Iowa governor signs one of the most dangerous rollbacks of child labor laws in the country

Found this news piece from earlier this year and could not find a topic on it. The rollback lead to 14 states introducing bills putting children at risk

Last Friday, this concerted attack on child labor safeguards further expanded. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed an expansive bill enacting numerous changes to the state’s child labor laws, including:

- allowing employers to hire teens as young as 14 for previously prohibited hazardous jobs in industrial laundries or as young as 15 in light assembly work;
- allowing state agencies to waive restrictions on hazardous work for 16–17-year-olds in a long list of dangerous occupations, including demolition, roofing, excavation, and power-driven machine operation;
- extending hours to allow teens as young as 14 to work six-hour nightly shifts during the school year;
- allowing restaurants to have teens as young as 16 serve alcohol; and
- limiting state agencies’ ability to impose penalties for future employer violations.

Multiple provisions in the new state law conflict with federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) prohibitions on “oppressive child labor” involving hazardous conditions or excessive hours that interfere with teens’ schooling or health and well-being.

Iowa labor unions and their allies organized significant opposition to weakening the state’s child labor laws, compelling lawmakers to remove some of the original bill’s most egregious proposals—including language allowing teens to work in some areas of meatpacking plants and granting employers blanket immunity from liability for deaths or injuries caused by negligence while employing teens in “work-based learning programs.

Iowa governor signs one of the most dangerous rollbacks of child labor laws in the country

Based on my research, relaxing child labor laws is becoming a trend across US with many states following it, despite it being against federal law. There seems to be a concentrated effort by companies in order to gain additional cheap labor force, while having no liability over the deaths and injuries at work.

Children should not be working during the school year. They should be focusing on their studies, rather than wasting time at some minimum wage dead-end job. Working 6 hours per day after school is absurd and can lead to developmental issues due to lack of sleep. Allowing them to do demolition jobs or work at meat packing factories is simply absurd. During summer or school holidays working is okay, but during school year, it should be banned.

Have you considered that maybe the State safety laws are better now? 😀

originally posted by: Cabin

Based on my research, relaxing child labor laws is becoming a trend across US with many states following it, despite it being against federal law. There seems to be a concentrated effort by companies in order to gain additional cheap labor force, while having no liability over the deaths and injuries at work.

Maybe it's not about getting additional cheap labor, but getting any labor willing to work.

Too many work from home, prospective rappers, gender study majors, and other non-blue collar workers these days. Not enough people willing to get their hands dirty for a living.

a reply to: Cabin

These laws are all geared toward a juvenile ILLEGAL alien workforce. Modern day slavery.

Based on my research

Please post link to your research.
Thanks in advance 👌

a reply to: WingDingLuey

Bwahaha now that was excellent!

Apparently Gov. Kim isn't to well versed on how kids work in the USA.

As a retail, mfg, wholesale entrepreneur....I refuse to hire anyone under 20.

14 yr. olds in a hazardous work environment....what could possibly go wrong?

www.epi.org... s-putting-children-at-risk/


The only people working harder with this pos bill will be the lawyers.......

a reply to: Cabin

Things that make you go hmmmmm.

Thacker pass lithium mine has been granted approval, and will commence operations in a couple of years.

electrek.co...

www.radioiowa.com...

As evidenced in African nations where children are working and dying in lithium mines.

Plus to help with Musks want to reduce the cost of batteries this makes sense to pass laws putting children into high risk jobs.

He has probably consulted on these law changes in secret.

Biden said there were 60 milion unfilled jobs in our booming economy, yet every business seems to be running with a skeleton crew, It smells fishy to me; I think they're fudging the numbers for optics.

Major businesses around here have 'we're hiring' signs in the window, yet there's never any new faces and they're always shorthanded.

Fast food restaurants are the worst; they've got 18/19 year old shift 'managers' who don't have a clue what they're doing, and are lucky to have two employees working during rush hour. Lots of high school kids turning in apps, wanting part-time, yet they never have a full crew.

I'm beginning to think Big Business is being coerced into a hiring freeze in order to make the economy look better in our election year. I know too many people willing to work, with all the qualifications that turn in apps everywhere, only to be told 'we've already filled that position', yet they're still running with the same amount of people.

Maybe it's different in big cities, but around here it looks like all the major businesses are delibertly operating short-handed.

I could be 100% wrong, but things just aren't adding up.

a reply to: Cabin


6-year-olds have tinier hands, they could do the tech work.

a reply to: Cabin

They love to put children at risk no surprise s to me anymore

a reply to: nugget1

100% they're fudging the numbers lol

a reply to: Cabin

The children belong to the State.

The State has handed over decision making to the children and taken it from the parents.

If the kids want to work, let em work.

That’s how it goes now, can’t cherry pick.

I grew up on a farm during summer months and helped clean an office building with my parents since I was twelve. I shoveled snow and mowed grass to get money since I was probably ten or eleven too. I was a rich kid those days, and it taught me good work ethics and also it taught me how to organize work....I later on worked jobs without supervision after I turned sixteen and I became a foreman when I was about twenty six. I also had a real good recommendation from all my employers, I usually just went to an interview then had to fill out an application to make it legal after being hired because my work experience and ability to accomplish things properly became a reputation that was talked about between employers and bosses in our town. They met for coffee and discussed things.

I had it easy because I learned from young how to properly work. I did not have to be a kissass either, I would stick up for others and did not need to promote myself, because I made work interesting, you can make anything interesting if you learn how to do it even shoveling manure or cleaning out sewers.

In this country it would be hard to have socialism, seems like people are kind of spoiled and not many people like to do hard or dirty work anymore. I had more money from working than ninety percent of the kids in school when I was a teenager because while I was socializing at work I was making money...not blowing it.

Did I wind up dumb....no, I was in Who's Who as a person most apt to succeed in life. I was not that popular in school, I was a nerd. You can learn from anything, school is not the only way to learn. one thing I decided long ago, I would not work on any job where I would con anyone, even when I worked at a salesman at a big lumber chain, I would steer people to the best and cheapest ways to remodel, I talked people out of buying overly priced products when a better quality product was cheaper and better. I sent customers to another store that had what they wanted or needed multiple times, and since I worked commission and was being price conscious with their money, they became return customers...I already had lots of experience in stuff like building, painting, cement work, plumbing, and electrical work, so they could send their wives to get the right supplies from me.

If I would have just begun starting work at sixteen, I would never have gained the experience and knowledge I gained.

Now, I am not saying that child labor is good, but if the people you work for are decent and safety conscious it can be a good thing for a kid to work and learn how to work with others as a team. learning to work synergistically with others is a good thing.

Arkansas passed similar laws recently.

It's controversial because everyone is fearful for the safety of these young workers but you might be surprised how skilled, safe and effective some young adults tuned in to such types of work can be.

As long as there are protocols in place to care for workforce in case of the unthinkable so I see no issue.

It provides a way to provide income for the family unit and is a better alternative than illegal activities or the burdens of poverty or income deficency in such households.

Granted I've never worked in a chicken processing plant carving meat because I lack the talent and skill for such an enterprise but I've been in the workforce in various capacities since I was 15.

originally posted by: DBCowboy
a reply to: Cabin


6-year-olds have tinier hands, they could do the tech work.

They suck at raking leaves though, they make a pile, play in it, then leave the pile in the middle of the yard.

My five year old great granddaughter wanted to powerwash the deck, I tried to tell her she was still too small. It was a powerful powerwasher and it kept pushing up from the deck when she used it....she was really stubborn and kept wanting to do it. I finally told her she could do it next year, she is six now. She has gained strength and she will demand I keep my promise. She is at the age when she wants to help...I will cautiously let her help me so she learns her limitations and inform her that she is not ready to learn certain things.

Her mother, my granddaughter that died, changed her first tire on a car when she was six. I just handed her the tools, she used my big floor jack to lift it, I explained it has to be put in a certain location, she jacked the car and used the impact wrench to take the wheel off and put the tire back on again. She was so happy. She loved doing brake jobs on cars with me too, even when she was twenty something, I would always be there to guide her. She even helped to turn the rotors on the brake lathe. She liked to be able to fix things by herself. I even took her to a friends to do turkey slaughtering, I taught her how to pluck birds and get them ready. We got two turkeys for helping, one fresh and one smoked. I did it to teach her how to survive if things went sour so my family would have experience...but now she is gone and I now have to teach my great grandkids that you can do things on your own and that the experience can be rewarding for your soul. No turkey cleaning for them, my friend died and I do not know anyone else anymore that can help with things like that. I will teach them how to fish, clean fish, and cook fish though.

a reply to: GENERAL EYES

I survived!

I grew up on a ranch similar to Yellowstone but without the drama and the train station.

Driving tractors, riding horses, branding cattle, shooting gophers and coyotes, climbing on roofs, you name it, worked at everything.

I guarantee that I was better at doing those things then than I am now.

a reply to: Cabin

This goes hand in hand with banning abortions.

Pump them out.

Make them work young.

a reply to: SharpyMoyron

Got something against work?

a reply to: NorthOS

Awesome!