(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Another Aspect Of The Republican Agenda: Child Exploitation - Political is Also Personal [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-07-31 As our political parties gear up for the 2024 election, we know there is so much at stake to preserve democracy and voting rights, fight climate destruction and build a better future, especially for our children. I hope and pray that the Democratic Party will pull out ALL THE STOPS to let the voting public understand that our lives and livelihoods will be placed in danger if a Republican president is elected. Diarists on this blog have detailed the plans of the Heritage Foundation’s “2025 Project” to seize political power, do away with preventative programs to slow climate destruction, weaken labor protection laws and destroy unions. Government leaders in the red states are briskly whittling back labor laws to reinstate rules that allow children to work in jobs that are dangerous and inappropriate for their ages and developmental level. PBS.org: ”Lawmakers proposed loosening child labor laws in at least 10 states over the past two years, according to a report published last month by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. Some bills became law, while others were withdrawn or vetoed. (my note: I don’t know why on earth PBS needs to clarify in its ‘both-sides’ manner that the truth in the report is “left-leaning” — jesus.) Legislators in Wisconsin, Ohio and Iowa are actively considering relaxing child labor laws to address worker shortages, which are driving up wages and contributing to inflation. Employers have struggled to fill open positions after a spike in retirements, deaths and illnesses from COVID-19, decreases in legal immigration and other factors….. Republican Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a law in March eliminating permits that required employers to verify a child’s age and their parent’s consent. Without work permit requirements, companies caught violating child labor laws can more easily claim ignorance. Other measures to loosen child labor laws have been passed into law in New Jersey, New Hampshire and Iowa.” Huckabee Sanders, who professes to be a God-fearing, religious person, clearly believes that once born, and of a certain age, children are ripened enough to be exploited by companies. Vanity Fair/Bess Levin: “The Republican Party is currently obsessed with the idea that it needs to protect children from things like being read to in libraries, men wearing dresses within 1,000 feet of them, historically accurate versions of US history, and the knowledge that gay people exist. Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders is one of these Republicans, and on Wednesday, she signed a sweeping education bill that, among other things, bans talk of “gender identity, sexual orientation, and sexual reproduction” prior to fifth grade and curriculums that include critical race theory. How else is Sanders going to bat for kids? By loosening child labor laws, of course….. On Wednesday, the former White House press secretary signed the Youth Hiring Act of 2023, which says that children under 16 do not need to get permission from the Division of Labor to work or obtain an employment certificate verifying their age, work schedule, and written consent from a parent or guardian. In explaining Sanders’s thinking, her communications director claimed that previous permit requirements put an “arbitrary burden on parents.“ (It’s not actually clear how any of this was “arbitrary.”) ” This law comes during a time of an INCREASE in child labor infractions: “In February, the Department of Labor said it had uncovered more than 3,800 instances in the last fiscal year of children working in US companies in violation of the law, with more than 100 kids, as young as 13, employed in hazardous jobs cleaning slaughterhouses overnight for Packers Sanitation Services Inc. (Ten of them were in Arkansas.)” It goes without saying that child labor violations disproportionately affect immigrant children and children and teens from adverse and stressful experiences, such as homelessness, poverty and parental separation. I became particularly angry at today’s article from The Guardian, on how the National Restaurant Association is advocating for loosening laws on allowing teens to serve alcohol. It’s a perfect storm for exploitation of mostly girls, as the majority of workers serving alcohol are women, most of whom have experienced sexual harassment and exploitation themselves. The wages are low and workers are pressured/encouraged/obligated to walk that fine line for tips. Imagine how trusting teens are going to fare in that already-charged environment. And the great potential for harassment doesn’t come so much from the inebriated male customers themselves but from the adult co-workers. I know this because I’ve experienced it myself, as a teen, decades ago. I was nearly assaulted in the hairdressing salon where I worked as a shampoo person and assistant, by a male hairdresser. Luckily I escaped a full sexual assault but felt ashamed, degraded and scared to tell another adult. I left my job and stopped working. It was traumatic. As you’ve read this, I hope that if you plan to support progressive policies, that you will encourage, demand, bring attention to this issue to your legislator’s inbox and put it on the front burner. Let’s get some angry moms and dads out there. Republicans trying to fire up hearts and minds with culture war issues? Well, this is a perfectly sound and truthful one to backatcha with. This organization: The Child Labor Coalition. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/7/31/2184414/-Another-Aspect-Of-The-Republican-Agenda-Child-Exploitation-Political-is-Also-Personal Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/