Committee Leaders Ask Republicans to Put Actions Behind Their Words and Hold Hearing on Child Labor Violations
Despite raising concerns about rising child labor violations, Committee Republicans have yet to hold a hearing.
WASHINGTON – Ranking Member Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) and Workforce Protections Subcommittee Ranking Member Alma Adams (NC-12) sent a letter urging Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (NC-05) to hold a hearing on the rise of child labor violations and legislative proposals to address abusive child labor.
Nearly 85 years after the passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), recent, high-profile news reports have underscored that children are continuing to be illegally employed in dangerous jobs and unsafe working conditions. According to the Wage and Hour Division under the Department of Labor, child labor violations have nearly quadrupled since 2015.
Committee Republicans have yet to schedule any hearings this Congress to address abusive child labor while Republican state legislators across the country have pushed proposals to roll back child labor protections.
“The scourge of child labor that Congress sought to eliminate 85 years ago with the passage of FLSA is back, and it has returned at time when the agencies we expect to provide timely data and aggressive enforcement lack the resources they need,” the Ranking Members wrote. “We ask that you schedule a hearing this month so that Committee members have the opportunity to hear about the nature and scope of the child labor problem confronting the country and the legislative solutions to address it.”
Unfortunately, declining funding for federal worker protection agencies have prevented the federal government from adequately monitoring, addressing, and preventing child labor violations. For example, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), which is responsible for researching workplace risks for children, has faced budget cuts every year since 2016, when adjusting for inflation.
Read the full text of the letter here.
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