'How child migrants are put to work in unsafe and illegal conditions'
Jan 1, 2024 6:40 PM EDT (PBSNEWSHOUR)
'Migrant children in the U.S. are working some of the most dangerous jobs in the country and private auditors assigned to root out unlawful labor practices often overlook child labor. The most common job for migrant children is also …
'How child migrants are put to work in unsafe and illegal conditions'
Jan 1, 2024 6:40 PM EDT (PBSNEWSHOUR)
'Migrant children in the U.S. are working some of the most dangerous jobs in the country and private auditors assigned to root out unlawful labor practices often overlook child labor. The most common job for migrant children is also one of the most hazardous, roofing and construction, despite laws prohibiting anyone under 18 from doing so. Laura Barrón-López discussed more with Hannah Dreier.' (PBS) See link below.
'Immigrant child laborers are being killed in US factories. Companies are walking away with fines' (TheGuardian by Gloria Oladipo in New York, Mon 12 Feb 2024 07.00 EST)
'Sawmills and slaughterhouses collect citations amid landscape of ‘underfunded and under-resourced’ regulators'
'Duvan Thomas Pérez was just 16 when he was fatally injured while cleaning machinery at a Mississippi slaughterhouse. The penalty for the Mar-Jac Poultry processing plant was just $212,646 in federal fines and 17 safety citations, despite the incident being one in a series.'
“Mar-Jac Poultry is aware of how dangerous the machinery they use can be when safety standards are not in place to prevent serious injury and death. The company’s inaction has directly led to this terrible tragedy, which has left so many to mourn this child’s preventable death,” the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Osha) regional administrator, Kurt Petermeyer, said in a statement last month.'
'But it was not the first time the factory had had a workplace death or faced citations for safety procedure violations in recent years. Despite previous incidents, and as the Mississippi factory became notorious, Mar-Jac continued to receive only fines.'
'Now experts, outraged at the latest death, are demanding stronger consequences for companies that violate safety procedures – and use child labor. Experts are also arguing that Pérez’s death highlights how immigrant minors may be more vulnerable to dangerous working conditions.'
“The fines imposed by Osha on this particular poultry plant are not sufficient to deter massive exploitation of child migrants, especially undocumented child migrants,” 'Elora Mukherjee, a professor of law at Columbia Law School in New York, said.' (The Guardian) See link below.
My main purpose in writing the lines that follow was not to add to or comment on the criminal exploitation of children but to draw attention to a positive reality: existing programs to help integrate immigrant families into American society and those who have undertaken the challenging but essential work of teaching their children English and so enabling them to join the educational mainstream.
*
Led by the criminal who, as all informed New Yorkers I have ever met well know, systematically and for decades stiffed all “the little people”—workers and subcontractors regardless of origin—and got away with it, the hijacked GOP, now his very own thing, will turn the US into a larger version of Guatemala or Honduras. Complete with peones, death squads and, almost certainly, far worse even than those evils.
Unless he and his army of crime are stopped.
These people represent all the country’s corporate exploiters and their gangland subcontractors.
Meanwhile, throughout the land, federal and other programs are helping integrate immigrants and their children, and many Americans are hard at work doing their damnedest to perform that difficult and absolutely necessary task. Especially when it comes to the essential business of teaching children uprooted from their birth environment the English language and making them feel welcome and warmly accepted in America.
Should we not all celebrate these efforts and, if given the chance, help with them?
[Today, in my copy of The Economist, an article, “A NATION OF IMMIGRANTS”, subhead: “Britain has a larger share of foreign-born inhabitants than America. They are thriving”. So… something is working in my poor country, despite an imploding government, which at least has the virtue of being led by a Prime Minister of Indian descent…]
In Scotland, I lived near and often visited Robert Owen’s great social project, New Lanark: https://www.newlanark.org/introducing-robert-owen. From the start of the 19th century, Owen worked there to overcome and avoid evils which America is still facing 224 years later…
It astounds me that this is happening in the 21st century rather than the 19th. The fines that these companies are required to pay are a mere slap on the wrist. There should be greater consequences for using child labor.
'The Global March Against Child Labor (Global March) is a wide network of civil society organizations, trade unions and teachers, who work together to eliminate and prevent all forms of child labor, slavery and trafficking and that all children have access to free and quality public education.'
'The organization works to ensure that all children enjoy their rights, including free education, and that they are protected from being forced into labor, which hinders their development. The network mobilizes actors from across the world, to promote and protect rights of all children, especially the right to be free from economic exploitation and performing any type of labor that might hinder their mental, physical, spiritual, social and moral development. The network works to increase awareness about child labor and encourages countries to adopt and ratify conventions related to child labor. It also publicly engages to fight prejudices that contribute to child labor and works on eradication of the most oppressive forms of child labor.' (humanrightscareers) See link below.
'Child labor laws are under attack in states across the country'
'Amid increasing child labor violations, lawmakers must act to strengthen standards
Report • By Jennifer Sherer and Nina Mast • March 14, 2023'
'Updated December 21, 2023'
Open link below to view updated 50-state maps showing legislation to roll back or strengthen child labor protections.
'What this report finds: States across the country are attempting to weaken child labor protections, just as violations of these standards are rising. This report identifies bills weakening child labor standards in 10 states that have been introduced or passed in the past two years alone. It provides background on child labor standards and the coordinated push to weaken them, discusses the context in which these laws are being changed, and explains the connection between child labor and the United States’ broken immigration system. It also provides data showing that declines in labor force participation among young adults reflect decisions to obtain more education in order to increase their long-term employability and earnings, and that nearly all youth currently seeking work report being able to find it.'
'Why it matters: Federal laws providing minimum protections for child labor were enacted nearly a century ago, leading many to assume that children working in grueling and/or dangerous jobs was a thing of the past. In fact, violations of child labor laws are on the rise, as are attempts by state lawmakers to weaken the standards that protect children in the workplace.'
'What lawmakers can do about it: This report provides policy recommendations for lawmakers at both the federal and state levels. At the federal level, Congress should heed calls to increase penalties for child labor violations and address chronic underfunding of agencies that enforce labor standards, eliminate occupational carve-outs that allow for weaker standards in agricultural employment, pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, and implement immigration reforms that curb the exploitation of unauthorized immigrants and unaccompanied migrant youth. At the state level, lawmakers should eliminate subminimum wages for youth and raise the minimum wage, eliminate the two-tiered system that fails to protect children from hazardous or excessive work in agriculture, strengthen labor standards enforcement, and empower young people to build and strengthen unions.' (EconomicPolicyInstitute) See link below.
Compounding this problem is the increasingly common practice of using outside companies to find and hire workers. This is very common in the healthcare industry, and can result in unqualified, improperly vetted people being hired. Quite often, unaccompanied immigrant children are sent to a 'relatives' home in the US, which actually turns out to be run by people funneling them into dangerous low paying jobs. Outside HR companies offer a way for companies to claim they did not know they are hiring children or undocumented people in general.
Thank you, Steve, for pointing to this common practice.
'What Is a Shell Corporation?' (Investopedia)
'A shell corporation is a corporation without active business operations or significant assets. These types of corporations are not all necessarily illegal, but they are sometimes used illegitimately, such as to disguise business ownership from law enforcement or the public. Legitimate reasons for a shell corporation include such things as a startup using the business entity as a vehicle to raise, funds, conduct a hostile takeover or to go public.'
'Understanding Shell Corporation'
'Shell corporations are used by large well-known public companies, shady business dealers and private individuals alike. For example, in addition to the legal reasons above, shell corporations act as tax avoidance vehicles for legitimate businesses, as is the case with Apple's corporate entities based in the United Kingdom. They are also used to obtain different forms of financing.'
'However, tax avoidance is sometimes seen as a loophole to tax evasion, as these corporations have been known to be used in black or gray market activities. It's natural to be suspicious of a shell corporation and it's important to understand the various scenarios in which they arise.'
More information, including 'Ways That People Abuse Shell Companies' can be found by opening the link below. I believe other good and more detailed sources to be found concerning the use of 'shells'.
'How child migrants are put to work in unsafe and illegal conditions'
Jan 1, 2024 6:40 PM EDT (PBSNEWSHOUR)
'Migrant children in the U.S. are working some of the most dangerous jobs in the country and private auditors assigned to root out unlawful labor practices often overlook child labor. The most common job for migrant children is also one of the most hazardous, roofing and construction, despite laws prohibiting anyone under 18 from doing so. Laura Barrón-López discussed more with Hannah Dreier.' (PBS) See link below.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-child-migrants-are-put-to-work-in-unsafe-and-illegal-conditions
'Immigrant child laborers are being killed in US factories. Companies are walking away with fines' (TheGuardian by Gloria Oladipo in New York, Mon 12 Feb 2024 07.00 EST)
'Sawmills and slaughterhouses collect citations amid landscape of ‘underfunded and under-resourced’ regulators'
'Duvan Thomas Pérez was just 16 when he was fatally injured while cleaning machinery at a Mississippi slaughterhouse. The penalty for the Mar-Jac Poultry processing plant was just $212,646 in federal fines and 17 safety citations, despite the incident being one in a series.'
“Mar-Jac Poultry is aware of how dangerous the machinery they use can be when safety standards are not in place to prevent serious injury and death. The company’s inaction has directly led to this terrible tragedy, which has left so many to mourn this child’s preventable death,” the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Osha) regional administrator, Kurt Petermeyer, said in a statement last month.'
'But it was not the first time the factory had had a workplace death or faced citations for safety procedure violations in recent years. Despite previous incidents, and as the Mississippi factory became notorious, Mar-Jac continued to receive only fines.'
'Now experts, outraged at the latest death, are demanding stronger consequences for companies that violate safety procedures – and use child labor. Experts are also arguing that Pérez’s death highlights how immigrant minors may be more vulnerable to dangerous working conditions.'
“The fines imposed by Osha on this particular poultry plant are not sufficient to deter massive exploitation of child migrants, especially undocumented child migrants,” 'Elora Mukherjee, a professor of law at Columbia Law School in New York, said.' (The Guardian) See link below.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/feb/12/immigrant-child-laborers-killed-factories-osha
Frances Perkins must be turning over in her grave. :(
My main purpose in writing the lines that follow was not to add to or comment on the criminal exploitation of children but to draw attention to a positive reality: existing programs to help integrate immigrant families into American society and those who have undertaken the challenging but essential work of teaching their children English and so enabling them to join the educational mainstream.
*
Led by the criminal who, as all informed New Yorkers I have ever met well know, systematically and for decades stiffed all “the little people”—workers and subcontractors regardless of origin—and got away with it, the hijacked GOP, now his very own thing, will turn the US into a larger version of Guatemala or Honduras. Complete with peones, death squads and, almost certainly, far worse even than those evils.
Unless he and his army of crime are stopped.
These people represent all the country’s corporate exploiters and their gangland subcontractors.
Meanwhile, throughout the land, federal and other programs are helping integrate immigrants and their children, and many Americans are hard at work doing their damnedest to perform that difficult and absolutely necessary task. Especially when it comes to the essential business of teaching children uprooted from their birth environment the English language and making them feel welcome and warmly accepted in America.
Should we not all celebrate these efforts and, if given the chance, help with them?
[Today, in my copy of The Economist, an article, “A NATION OF IMMIGRANTS”, subhead: “Britain has a larger share of foreign-born inhabitants than America. They are thriving”. So… something is working in my poor country, despite an imploding government, which at least has the virtue of being led by a Prime Minister of Indian descent…]
See https://www.migrationpolicy.org/topics/immigrant-integration, https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/61601/410227-The-Integration-of-Immigrant-Families-in-the-United-States.PDF and much other documentation.
*
In Scotland, I lived near and often visited Robert Owen’s great social project, New Lanark: https://www.newlanark.org/introducing-robert-owen. From the start of the 19th century, Owen worked there to overcome and avoid evils which America is still facing 224 years later…
It astounds me that this is happening in the 21st century rather than the 19th. The fines that these companies are required to pay are a mere slap on the wrist. There should be greater consequences for using child labor.
'10 Organizations Working to End Child Labor'
'1 Global March Against Child Labor'
'The Global March Against Child Labor (Global March) is a wide network of civil society organizations, trade unions and teachers, who work together to eliminate and prevent all forms of child labor, slavery and trafficking and that all children have access to free and quality public education.'
'The organization works to ensure that all children enjoy their rights, including free education, and that they are protected from being forced into labor, which hinders their development. The network mobilizes actors from across the world, to promote and protect rights of all children, especially the right to be free from economic exploitation and performing any type of labor that might hinder their mental, physical, spiritual, social and moral development. The network works to increase awareness about child labor and encourages countries to adopt and ratify conventions related to child labor. It also publicly engages to fight prejudices that contribute to child labor and works on eradication of the most oppressive forms of child labor.' (humanrightscareers) See link below.
https://www.humanrightscareers.com/issues/organizations-end-child-labor/#:~:text=The%20Global%20March%20Against%20Child,free%20and%20quality%20public%20education.
'Child labor laws are under attack in states across the country'
'Amid increasing child labor violations, lawmakers must act to strengthen standards
Report • By Jennifer Sherer and Nina Mast • March 14, 2023'
'Updated December 21, 2023'
Open link below to view updated 50-state maps showing legislation to roll back or strengthen child labor protections.
'What this report finds: States across the country are attempting to weaken child labor protections, just as violations of these standards are rising. This report identifies bills weakening child labor standards in 10 states that have been introduced or passed in the past two years alone. It provides background on child labor standards and the coordinated push to weaken them, discusses the context in which these laws are being changed, and explains the connection between child labor and the United States’ broken immigration system. It also provides data showing that declines in labor force participation among young adults reflect decisions to obtain more education in order to increase their long-term employability and earnings, and that nearly all youth currently seeking work report being able to find it.'
'Why it matters: Federal laws providing minimum protections for child labor were enacted nearly a century ago, leading many to assume that children working in grueling and/or dangerous jobs was a thing of the past. In fact, violations of child labor laws are on the rise, as are attempts by state lawmakers to weaken the standards that protect children in the workplace.'
'What lawmakers can do about it: This report provides policy recommendations for lawmakers at both the federal and state levels. At the federal level, Congress should heed calls to increase penalties for child labor violations and address chronic underfunding of agencies that enforce labor standards, eliminate occupational carve-outs that allow for weaker standards in agricultural employment, pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, and implement immigration reforms that curb the exploitation of unauthorized immigrants and unaccompanied migrant youth. At the state level, lawmakers should eliminate subminimum wages for youth and raise the minimum wage, eliminate the two-tiered system that fails to protect children from hazardous or excessive work in agriculture, strengthen labor standards enforcement, and empower young people to build and strengthen unions.' (EconomicPolicyInstitute) See link below.
https://www.epi.org/publication/child-labor-laws-under-attack/
'35-Plus Groups Fighting To Reduce Child Labor In The U.S. And Abroad…'
'160 million, The number of children trapped in child labor globally.'
'Stop Child Labor – The Child Labor Coalition – the Website of ...'
The Child Labor Coalition
Washington, DC – The Child Labor Coalition (CLC), a group of 34 organizations dedicated to fighting exploitative child labor, ...'
https://stopchildlabor.org/
As always, thank you Fern.
Tamera Willigham Craige, your attention, concern and engagement strengthens our democracy. Thank you.
Compounding this problem is the increasingly common practice of using outside companies to find and hire workers. This is very common in the healthcare industry, and can result in unqualified, improperly vetted people being hired. Quite often, unaccompanied immigrant children are sent to a 'relatives' home in the US, which actually turns out to be run by people funneling them into dangerous low paying jobs. Outside HR companies offer a way for companies to claim they did not know they are hiring children or undocumented people in general.
Thank you, Steve, for pointing to this common practice.
'What Is a Shell Corporation?' (Investopedia)
'A shell corporation is a corporation without active business operations or significant assets. These types of corporations are not all necessarily illegal, but they are sometimes used illegitimately, such as to disguise business ownership from law enforcement or the public. Legitimate reasons for a shell corporation include such things as a startup using the business entity as a vehicle to raise, funds, conduct a hostile takeover or to go public.'
'Understanding Shell Corporation'
'Shell corporations are used by large well-known public companies, shady business dealers and private individuals alike. For example, in addition to the legal reasons above, shell corporations act as tax avoidance vehicles for legitimate businesses, as is the case with Apple's corporate entities based in the United Kingdom. They are also used to obtain different forms of financing.'
'However, tax avoidance is sometimes seen as a loophole to tax evasion, as these corporations have been known to be used in black or gray market activities. It's natural to be suspicious of a shell corporation and it's important to understand the various scenarios in which they arise.'
More information, including 'Ways That People Abuse Shell Companies' can be found by opening the link below. I believe other good and more detailed sources to be found concerning the use of 'shells'.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/shellcorporation.asp