Human Rights Watch Urges To End Child Labor In US Agriculture

According to the New-York based organization Human Rights Watch, hundreds of thousands of children are currently employed as farm workers in the United States, often working more than 10 hours a day. They are also often exposed to dangerous pesticides, experience high rates of injury and suffer fatal accidents at 5 time the rate of other working youths.

“US government statistics show that barely half ever finish high school. According to the National Safety Council, agriculture is the 2ND most dangerous occupation in the United States. However, current US child labor laws allow child workers to work longer hours, at younger ages, and under more hazardous conditions than any other working youths. While children in other sectors of the economy must be 14 to be employed and cannot work more than 3 hours on a school day, in agriculture children can work at age 12 for unlimited amount of hours before and after school,” says Human Rights Watch (HRW)

HRW is urging US citizens to contact their Congressional Representatives to make sure that they are sponsoring the Children Act For Responsible Employment (CARE-act), and make sure US laws are properly updated, in the legal frame work of the CARE-act, to ensure that all working children are protected.

In the Senate Tom Harkin (Iowa) has taken the lead on the issue to end abusive child labor around the world and within the United States. The CARE-act was originally introduced in 1998 and amended in 2000 and 2001. The CARE-act’s goal was to amend the Fair Labor Standard Act to improve legal protections for children working in agriculture, and to increase civil and criminal penalties against employers using child labor, and to raise the age limit for youth-workers to 16.

Human Rights Watch is part of a larger group called the Child Labor Coalition (CLC). The CLC is an association of more than 20 organizations, representing consumers, labor unions, educators, human rights and labor rights group and child advocacy groups. It was originally established in 1989. The CLC’s mission is to protect working youth and to promote legislation, programs and initiatives to end child labor exploitation in the United States and abroad. The Child Labor Coalition fully support the CARE-act which would close loopholes that permit the children of migrant and seasonal farm workers to work for wages when they are only 12-years old.

To find out more about what you can do to put pressure on your Congressional Representative to pass the CARE-act, please visit Human Rights Watch, and sign the petition.

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