Posted on 08/11/2011 8:23:17 PM PDT by Melissa 24
Three southwest Washington strawberry growers were fined $73,000 last week after the U.S. Department of Labor found children between the ages of six and 11 working in their strawberries fields in June.
While an exemption in the federal child labor law allows 12- and 13-year-olds to work for unlimited hours on large agricultural operations, children under the age of 12 are strictly prohibited from working under similar conditions.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Twelve and thirteen year old are allowed to work UNLIMITED hours? We are living in a world gone mad. I may never eat another berry again!
Federal agencies that should be terminated to save money have a way of identifying themselves.
Well, obviously those greedy rich Republicans who run the executive branch have no regard for the rights of children!
I love sarcasm....
I grew up on a family farm. Cotton, wheat and cattle.
I was driving a tractor by the time I was 10. My grandmother taught me to hoe cotton by the time I was that age. We all worked.
It did not hurt me a bit. But the labor laws would not apply, we did not get paid but we helped the family make a living.
When I was young and needing to raise money for school I was happy to find people who wanted to pay me for unlimited time.
After growing up in the the South Carolina lowcountry, count me as unmoved by ABC’s phony outrage.
Just doing the jobs Adult Americans refuse to do.
Ever been on a farm.....you start at dawn...then come in for breakfast....go back to work, come in for lunch, and maybe a nap, then depending upon the time of year, you are done, or you go back out and work until dinner....Agriculture is NOT like working in an office....and there’s NOTHINg wrong with kids working...in fact, it is preferable if you ask me to sitting them down for 6 hours in indoctrination centers.
I know how these labor guys work. It happened to us once and now we don’t allow women to bring their children. It isn’t against the law if the children are on the perimeter of the field but if they enter it for any reason you can get fined.
So what happened was a kid was following his mother and they were going to fine us. My husband refused and they said we had to file reports every month and my husband refused and they eventually went away and left us alone.
Just recently they showed up again. Their complaint is that the crew that is working for us is coming in a van and there are too many people riding in the van and if they get in an accident on the way to work we are going to be responsible. My husband said that we would then see them in court.
A little hard work never hurt anybody.
A TOTALLY different situation and you know it. You were helping out on the farm. You were not part of a slave labor. This farm should have been fined one million dollars as far as I am concerned. It is ridiculous to have children doing this type of work. These kids are forced to do this. I would guess if you refused that you would have gotten out of it, but you loved your grandparents so you helped out........TOTALLY DIFFERENT SCENARIO.
That was the original reason for school being out during the summer months, so that the kids could do farm work. I am sure you already know that. Even during school months, children had to do their chores after school. Plants, insects, and animals don't care a thing about school. They have to be cared for regardless.
I'm sorry but allowing 12 year olds to work unlimited hours sounds like slavery to me. I wonder how much these children are paid?
I'm sorry but allowing 12 year olds to work unlimited hours sounds like slavery to me. I wonder how much these children are paid?
Never hurt me or my siblings, we hated field work, soon as we were able we got out of it and went on to other things. But a work ethic installed at an early age to earn your keep and work for what you get is likely the best gift parents can bestow on their children.
Then the adult Americans collecting government assistance ought to be doing it.
They don't know how to do anything. They have to be taught to do the simplest of things. They can't add, subtract, multiply or divide. They are lazy and fat.
They needed to have worked when they were 10 or 11 and continued to work until they became adults so they would know how to work and be of value.
They fed us well and we all had a lot of fun. Little did we know that we were part time slaves.
Where was OSHA when I needed them? LOL
Hey, there’s some jobs that their small finfers are ideally suited for. They can pick the berry but not hurt the plant.
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