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WASHINGTON,
D.C. -- In reaction to the in-depth
New York Times piece
published today about the inherently exploitative industry of
traveling youth sales (“For Youths, a Grim Tour on Magazine
Crews,” NYTimes, 2.21.2007), the National Consumers
League and the Child Labor Coalition call upon Congress to act
and not abandon thousands of teenagers and young adults who are
abused and cheated by the traveling magazine sales industry.
As the piece’s
author Ian Urbina points out: “More than two decades after a
Senate investigation revealed widespread problems with these
itinerant sellers, and despite several highly publicized fatal
accidents and violent crimes involving the sales crews in recent
years, the industry remains almost entirely unregulated. And
while the industry says it has changed, advocates and law
enforcement officials say the abuses persist.”
The abuses do
persist, and NCL and CLC are encouraged by the attention given
due to the NY Times piece but remain discouraged by a
lack of action by Congress to improve the desperate situation.
“Why hasn’t
Congress acted,” asks Darlene Adkins, NCL vice president and CLC
coordinator. “There’s been legislation introduced year after
year that addresses this problem and the reaction has been
disinterest and a shrug.”
Two decades
ago, in 1987, a Congressional investigation of the magazine sales industry
uncovered a track record of abuse, fraud, and indentured
servitude involving its often teenage or young adult
salespersons. Nothing came of it.
In the 20
years since, the Young American Workers Bill of Rights (in 2003 renamed as
Youth Worker Protection Act) has been introduced in Congress
nine times (in Congresses 101-109). The lead sponsor Rep. Tom
Lantos (D_CA) of the bill, Lantos revised the nation’s child
labor laws to include a prohibition on minors under the age of
16 from working in door-to-door sales. This bill has never made
it to the floor for a vote.
In both 1999
and 2001, the Traveling Sales Crew Protection Act was introduced in
Congresses 106 and 107. The lead sponsor is Senator Herb Kohl
(D-WI). This bill would regulate the industry, close loopholes,
and better protect salespersons in door-to-door sales. This
bill has never made it to the floor for a vote.
“We do applaud
the members of Congress who have valiantly raised this issue,”
says Adkins. “Despite their efforts, Congress has proved to be
unwilling to step up to the plate and pass legislation that is
sorely overdue.”
For more
information about the Child Labor Coalition’s fight against
traveling sales crews and other abusive forms of child labor,
both overseas and at home in the United States, visit
www.stopchildlabor.org. |
