bill that would gut key provisions of the state’s child labor laws. The bill would remove the ban on employment of children under 14 years old: there would be no age limit at all. Current limits on how many hours children can be employed would also be eliminated, as would the requirement for 14- and 15-year-olds to have a work permit. The Missouri Division of Labor Standards would no longer have the right to inspect workplaces to monitor conditions in which children are employed.
Cunningham has defended her proposal as an attempt to put parents in charge and “put back some common sense.” Missouri’s Department of Labor has responded that under current law “casual work such as mowing the lawn and raking leaves for a neighbor, etc., would not warrant the need for a work certificate unless that young person worked for...a landscaping company.”
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Among Republican state legislators across the US, Cunningham is not an isolated figure. She has chaired the Education Committee of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), an influential conservative group that drafts state-level legislative proposals and circulates them across the US. Other bills to scale back child labor laws have now been introduced in Maine, Minnesota, Ohio and Utah.
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I think the fact that a former chair of the Education Committee of the
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x591230">American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) wants to roll back child labor laws speaks volumes for what ALEC's real priorities are -- and they aren't education, or the welfare of children.
More on the bill can be found in this February article in the St. Louis Beacon, which that PSC-CUNY article links to:
http://www.stlbeacon.org/voices/blogs/political-blogs/beacon-backroom/108187-cunningham-defends-proposal-to-change-child-labor-lawsState Sen. Jane Cunningham says her quest to change Missouri's child labor laws is driven by her belief that the current restrictions are "implying that government can make a better decision than a parent."
But Cunningham, R-Chesterfield, takes exception to critics who contend that her proposed changes, contained in SB 222, would put children younger than 16 in danger.
Cunningham cites a series of provisions in her bill that bar children younger than 16 from working in certain professions or workplaces deemed dangerous, such as mines, quarries, stone-cutting or plants manufacturing explosives.
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I guess that's the extent of ALEC's concern for children's welfare -- at least they don't want them working in mines or around explosives (not yet, anyway, but if they can roll back other child labor laws, don't be surprised if their next push is to allow kids to work in dangerous environments).
That article says that critics of Cunningham's very harmful bill just point to the bill's official summary, which can be found here:
http://www.senate.mo.gov/11info/BTS_Web/Bill.aspx?SessionType=R&BillID=4124271SB 222 – This act modifies the child labor laws. It eliminates the prohibition on employment of children under age fourteen. Restrictions on the number of hours and restrictions on when a child may work during the day are also removed. It also repeals the requirement that a child ages fourteen or fifteen obtain a work certificate or work permit in order to be employed. Children under sixteen will also be allowed to work in any capacity in a motel, resort or hotel where sleeping accommodations are furnished. It also removes the authority of the director of the Division of Labor Standards to inspect employers who employ children and to require them to keep certain records for children they employ. It also repeals the presumption that the presence of a child in a workplace is evidence of employment.
The PSC-CUNY article quotes Gary Schoichet of Communications Workers of American, who noted that in the past, "Employers liked children because they were cheaper, more manageable, and less likely to strike."
And that of course is why these radical right-wingers are trying to roll back the child labor laws -- to repeal the 20th century.
And the fact this change in child labor laws is being pushed by a state senator who was chairwoman of the Education Task Force and served on the board of directors of the American Legislative Exchange Council, and who was given a Legislator of the Year award by that ALEC task force, is the clearest possible proof of ALEC's hypocrisy and lack of values.
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