Americans support unions – National Consumers League

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Sally2017_92px.jpgOne of the great stories of 2017 is that despite what the business community would have us believe, 61 percent of adults in the U.S. say they approve of labor unions. This is the highest approval rating since the 65 percent approval recorded in 2003. And currently, the labor union approval is up five percentage points from last year, according to polling by Gallup.

Historically, unions have enjoyed strong support from the American public. In 1936, 72 percent of Americans approved of labor unions. Union approval peaked in the 1950’s when it reached 75 percent in 1953 and 1957.

It’s impressive that despite consistent efforts to undermine the union movement by ALEC and the Chamber of Commerce, the same poll showed that Republicans’ approval of unions rose since last year, possibly due to the presidency of Republican Donald Trump.

Even among young Republicans, 55 percent of those younger than 30 looked favorably on unions, compared to 32 percent of those 50 and older. Meanwhile, 49 percent Republicans without a college degree favored unions, compared to 28 percent of college-educated Republicans.

The same poll showed that 39 percent of Americans would like unions to have more influence–the highest figure recorded in the 18 years Gallup has surveyed this question.

For the past 80 years, unions have been an integral part of the American labor force. Since 1936, shortly after Congress legalized private sector unions and collective bargaining, U.S. adults have approved, sometimes overwhelmingly, of labor unions. Ten percent of Americans report personally being a union member, while 16 percent live in a union household, according to the poll.

The United Steelworkers, which represent 850,000 U.S. workers, issued this statement:

“It is gratifying to see that the popularity of unions has risen 13 points since 2009, particularly when wealthy, right-wing groups like ALEC and the State Policy Network are working every day to crush unions. The USW, the AFL-CIO and all of its member unions will continue working to end income inequality and improve the lives of all workers by ensuring they receive a fair share of the bounty created by their labor.”

When given the choice free from employer intimidation and anti-union messaging, unions win the day with workers, and why wouldn’t they? They give workers a say in things like decent raises, affordable healthcare, safer workplaces, job security, and a stable schedule.

Industries leaders big and small would benefit from having someone to talk to across the table. We can only hope that these promising new poll numbers will lead the way to greater worker access to unions and fairer distribution of wages and benefits.  

For the love of chocolate…On World Chocolate Day, we look at the human cost behind chocolate – National Consumers League

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chocolateday.pnghere’s no doubt that humans love chocolate. Globally, we consume $80 to $100 billion worth of it a year. Despite its popularity and the joy it gives us, there is a dark side to chocolate: cocoa, its main ingredient, is often produced by child labor. The US Department of Labor (USDOL) identifies this as the case in six countries: Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

In two of those countries, the Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria, USDOL notes there is forced labor on cocoa plantations. There is also evidence that thousands of children have been trafficked to work on cocoa plantations from neighboring countries Mali, Burkina Faso, and Togo.

Exploitation in chocolate’s supply chain became hotly discussed in 2000 and 2001 when media reports about wide-spread child labor in the West Africa nations of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, where the majority of cocoa was being produced, were published.

Congressional leaders were alarmed about the reports. Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) introduced legislation that would require child-labor free chocolate to be recognized with a label. The measure passed the US House of Representatives but it didn’t take long for everyone to realize that wanting child-labor free cocoa and delivering on that promise were two very different things. The nature of cocoa farming made it a very difficult crop to remove child labor from cocoa production. The region features hundreds of thousands of small cocoa farms operating in jungle-like topography. The region is lacking much infrastructure, including thousands of schools that would be needed to educate all the children working in cocoa.

In Congress, the chocolate companies hired two former majority leaders to lobby against the labelling requirement. A different course was needed. Rep. Engel and Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) worked to establish an innovative multi-stakeholder initiative to begin efforts to reduce child labor.

The so-called “Harkin-Engel Protocol” launched in September 2001 brought together eight of the largest chocolate companies, the government of the Côte d’Ivoire, the International Labour Organization’s International Programme to Eliminate Child Labour, the International Cocoa Organization, Free the Slaves, The Child Labor Coalition and the National Consumers League. Other signatories included Senator Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.), Harkin, and Engel. The agreement committed industry to work with NGOs and the West African governments to remedy abusive forms of child labor.

Unfortunately, despite the passage of nearly 16 years, child labor persists in West Africa’s cocoa plantations. A survey conducted by Tulane University researchers commissioned by the US Department of Labor released in 2015 found that although more children were going to school—a very good thing—there had been a 48 percent increase in the number of children in child labor in the Côte d’Ivoire from four years prior and only a little progress in reducing child labor had taken place in Ghana.

When you looked at both countries together, more than two million children were performing hazardous work in cocoa, including cutting down trees, burning fields, applying toxic chemicals, carrying heavy loads, and using machetes. Tulane found that the number of children exposed to hazardous chemicals had increased by 44 percent from four years earlier.

Researchers also noted that older children and young adults had been migrating away from cocoa-growing areas, leaving behind a very young and very old workforce.

Any way you slice your chocolate bar, much work remains to be done. While in Ghana researchers found that 96 percent of children attended school, in Côte d’Ivoire three in every 10 children in cocoa producing areas did not attend school.

The Framework for Action of the Harkin-Engel Protocol requires that 1.5 million children be removed from hazardous cocoa work by 2020. Unfortunately, sharply falling cocoa prices this year have not helped farmers earn sustainable livings in West Africa—one of the keys to reducing child labor.

The 2015 Tulane report suggests that new approaches to reducing child labor in the cocoa sector are needed and the current approaches are not working well enough. During the coming year, the Child Labor Coalition hopes to explore new ideas with the chocolate industry that may help alleviate this crisis.

In the meantime, consumers can express their concern about the situation to their favorite chocolate companies and try to identify the companies that go to lengths to work directly with farmers or cooperatives to improve farmers’ incomes. Divine Chocolate is one such company—farmers own the biggest share of the company. Divine is small but growing, and its innovative structure could be replicated by other companies.

We envision a day when consumers will have readily available child-labor-free chocolate to consume, so that they might enjoy delicious treats free from very negative human costs—child labor, child slavery, and child trafficking—associated with it. It’s certainly a goal worth working toward.

Technology in the fight against trafficking: Tracking criminals and helping victims – National Consumers League

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This article written by Child Labor Coalition contributing writer on human trafficking issues Mary Donovan.

From mobile phones to big data analytics, technology can help in the fight against human trafficking. Access to a phone can enable a victim to call friends, family, or a hotline for help. Data trends enable us to study the patterns of trafficking and to know where to combat it. On the other hand, technology is definitely part of the problem of trafficking, as traffickers are quickly incorporating technology trends and social media in their recruitment of victims. This is why it is crucial to use technology as part of the solution.

While each incident of human trafficking differs in specifics, all have three clear steps: the acquisition step, the transportation step, and the final step of forced labor. Technology can help in each phase.

With access to technology, human trafficking can be avoided in the first place. Technology could directly connect a worker with a safe job, eliminating the need for a middleman, who may exploit the worker. Think of the impact of AirBnB and Uber on the hotel and taxi industries. What if workers could locate honest labor recruiters directly with technology? The supply side of human trafficking would diminish.

The Centro de los Derechos de Migrants launched a website, contratados.com, which allows temporary Mexican workers to share their experiences working in the United States. The website also accepts reviews by text message and telephone. Workers can warn other workers, so labor abuses are not perpetuated and new migrant workers do not unknowingly put themselves in positions to be trafficked.

Technology can be used to increase transparency and to disrupt the market of trafficking through uncovering traffickers’ attempts to transport victims. Forensic evidence, photographs, and identification of trafficking routes can help detect traffickers.

For example, DigitalGlobe, a company that provides high-resolution images of the earth, is able to spot slave ships in the seas. Using powerful satellites, seas that have long remained lawless can now be policed. DigitalGlobe also investigates brick kilns in India and fisheries on Lake Volta in Ghana, two major industries where child labor exists.

In this digital age, there is a record of anything that happens online. The rise of mobile money makes transactions and payments easier to track. Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer currency that allows users to transact money directly. It is completely transparent, with records of all exchanges, allowing investigation of suspicious payments. Financial data is important, because it is often where investigators discover the first signs of trafficking.

In the last phase of trafficking—forced labor—technology can lead to a way out. A new report from the USC Annenberg Center on Communication Leadership and Policy, Technology and Labor Trafficking in a Network Society, addressed the role of technology as a strategy for escape. The report describes the story of a woman from the Philippines who was stranded in Malaysia and deceived by traffickers. She was thrown in prison and interrogated, but the Philippine government was able to intervene and help her because she had hidden a phone in her jail cell.

Unfortunately, many migrant workers do not have access to technology and are both geographically and technologically isolated. We need to trace the crime in these situations. The Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is using Memex, a kind of technology that sees into the hidden corners of the Internet, to fight both sex and labor trafficking. Memex scans job advertisements on the ‘dark web’ that cannot be found or linked together with normal search engines.

Another way to fight trafficking is to increase quantitative data and analysis. Human trafficking thrives in environments without data. Complex supply chains allow forced labor to remain hidden. If we increase data collection and analysis, causes and trends can be examined so support can be mobilized and action can be taken. With increased investigation, data collection, and sharing of that data, we can know about the specifics in which this transnational crime operates. Quantifying data also signifies the importance of a problem. In other words, what can be counted, counts. Numbers can raise awareness and call attention to a hidden crime.

Another way technology can reduce trafficking is to raise consumer awareness. The ability to trace goods allows consumers to know if the products they buy are made with forced labor, and let businesses know if there is anything suspicious in their supply chains.

The US Department of Labor released an app called “Sweat and Toil,” which shares information about child labor, forced labor, and human trafficking around the world. It allows users to browse countries and products for forced labor, review laws and regulations in these countries, and find out what governments can do to reduce this worldwide problem. There are a number of apps such as GoodGuide allowing conscious consumers to be aware of the environmental and social impacts of their purchases. GoodGuide ranks a wide range of products and gives them health, environmental, and social scores. Red Light Traffic is an app that allows people to anonymously report suspected cases of human trafficking. It also informs people of the “red flags” of human trafficking, so it can be identified and reported.

Partnership for Freedom issued a three-part competitive technology challenge on innovative solutions to end human trafficking. Rethink Supply Chains is the second part.

The submission deadline for the Rethink Supply Chains challenge has passed, but stay tuned as finalists will be announced this month. Submissions focused on the areas of communication, improving transparency of the labor process, and creating tools to map and share information about labor conditions in supply chains. This challenge will hopefully add wonderful new initiatives to the few already mentioned above.

Modern technology can amaze us everyday, with rapid innovation and the creation of things we never imagined could be possible. Like all tools, technology can be and is used for both doing bad and doing good. Using the power of technology in the fight against human trafficking will bring new, exciting, and unprecedented results.

Buy union-made gifts this holiday season – National Consumers League

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holiday_scams.jpgIt’s that time of year again! Holiday season is upon us, and that means more trips to the mall and online retailers for many of us. Gift buying and giving can be stressful, fun, exhilarating, and all of the above. But how many of us have stopped to consider where these products come from, and under what conditions they are being made?We here at the National Consumers League encourage buying American- and union-made goods. Consider this about the companies you are buying from: do they treat their employees fairly? Are the employees paid a living wage? Are they using child labor in the production of their goods?

We recently blogged about avoiding gifts produced by child labor this holiday season in the Huffington Post. The Department of Labor has created the Sweat and Toil smartphone app to help consumers research which products are made from child labor and forced labor.

Our friends and fellow labor advocates at Labor 411 recently released a shopping guide to help consumers shop ethically this holiday season. The guide features gift makers that support good jobs, such as Hasbro, Russell Stover, Ghiradelli Chocolates, See’s Candies, Harley Davidson, Craftsman, and Jack Daniel’s. Check out Labor 411’s website for more information on American-made gifts and familiar union-made brands that are domestically produced.

It’s important to be kind and give back during this joyous season, but it’s equally important to be ethical in our shopping choices! Thinking twice about where that present under the tree comes from could help support workers and sustain our economy.

Remembering a beloved consumer advocate

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I made the trip to Detroit yesterday on behalf of NCL to attend the memorial service for long-serving board member, Esther Shapiro. In Detroit for just a few hours to pay homage to a woman I respected and held dear, I reflect on her legacy and what that means.

While I don’t know the breadth of Esther Shapiro’s life story, I will say the bits and pieces she shared with me throughout the years were intriguing and impactful. For example, we talked about love and losing loved ones (she having lost her son and her husband), and she helped me appreciate all the wonderful and challenging experiences I’ve had. As if the stories of how women were treated and expected “to know their place” were not inspiring enough, it was her tenacity to push forward despite all odds. I listened to one after another at the memorial service sharing stories of what a courageous woman Esther was. It all made sense how she was able to have such a great impact on consumers and the consumer movement.

Having met Esther Shapiro as a National Consumers League board member, I had the opportunity to visit with her throughout the years. Ms. Shapiro’s home included pictures of many notable politicians, artists, and consumer advocates. Her impact is remarkable. As I chatted with many of her friends, family, and former colleagues, I was transported back in time as each person reminisced about the time when his or her path crossed with Shapiro’s path: campaigning with her on behalf of workers’ rights, working to fight pyramid schemes or watching her “push the right buttons. She always knew what buttons to push, according to Jack Chase, who was hired by Esther to help run the state’s first consumer affairs department in Michigan when it opened its doors in 1974. Chase closed with one of the many Esther sayings from when they talked about the “good ole days.” She was famous for saying “We had a good run; we had fun, didn’t we?”

John R. Eddings, who also officiated the memorial service, told me that he and Esther were appointees of Detroit Mayor Coleman Young in the 1980’s. A long-time colleague of Shapiro’s and a dear family friend, Eddings described Esther well. In his words, “[Esther Shapiro] was a true believer. She believed that things could change for the better. She was a trailblazer in consumer protection and so far ahead of her time. Her work in consumer protection spilled over into civil rights.”

So, here is where I became even more intrigued, because I focused on the consumer protection. What I learned about Shapiro was so much more. She and her husband, Harold, were very active in the civil rights movement, working tirelessly to get African Americans elected. I learned from the Shapiro’s daughter, Andrea Shapiro, that Esther founded Michigan Friends of the South.  They raised funds for attorney fees to support civil rights activists caught up in the court system. Sometimes she just passed the hat around the room to collect whatever she could to help.

Eddings was right…Esther was a believer. Today was truly a celebration of her life.

In these times of uncertainty or anxiety about the future, I end this with one of Esther Shapiro’s mantras, “Pessimism is a killer. We don’t have time for that. There is work to be done.”

Esther Shapiro passed away at 98 years old, and what a legacy she left behind!

How a small financial transaction tax might allow us to end child slavery and the worst forms of child labor in the next nine years – National Consumers League

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This post was first published at StopChildLabor.org on Nov. 2, 2016.

The UN has set a very ambitious goal—one of the sustainable development goals adopted last year—of eliminating child labor, child slavery, forced child labor, and the use of child soldiers in the next nine years. It’s daunting to think about. Nearly 170 million children remain in child labor despite a one-third reduction in the number of children trapped in child labor over the last 15 years. Eighty-five million children remain in hazardous child labor, working in brothels, mines, and places no child should be sent. Nearly six million children remain in child slavery.

How is the world to achieve this laudable, essential goal? The answer is it cannot—not without a significant infusion of resources. More than 120 million children who should be in school are not. A billion children are illiterate. Functioning schools are a critical element in the battle against child labor and child slavery. In West Africa, where two million plus children toil on cocoa plantations to harvest the main ingredient in chocolate, more than 3,000 schools are needed to provide children with educational alternatives to hazardous work.

Clearly, hundreds of billions of dollars are needed over the next nine years. Is the global community likely to provide this funding? Probably not, unless there are new revenue sources from which they can draw the money from.

Fortunately, the European Community and the US Congress is working on a new revenue source: a financial transaction tax that would be applied to all financial transactions like stock or derivative trades and bond purchases. Because there are trillions of such trades each year in US markets alone, even a tiny tax ranging from one-tenth of one percent to a half percent could raise tens of billions of dollars up to $300 billion a year. The Inclusive Prosperity Act in Congress by Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Senator Barry Sanders (I-VT) hopes to do just that, and the Child Labor Coalition, which NCL co-chairs, helped organize a congressional briefing in September to help promote the concept.

The European community is in various stages of implementing an FTT in over 10 countries. The idea is not new. The US had an FTT in the past and continues to pay for the Securities and Exchange Commission with a very tiny FTT. Japan successfully raised billions with an FTT in the 1990s before conservative forces led them to abandon the tax.

An FTT would make our tax system more equitable.

Financial trades are conducted by or on behalf of wealthier Americans and these should be taxed unless we are prepared to ask the poorest working Americans to pay an unfair share of the tax burden. Many of the richest Americans have the money to set up tax shelters that allow them to pay proportionately little taxes. Warren Buffet, one of the richest Americans has called on the richest Americans to pay a fairer share of taxes.

But what about the millions of average Americans who have their pension funds in the stock market? Economist Dean Baker of the Center for Economic Opportunities believes that an FTT would provide some incentive to reduce the number and frequency of trades and that pension funds may actually experience no, or almost no, reduced returns while still generating substantial revenues. Baker notes that computers have allowed the costs of financial trades to drop precipitously over the last two decades and a slight increase in the cost of trading could easily be absorbed and trading would still be much cheaper than it was 20 years ago.

Senator Sanders hopes to use the FTT to provide free college tuition for all young Americans. Rep. Ellison would fix America’s failing infrastructure but reserve some funds to attack the global health needs of children. 

At the CLC, we ask that should these legislative initiatives be enacted, lawmakers reserve a portion of the FTT revenues—say 20 to 25 percent—to provide basic needs like food, medicine, and access to education for children around the world. If other nations followed the US’s lead, we might have the resources to end child slavery and child labor and allow every child in the world to become educated in the next nine years.

McDonald’s employees fight for fair wages – National Consumers League

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gavel_icon.jpgBy Hannah Rudder, NCL Intern

We were preparing a blog on the issue of McDonald’s workers forming a class to sue McDonald’s when we came across the fact that the fast food chain reported an increase in net income from the first quarter of 2015 to the first quarter of 2016 and attributed this increase to the minimum wage raise. McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook cites lower employee turnover and higher customer satisfaction as a result of the higher wages. While raising the minimum wage has not helped every company increase profits, and organizations like the Chamber of Commerce argue it will lead to higher unemployment and a decrease in profits, McDonald’s shows that it has not hurt the company’s bottom line. Based on the experience of McDonald’s, it appears that paying a living wage is good for the company, the economy, and the worker-and other large chains should follow suit.In relation to McDonald’s wage news, three weeks ago, a District Court in California certified a class of past and present McDonald’s employees to bring certain wage-related claims against the fast food giant. This is the first time a judge has ruled that McDonald’s employees can band together and bring claims against the corporation, rather than just the individual franchisee. We loudly applaud the ruling. Historically, McDonald’s workers have never been granted the right to unionize, and this recent court decision gives workers the ability to petition one controlling body as a group.

Similarly, this decision parts with McDonald’s long-held stance that it is not responsible for franchise workers because it is not a joint employer; McDonald’s argues the franchisee is the sole employer. McDonald’s asserts that it is not fair to hold the franchiser accountable for franchisee’s employment practices. The court did not hold that McDonald’s was a joint employer, but instead agreed with the employees’ ostensible agency theory that posits that the employees are agents of McDonald’s.

The class of current and former employees initially brought 13 causes of action against McDonald’s and its franchisee. These claims included a large negligence claim, failure to pay overtime, failure to pay minimum wage, failure to give appropriate meal or rest breaks, and failure to reimburse employees for time required to maintain uniforms. The court ruled, however, that this class can only bring the claims of unpaid overtime, maintenance of uniforms, and miscalculated wages against McDonald’s; the other claims, including the negligence claim, were dismissed.

The group of employees settled with the franchisee for $700,000. This settlement means that if the class of employees proves McDonald’s violated the California labor laws, then McDonald’s will be liable for all of the damages under those claims.

The implications of this District Court decision certifying former and current employees as a class has far reaching implications, not only for McDonald’s, but for the whole fast food industry. This decision opens the door for fast food employees to introduce labor lawsuits against chains like McDonald’s, rather than just against a single franchisee. As the New York Times reported: “The district judge in California has now given lawyers for the McDonald’s employees the chance to prove in court what should be evident: that McDonald’s is responsible for ensuring that pay is fair and adequate and, as such, must be accountable when workers in its restaurants are stiffed.” If McDonald’s is found responsible for the wage violations, the fast food company will have to change its ways, and be far more aggressive in ensuring that its franchisees are paying workers fairly and adequately, and that the company is abiding by the laws related to all employee wages, hours, and benefits.

Independence Day: Freedom to… – National Consumers League

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This guest post was originally published at the Human Rights at Home blog.

Even amidst the barbeques, beach trips, and sales during 4th of July weekend, most Americans are quick to declare proudly that July 4th is about our independence, our freedom. However we choose to celebrate/observe the holiday, I think we ought to spend some time asking, independent or free to do what, to be what. 

To be clear, though history matters, I am not suggesting we ask what the signatories to the Declaration of Independence wanted, because we know that they permitted, and in some cases embraced, certain ideas we now reject (read: slavery, no voting rights for women, etc.). Independence means we can choose what type of society we want to create.

My wish? I want to live in and contribute to a society that elevates every child and is committed to protecting and ensuring the rights and well-being of all children. On that front, we have a long way to go, as evidenced by the newly-released State of the World’s Children report, published by UNICEF. The annual report has sobering news for those who care about children around the globe. And it shows that the United States has work to do as well. Sure, the United States is performing better than many other countries, but the comparative analysis is not the full picture (after all, what parent of a sick child would willingly accept substandard health care for their child, simply because the provider said, well, in Somalia, some kids have no access to care at all). That the U.S. does better than other poorer countries is not anything to celebrate. 

We shouldn’t use comparisons to make ourselves comfortable. Instead, we should see them as an indication of what’s possible. So, for example, with respect to infant and child (under-5) mortality, 43 countries with lower rates than the United States show that progress is possible. The U.S. is tied for 44th with Malaysia, Serbia Slovakia, and the United Arab Emirates. And our progress has slowed: in 1990, Cuba’s infant mortality rate was higher than the U.S. rate; they have improved and now do better than the United States. 

Each year, the State of the World’s Children report centers around a theme issue; this year, it was inequity. The United States again stood out, for the wrong reasons. UNICEF reports:

  • In some rich countries, children from different backgrounds face starkly unequal prospects. For babies born [in the U.S.], the odds of survival are closely linked to ethnicity: In 2013, infants born to African American parents were more than twice as likely to die as those born to white Americans.
  • [D]isparities are reflected dramatically at the state level. The infant mortality rate of the state of Mississippi in 2013, for example, was double that of the state of Massachusetts.

And infant mortality is just the beginning. A child’s survival does not guarantee it will have the opportunity to develop to his or her full potential. The Declaration of Independence famously asserts that “all men are created equal.” It seems hard to believe that they intended this literally—equal only at the moment of birth, but thereafter we should be okay with significant inequity in survival rates, access to health care and education.

Of course, children are not the only area where human rights work remains. But success in ensuring children’s rights and well-being is foundational to creating a society where young people can realize their full potential and grow into adults who are empowered to realize their rights and contribute to their communities. 

We’re not there yet. But as it’s been 240 years since the Declaration of Independence, it might be time to move a little faster.

Jonathan Todres is a Professor of Law, Georgia State University College of Law, who has been collaborating with the National Consumers League in Campaign for the U.S. Ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

Teens: avoid this year’s most dangerous summer work – National Consumers League

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92_help_wanted.jpgIt’s that time of year again: teens are starting their summer jobs. Having a job can be an important part of youth development, but the worst work – the ones on this year’s Five Most Dangerous Teen Jobs – should be avoided! Jobs for teens are an important part of growing up and becoming an adult, providing both needed income and teaching valuable work skills. According to research, teen jobs increase future earnings and also decrease the likelihood the working teen will drop out of school.

Jobs for teens are an important part of growing up and becoming an adult, providing both needed income and teaching valuable work skills. According to research, teen jobs increase future earnings and also decrease the likelihood the working teen will drop out of school. The National Consumers League (NCL) provides its annual update of its Five Most Dangerous Jobs for Teens to help teenagers and their parents make safer job choices and to increase awareness of job dangers they may encounter.

Each day in America, a teen is hurt on the job every 9 minutes. In a typical year, a U.S. child dies nearly every 14 days at work.

NCL’s Five Most Dangerous Jobs for Teens in 2016:

  • Tobacco Harvester
  • Agriculture: Harvesting Crops and Using Machinery
  • Traveling Youth Sales Crews
  • Construction and Height Work
  • Outside Helper: Landscaping, Grounds keeping and Lawn Service

These five jobs hold special dangers for working youth. The dangers of each job are explored in the report and real life examples of what can go wrong when teens are not protected in the workplace are given. Agriculture, construction, landscaping, and machinery operators all experience much higher occupational injury and fatality rates. And traveling sales crews expose vulnerable working teens to many dangers including vehicle accidents, arrest, sexual exploitation, and workplace violence.

Teen workers are dying

  • Farmhand Heather Marie Barley, 17, of Buckley, Michigan died suddenly while working on a hog farm in December 2015. Elevated levels of carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide were suspected to have come from a steam generator connected to a pressure washer.
  • On his first day on the job feeding tree limbs into a wood chipper, in December 2015, 19-year-old Mason Cox in Gastonia, North Carolina died instantly when his body was pulled into the chipper. His employer was so disturbed by the incident that he had a heart attack.
  • December 2015: 19-year-old Oscar Martin-Refugio was shot in the heart by robbers as he worked in a Bridgeport, Connecticut pizza shop. He died soon after.
  • Grant Thompson, 18, died from a snakebite while working in his parents’ pet shop in Austin, Texas in July 2015.
  • In October 2014, 18-year-old Jeremy McSpadden, Jr., of Spokane Valley, Washington was working as an actor at a Halloween haunted hayride when died tragically after losing his footing and falling under the rear wheel of a bus. 

Tips for teen workers

NCL’s Five Most Dangerous Jobs for Teens provides practical tips for teenagers considering their job choices and practical suggestions for parents so that they can talk to their sons and daughters and instill a sense of safety consciousness that will help protect them on the job, empowering them to ask for needed safety training and say “no” when dangerous tasks are requested.

Say “no” to jobs that involve:

  • door-to-door sales, especially out of the youth’s neighborhood;
  • long-distance traveling away from parental supervision;
  • extensive driving or being driven;
  • driving forklifts, tractors, and other potentially dangerous vehicles;
  • the use of dangerous machinery;
  • the use of chemicals;
  • working in grain storage facilities; and
  • work on ladders or work that involves heights where there is a risk of falling.

Know the legal limits
To protect young workers like you, state and federal laws limit the hours you can work and the kinds of work you can do. For state and federal child labor laws, visit Youth Rules.

Play it safe
Always follow safety training. Working safely and carefully may slow you down, but ignoring safe work procedures is a fast track to injury. There are hazards in every workplace — recognizing and dealing with them correctly may save your life.

Ask questions
Ask for workplace training — like how to deal with irate customers or how to perform a new task or use a new machine. Tell your supervisor, parent, or other adult if you feel threatened, harassed, or endangered at work.

Make sure the job fits
If you can only work certain days or hours, if you don’t want to work alone, or if there are certain tasks you don’t want to perform, make sure your employer understands and agrees before you accept the job.

Trust your gut
Following directions and having respect for supervisors are key to building a great work ethic. However, if someone asks you to do something that feels unsafe or makes you uncomfortable, don’t do it. Many young workers are injured — or worse — doing work that their boss asked them to do.

One safety expert suggests that if a job requires safety equipment other than a hard hat, goggles, or gloves, it’s not appropriate for minors.

The CDC has advised NCL that whenever machinery is located in the workplace, youth workers need to exercise extra caution.

Hyatt signs ‘The Code’ – National Consumers League

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This article written by Child Labor Coalition contributing writer on human trafficking issues Mary Donovan, was originally published on the Child Labor Coalition website on December 18, 2015.

On December 10, 2015, Hyatt Hotels Corporation re-affirmed its efforts to fight child trafficking by signing a code of conduct known simply as “The Code.” This is a big step forward in the fight against human trafficking and the abuse and exploitation of girls and young women, and in some cases, boys and young men caught in the so-called “sex industry.”

The Code is an industry-driven initiative to prevent the sexual exploitation of children in the tourism industry through awareness, tools, and support. It was developed by End Child Prostitution and Trafficking (EPCAT), the United Nations World Tourism Organization, and UNICEF.

The sexual exploitation of children often takes place in hotels. Hotels are a prime place for this crime because traffickers and pimps can avoid being caught by paying for hotel rooms in cash and switching rooms nightly. Polaris, a global anti-trafficking non-profit, reported that 35 percent of survivors said hotels and motels were the primary places sexual exploitation occurred. These facts make the tourism industry a good place to start to combat the sexual exploitation of children.

When an organization signs The Code, they commit to following six steps. These steps include training employees and providing information for travelers on how to report suspected cases, adding clauses to contracts with a zero tolerance policy of sexual exploitation of children, and reporting annually on the implementation of The Code. The goal is to have a prepared and aware tourism industry that can recognize and prevent crimes against children. Wanting recognition as responsible brands, becoming leaders in the tourism industry, and making the community safer for children were motivations for organizations to sign.

The Code now has 1,287 signatories. Notable ones in addition to Hyatt are: Hilton, Carlson, Choice Hotels International, and Delta Airlines. Signatories come from all around the world, from Bangkok to Jamaica to Bulgaria.

Hyatt Hotels Corporation already has a good record of working against trafficking. In 2012, they worked with Polaris to develop a mandatory human trafficking training program for employees. Their announcement, released on International Human Rights Day, of signing the code deepens their commitment to being a responsible business.

Millions of children are sold into sexual exploitation around the world each year. In order to stop these crimes we must be able to identify when and where they are taking place. Human trafficking is a high-profit and low-risk industry, mainly because of the ability of traffickers to conduct hidden crimes. Initiatives like The Code elevate the risks traffickers face by increasing the chances of detection and making it harder for them to connect with consumers who are fueling the industry of human trafficking. We urge consumers to be a responsible traveler and stay at hotels who have signed “The Code.”