Airline passenger advocates hail landmark junk fee rules

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April 25, 2024

Media contact: National Consumers League – Melody Merin, melodym@nclnet.org, 202-207-2831

Washington, DC – Airline passenger rights advocacy organizations today hailed new rules announced by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) that will make it easier to obtain refunds for cancelled flights and ancillary services that aren’t provided. The groups also applauded the finalization of regulations that will make it easier for flyers to do apples-to-apples comparisons of flight costs. The groups, which supported passage of these new protections for more than four years, urged Congress to follow suit and include these protections in the forthcoming FAA reauthorization bill. 

“Too often, airlines promise one thing and fail to deliver it,” said National Consumers League CEO Sally Greenberg. “The law says that when this occurs, consumers should get a refund. Far too often, the airlines make the process of getting your money back unnecessarily difficult. Today’s rules promise to bring sanity to the refund process. In addition, the new rules on fee transparency will make it easier for consumers to get an accurate price for their flights upfront. This is a far better solution making consumers wait until the end of the ticket buying process to learn what their true cost will be.” 

“It has become painfully clear that the status quo is no longer working in air travel, and we are glad to see Secretary Buttigieg acknowledge that consumers deserve better,” said Erin Witte, director of consumer protection at Consumer Federation of America. “These rules will bring transparency to opaque ticket pricing, and they will put the responsibility for refunds where it belongs: on airlines, not consumers.” 

“It’s a shame that it takes actual rules to get airlines to do the right thing and take better care of their passengers,” said Teresa Murray, Consumer Watchdog Director at U.S. Public Interest Research Group. “It’s important to remember that most Americans fly only once every 12 to 18 months. These rules will especially help those travelers who aren’t as familiar with their rights.” 

“We applaud the DOT’s move to require refunds for consumers —by default—when flights are cancelled or ‘significantly’ delayed,” said Ruth Susswein, Consumer Action’s Director of Consumer Protection. “This clear directive is sorely needed and a significant improvement for airline passengers.” 

“For years, domestic and foreign airlines both large and small have made it as hard as possible to give passengers well deserved refunds for disruptions they’ve caused or services they’ve failed to provide,” said William J. McGee, Senior Fellow for Aviation and Travel at the American Economic Liberties Project. “The DOT’s new rule is a watershed moment for passenger protection in the airline industry, making it easy and accessible for consumers to get relief when Too-Big-To-Care airlines run roughshod over them. This news follows a positive sea change in the DOT’s enforcement activity under the Biden administration, including supporting the DOJ’s successful JetBlue-Spirit merger challenge, a historic enforcement action against Southwest, and new efforts to empower state attorneys general to address consumer complaints. There’s more work to be done, but the DOT is showing that it’s getting serious about taking on corporate power across the airline industry—and we’re thrilled to see that.” 

The new rules come as Congress closes in on approval of legislation reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration. The passenger rights groups are calling on leaders in the House and Senate to ensure that additional protections are put in place to ensure that a future DOT does not roll back these hard-won consumer protections. 

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization.  Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad.  For more information, visit nclnet.org.

Dallas High School team from Pennsylvania wins 2024 National LifeSmarts Championship

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April 24, 2024

Media contact: National Consumers League – Melody Merin, melodym@nclnet.org, 202-207-2831

Washington, DC – Pennsylvania’s Dallas High School students were crowned the 2024 National LifeSmarts Champion in San Diego, California, this past Sunday, April 21. Coached by Kevin West, the Pennsylvania team consisted of Captain Marie Popielarz, Artem Smagin, Kareem Almeky, Riley Dewey, and Mahi Dohl.

Joining them in the final match was the Selah Gold FCCLA team from Selah, Washington. Members of the Washington team were Captain Hannah Christianson, Macie Ladd, Indiana Hilmes, and Hannah Rees, with Jeff and Dania Cochran serving as their coaches.

Rounding out the final four teams to join Pennsylvania and Washington in Sunday’s semifinal matches were the Crosby High School Bulldogs from Connecticut and the Country Clovers 4-H team from Delaware 4-H.

This year’s competition marked the 30th anniversary of LifeSmarts, the youth consumer education program of the National Consumers League. Forty-seven student teams—consisting of 230 students—traveled from across the country to compete over four days at the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Spa and Marina in San Diego.

“This year’s Nationals was special because we are celebrating 30 years of the LifeSmarts program, with this year’s event being our largest competition to date,” said LifeSmarts Program Director Lisa Hertzberg. “I want to congratulate all the teams and their coaches who came to San Diego to compete, learn from each other, and have fun. Congratulations to this year’s winning team from Dallas High School in Dallas, Pennsylvania!”

LifeSmarts is an education and scholarship program run by the Washington, DC-based National Consumers League (NCL), the nation’s oldest consumer advocacy organization. It competitively tests high school student’s knowledge of consumer awareness, with subjects including personal finance, health and safety, consumer rights and responsibility, technology and workforce preparation, and the environment in online and in-person competitions using a quiz bowl-style format. LifeSmarts is available in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and in partnership with student leadership programs such as FBLA, 4H, FCCLA, and SkillsUSA.

Each student on the first-place team received a $1,500.00 scholarship; second-place team members received $1,000.00 scholarships; and third-place team members received $750 scholarships. Team members who placed fourth received gift cards.

Teens from each of the 47 teams represented at Nationals also competed as individuals, and the top-scoring student in each LifeSmarts subject received a $500 scholarship from NCL. The 2024 winners are:

  • Consumer Rights and Responsibilities: Maria Huck, West Virginia
  • Environment: Artem Smagin, Pennsylvania
  • Health and Safety: Martaja Powell, Alabama
  • Personal Finance: Blake Sullivan, Missouri
  • Technology and Workforce Preparation: Jeremiah Hawley, Wyoming

Coleman Mangham from Varsity Wild Card 1 (Tift County 4-H, Georgia) and Shelby Brewer from Massaponax High School in Virginia were awarded co-LifeSmarts Students of the Year. They each received $100 Amazon gift cards.

Winning recognition as LifeSmarts Coaches of the Year were Ginger Walters from Massaponax High School and Sahvanna Mease from Calhan High School Colorado. Both coaches received $100 Amazon gift cards.

LifeSmarts State Coordinators of the Year were awarded to Mary Hillmann of Minnesota, and Kay Johnson and Tammie McCarthy, both from Wisconsin.

The Sarah Weinberg LifeSmarts Memorial Scholarship, given each year to a student who demonstrates an extraordinary commitment to community service, was awarded to Marie Popielarz from Pennsylvania.

Many LifeSmarts teams entered the anti-counterfeiting digital poster contest, sponsored by Amazon. Winners of the digital poster contest were presented to the captains of the following schools: School Without Walls, District of Columbia; Buffalo High School FBLA, Wyoming; Calhan High School Varsity, Colorado; Sweepstake Team 3, Blake Oaks High School, Missouri; West Chicago High School, Illinois; JCHS FCCLA, Kansas; Tift County 4-H, Georgia; Sweepstakes Team 2, West Feliciana High School, Louisiana; Sweepstakes Team 4, Larimer County, Colorado; and Riverside High School / Hi-Point Career Center BPA, Ohio. Each recipient received a $100 cash prize.

Winners in the identity theft essay contest were Kyle Parker Bennett, Allie Higgins, Maria Huck, and Kristina Plank. Each received a $1,000 scholarship, courtesy of Norton.

Kenvue sponsored scholarships that were awarded to five students who excelled in educational and outreach efforts in OTC medicine safety. Winners were Alex Piscane, Florida; Chloe Doiron, Sweepstakes Team 2, West Feliciana High School Louisiana; Kyle Bakhsh, Sweepstakes Team 1, Cobb County 4-H, Georgia; Mahi Dohl, Dallas High School, Pennsylvania; and Natalie Rodriguez, Econoponax, Massaponax High School, Virginia.

The top teams in the TikTok and Instagram videos on OTC medicine safety garnered praise from the contest’s judges and were recognized with achievement certificates. The schools recognized were:

  • Sweepstakes 4- Colorado, Larimer County 4-H, Colorado
  • School Without Walls, Washington, DC
  • Gordon County 4-H Varsity, Georgia
  • Junction City High School FCCLA, Varsity WC 3, Kansas
  • John Marshall High LifeSmarts for Life, West Virginia
  • Minidoka C. 4-H, Teal Taters 4-H Varsity, Idaho
  • Litchville-Marion High School, The Money Hounds, North Dakota
  • Dallas High School, Pennsylvania
  • Benton County 4-H, Norton WC 2, Arkansas
  • Pryor High School Tigers, Oklahoma
  • Blair Oaks High School Team Falcon, Sweepstakes Team 3, Missouri
  • Tift County 4-H, Varsity WC 1, Georgia

The LifeSmarts Team Spirit Award went to Odessa High School FBLA from Missouri. The team demonstrated outstanding camaraderie and great sportsmanship throughout the four-day championship.

Awards for best t-shirt design, Instagram contest, and meme and pin design were also announced. The best meme went to Francis Marion FBLA, Alabama, and the People’s Choice t-shirt winner was JCHS FCCLA, Kansas. The t-shirt award went to West Virginia’s John Marshall High School. The Instagram contest winner was Odessa High School, Missouri. The inaugural LifeSmarts pin design contest was won by Gracie Erichsen of Junction City High School FCCLA, Kansas, and Layson Ferguson of West Feliciana High School, Louisiana.

“Students who come to Nationals are some of the most dedicated and competitive students in the country. Their knowledge of consumer topics is vast, which is commendable because that is the goal we set for the LifeSmarts program—to be well-informed consumers,” said NCL Chief Executive Officer Sally Greenberg. “The information they acquire through this program will help them become savvy and well-informed consumers.”

Sponsors of the 2024 National LifeSmarts Championship were Amazon, Kenvue, Norton, Discover, Tide, FICO, Comcast Universal, Melaleuca, AARP, Bayer, JP Morgan Chase, American Express, Washington State Employees Credit Union, and Zillow.

At Sunday’s closing ceremony, NCL announced that Chicago, Illinois will be hosting the 2025 National LifeSmarts Championship next year.

To learn more about NCL’s youth consumer education program, visit LifeSmarts.

Photos from the 2024 National LifeSmarts Championships can be found here.

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization.  Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad.  For more information, visit nclnet.org.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Watch the National LifeSmarts Championship live at 8:30 am PST on Sunday, April 21

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April 20, 2024

Media contact: National Consumers League – Melody Merin, melodym@nclnet.org, 202-207-2831

San Diego, CA – Watch the 30th National LifeSmarts Championship from San Diego via livestream here on Sunday, April 21. The semifinal matches begin at 8:30 am PST, and the championship match begins at 10:15 am PST.

Kahoots will be offered by the LifeSmarts Engagement Advisory Panel for viewers to participate in.

Be sure to tune in to see who wins the 30th National LifeSmarts Championship and the Florence Kelley Cup!

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization.  Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad.  For more information, visit nclnet.org.

Celebrating 30 years of educating youths on consumer topics, NCL’s LifeSmarts program heads to San Diego for its annual national competition

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April 17, 2024

Media contact: National Consumers League – Melody Merin, melodym@nclnet.org, 202-207-2831

Washington, DC – The 30th National LifeSmarts Championship, the youth consumer education program of the National Consumers League, kicks off tomorrow, Thursday, April 18, at Hyatt Mission Bay in sunny San Diego, California. The four-day annual event hosts students from across the United States competing for prizes while showcasing their knowledge of real-life consumer issues that focus on the five content areas: personal finance, consumer rights, technology and career readiness, health and safety, and the environment.

Each year, LifeSmarts competitors answer more than 3.5 million consumer questions about credit reports, recycling, nutrition, social media, state lemon laws, and everything in between. Students are quizzed on their knowledge of these subject areas during online competition. Top-performing teams then advance to statewide competitions, and state champion teams—as well as several wildcard teams—advance to the national championship held each year in a different American city.

This year’s competition in San Diego is set to be the largest event for the 30-year-old program—with 47 teams and 230 students from across the U.S. vying for prizes and the coveted championship title. Along with the students, 79 coaches and 80 volunteers will be joining the four-day event.

Last year’s competition—held in Cincinnati, Ohio—was won by the Maryknoll Spartans from Maryknoll High School in Honolulu, Hawaii, a first win for the Aloha State.

Visit the 2024 National LifeSmarts Championship for more information.

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization.  Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad.  For more information, visit nclnet.org.

NCL expresses concern over Colorado Senate Bill 184, which seeks to impose new tax on car rental consumers

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March 29, 2024

Media contact: National Consumers League – Melody Merin, melodym@nclnet.org, 202-207-2831

Washington, DC – The National Consumers League (NCL) recently sent a letter to Chairwoman Faith Winter of the Senate Transportation and Energy Committee, Colorado State Senate, expressing concern over Senate Bill 184, which seeks to impose a new tax on car rental consumers of up to $3 per day, for the purpose of creating a new rail light line service. NCL does not believe taxpayers should bear the burden of paying for this new service.

The full letter can be found here.

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization.  Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad.  For more information, visit nclnet.org.

NCL urges regulators to investigate auto makers’ data collection practices

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March 27, 2024

Media contact: National Consumers League – Melody Merin, melodym@nclnet.org, 202-207-2831

Washington, DC – Today, the National Consumers League sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission urging oversight of vehicle manufacturers’ collection of consumer data. Modern cars can collect a range of information on drivers, including the locations they visit, their exact weight, and their texts and call records. Consumers are often unaware of this data collection and are even more surprised when insurance companies utilize this surveillance to increase drivers’ premiums. As digitally connected vehicles become more commonplace, the risks they pose to consumer privacy will only become greater—absent mandatory safeguards.

The full letter can be found here.

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization.  Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad.  For more information, visit nclnet.org.

Child Labor Coalition lauds Wage and Hour’s Child Labor Enforcement Strategies that includes creating a fund for victims and use of “hot goods” provisions

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March 27, 2024

Media contact: National Consumers League – Reid Maki, reidm@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2820

Washington, DC – The Child Labor Coalition (CLC), representing 37 groups engaged in the fight against domestic and global child labor, expresses support for the innovative enforcement strategies in this week’s enforcement action by the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). The action, announced March 25th, involved fines of $296,951 for a Tennessee parts manufacturer, Tuff Torq, and required the company to set aside $1.5 million as “disgorgement” of 30 days’ profit related to the company’s use of child labor. Disgorgement is a legal term for remedy requiring a party that profits from illegal activity to give up any profits that result from that activity.

Tuff Torq, which makes components for outdoor, power-equipment brands such as John Deere, Toro, and Yamaha, illegally employed 10 children, including a 14-year-old, for work that was hazardous—an identified task involved permitting a child to operate a power-driven-hoisting apparatus, which is a prohibited occupational task.

The Department employed several new or recent strategies in the case, including employing the Fair Labor Standards Act’s “hot goods” provision, which was used to stop the shipment of goods made with oppressive child labor.

“The use of the ‘hot goods’ enforcement tool is also an important new strategy, which Wage and Hour announced it would use last year,” said Reid Maki, director of Child Labor Advocacy for the National Consumers League (NCL) and the CLC. “It’s another critical tool in DOL’s arsenal. Once companies realize that the shipment of goods has been stopped, they feel an immediate impact of the violation.”

“This is the first use of victim’s fund that we have noticed in a child labor enforcement action,” added Maki. “Teens employed in factory settings are often unaccompanied minors and typically very impoverished. When enforcement agents find teens working illegally, they are dismissed with no resources to survive, move forward, and reassemble their lives. A victim’s fund is something the CLC and the Campaign to End US Child Labor – the CLC is a founding member – has touted as desperately needed.”

A third innovation involves how DOL calculates child labor fines. DOL recently announced it planned to change formulas for calculating fines, which previously had been capped at $15,000 per child involved in violations at a specific work site. The new strategy involves applying the maximum fines for each violation, not limited to the number of children involved.

“It’s clear they have used the new formula in the Tuff Torq fines,” said Maki. “Fines levels came in at an average of $30,000 per child—almost double what we would have seen under the old formula. With Congress unable, at this point, to pass into law any of several bills that would increase fines by a factor of ten, DOL’s creativity here is most welcome. Fines must be raised to inflict some real pain on corporate perpetrators. We’re not where we want to be yet, but it’s good to inch closer.”

“Wage and Hour also deserves praise for directing its enforcement action at Tuff Torq,” noted Maki. “In the past, corporations that benefited from child labor have often not been held accountable, as they blamed staffing agencies for illegal hires. Holding beneficiaries accountable is something DOL said it would do when it announced its meatpacking investigation results in February 2023—it’s great to see it happening.”

The Wage and Hour Division faces a big challenge in that its inspectorate, estimated at below 750 inspectors, is too small for a country the size of the U.S. The CLC has called for a doubling of the inspectorate over the next five years and is working to help increase congressional appropriations for that purpose.

Wage and Hour has noted a sharp increase in child labor in recent years, having found 5,792 minors working in violation of child labor laws. The Economic Policy Institute indicates the increase in violations is 300 percent since 2015.

“We are especially troubled by the prevalence of children in hazardous work,” said CLC Chair Sally Greenberg, who is also the CEO of the National Consumers League. “Far too many children are working illegally in meatpacking, auto supply factories, and other hazardous work sites. The U.S. can and must do more to protect these vulnerable children.”

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization.  Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad.  For more information, visit nclnet.org.

Child Labor Coalition welcomes the Senate Introduction of the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment and Farm Safety Act of 2024 (CARE Act)

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March 25, 2024

Media contact: National Consumers League – Reid Maki, reidm@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2820

Washington, DC – With the beginning of Farmworker Awareness Week today, the Child Labor Coalition (CLC), representing 37 groups engaged in the fight against domestic and global child labor, applauds Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) and for introducing the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment and Farm Safety (CARE). The legislation, introduced on March 21, would close long-standing loopholes that permit children in agriculture to work for wages when they are only 12 and 13—younger than other teens can work. The bill would also ban jobs on farms labeled “hazardous” by the U.S. Department of Labor if workers are under the age of 18. Current U.S. law allows children to perform hazardous work at age 16.

“With their whole future ahead of them, our country must do better protecting children working in the agriculture industry,” said Senator Luján. “Across the country, thousands of children are working under hazardous conditions in the agriculture sector, risking their health and education. I’m introducing the CARE Act to raise the floor and bring our agricultural labor lines in with other industries to better protect children and improve the working conditions they operate in.”

“It’s amazing to us that discriminatory loopholes, which allow very young kids to work 70- and 80-hours a week, performing back-breaking labor on farms, have been allowed to exist since the 1930s,” said Reid Maki, Director of Child Labor Advocacy for the National Consumers League and the Child Labor Coalition. “The impact of the exemptions on farmworker children educationally is harmful and their health is at significant risk on farms.”

“We’re grateful for Senator Luján’s tremendous leadership on this issue.” said the CLC’s Chair Sally Greenberg, also the CEO of the National Consumers League. “It’s been 22 years since we’ve had a Senate bill that would fix our weak child labor laws that discriminate against farmworker children and leave them unprotected from farm dangers. This day was long overdue. We applaud Senator Lujan for taking action to protect child farmworkers.

“Growing up as a migrant farmworker child, I saw first-hand the detrimental consequences of our inequitable child labor laws,” says Norma Flores López, Chair of the Child Labor Coalition’s Domestic Issues Committee. “Working 70 hours a week, performing back-breaking work did not prepare me for a career in agriculture. Rather, it robbed me of my childhood and my health. Working children must be protected from dangerous work that is not age-appropriate, and the CARE Act provides this critical change in our labor laws.”

In the House, Rep. Raul Ruiz introduced a version of the CARE Act, H.R. 4046, earlier in the congressional session; it has 45 cosponsors.

The Senate bill, which does not have a number yet, has been endorsed by 46 organizations, including the AFL-CIO, the Economic Policy Institute, the UFW, Farmworker Justice, the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and the National Farm Medicine Center. The House version has been endorsed by 200 national, regional, and state-based organizations, noted Maki.

“The US will not fix the country’s child labor problem until Congress provides children working in agriculture with the same protections as all other working children. Congress should pass this bill without delay to protect children from dangerous work that harms their health and development,” said Jo Becker, children’s rights advocacy director, Human Rights Watch.

In addition to raising the minimum age at which children could work in agriculture, CARE would significantly increase minimum fines for employers who violate agricultural child labor laws; the bill would also establish minimum fines for the first time. The legislation would also codify a ban on children applying pesticides and increase data collection and analysis of child farmworker injuries.

The children of farm owners working on their parents’ farms would not be covered by the protections of the CARE Act—this aligns with the wishes of organized farmer groups.

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization.  Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad.  For more information, visit nclnet.org.

NCL applauds Biden Administration’s new actions to minimize education costs

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March 15, 2024

Media contact: National Consumers League – Melody Merin, melodym@nclnet.org, 202-207-2831

Washington, DC – Today, the Biden Administration announced new initiatives to reduce unnecessary fees consumers face when enrolled in higher education. The president’s proposed budget and the Department of Education are seeking to eliminate student loan origination fees, which cost consumers over $1 billion each year just to take out a loan; limit exploitative junk fees associated with financial services that colleges may provide through banking partnerships; require colleges to return unused “flex dollars” to students before they expire at the end of a semester; and eliminate restrictions that would prevent students from purchasing textbooks off-campus, where they may be sold at a lower price than the university would charge.

The following statement is attributable to National Consumers League Chief Executive Officer, Sally Greenberg:

“Higher education should be a marker of academic achievement, not something to be foreclosed because of a student’s economic background. If finalized, these new initiatives would reduce financial barriers that prevent many students from obtaining an advanced degree and leave others with years of debt. I urge Congress to fulfill the president’s proposed elimination of loan origination fees and look forward to the finalized rules from the Education Department.”

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization.  Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad.  For more information, visit nclnet.org.

National Consumers League condemns legislation in Florida that preempts local ordinances to protect workers from heat exposure

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March 15, 2024

Media contact: National Consumers League – Melody Merin, melodym@nclnet.org, 202-207-2831

Washington, DC – The National Consumers League is condemning a vote by the Florida House of Representatives to approve legislation that will upend Miami-Dade’s proposed local workplace standards requiring drinking water, cooling measures, recovery periods, posting or distributing materials informing workers how to protect themselves, and requiring first aid or emergency responses. The Florida Senate approved the measure yesterday.

This measure rushed through the state legislature ahead of adjournment on Friday, March 8th and will prevent local governments throughout Florida from requiring water, shade breaks or training so workers can protect themselves from heat illness, injury, and fatality.

Reid Maki, director of child labor advocacy for the Child Labor Coalition under the National Consumers League, made this statement:

“Not only is the Florida legislature usurping the duty of local government to protect workers from heat stress in one of the hottest states in America, but by denying workers access to water and protection this Dickensian measure ignores the reality of heat and heatstroke among Florida’s workers. Indeed, hundreds of workers die across the U.S. from heat exposure each year. The legislation also forbids the posting of educational materials to help workers protect themselves from the heat.

NCL has throughout its history worked to eradicate child labor and abusive labor practices, including protecting children in America working in the fields from exposure to heat, dangerous chemicals, and long hours. U.S. law allows children to work at younger ages in the agricultural sector despite its significantly increased danger. It also allows teens to do work known to be dangerous at younger ages—16 versus 18. NCL works to close both of those loopholes and protect children from agricultural dangers and exploitation. These vulnerable teen workers in agriculture are at great risk from heat exposure.

NCL is urging Governor Ron DeSantis to veto this legislation. NCL also urges the United States Congress to enact the Asuncíon Valdivia Heat Illness, Injury and Fatality Prevention Act, which would direct the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to adopt interim heat standards, while the agency continues its years-long slog of adopting a final heat protection rule. NCL is a member of the national Heat Stress Network, which works to protect outdoor works from heat dangers.

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About the National Consumers League (NCL)

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization.  Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad.  For more information, visit nclnet.org.