November 22, 2013

Contact: Reid Maki, (202) 207-2820, reidm@nclnet.org

Washington, DC—In the wake of child labor exposés by The Nation magazine last week, the Child Labor Coalition is calling on the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to immediately ban child labor in tobacco fields—something the department had proposed to do in 2011.

In “Why Are Children Working in American Tobacco Fields?,” Gabriel Thompson’s reporting describes the alarming health risks young tobacco workers face. He tells the story of three young sisters age 12, 13, and 14 whose tobacco harvesting made them ill from “green tobacco sickness” or nicotine poisoning. Despite their health problems, the girls went on to work four summers of 60-hour weeks in the tobacco fields, absorbing the nicotine from the equivalent of 36 cigarettes each day, according to a study cited by The Nation.

“We don’t let 12-year-olds buy and smoke cigarettes,” noted Sally Greenberg, co-chair of the Child Labor Coalition and the executive director of the National Consumers League. “Why would we let them perform dangerous work in tobacco fields beginning at the age of 12? It simply isn’t right.”

“Children should not be allowed to perform dangerous work, especially in the tobacco fields,” said Norma Flores López, Chair of the Domestic Issues Committee for the Child Labor Coalition and the Director of the Children in the Fields Campaign at the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs. “Children are especially vulnerable to the effects of nicotine, pesticides and heat stress they are exposed to in the tobacco fields. We urge the Secretary to put the health of farmworker children over the interest of tobacco companies, and strengthen the protections for children working in agriculture.”

Thompson’s reporting cited a study that one in four tobacco workers contract green tobacco sickness.”Symptoms range from dizziness and vomiting to difficulty breathing and heart rate fluctuations requiring hospitalization,” reported Thompson. “The pain can be so excruciating that some workers call it ‘the green monster.’ A tobacco farmer in Kentucky said the sickness ‘can make you feel like you’re going to die…’”

Thompson notes that the known hazards of tobacco work have led countries “like Russia and Kazakhstan to ban anyone under 18 from harvesting tobacco,” and that the US “has played a role in such global efforts, recently spending at least $2.75 million” to eliminate child tobacco labor in Malawi.”

The US Department of Labor had called for a ban on tobacco harvesting by individuals under 18 in proposed “hazardous occupations orders” issued in 2011. These proposed occupational safety rules would have limited or prohibited teen work in 15 areas that are known to be dangerous for teen workers—unless the young individual was working on their family’s farm. Sadly, the rules were withdrawn in April 2012 after months of intense pressure from the American Farm Bureau and many members of the farm community. Many health and safety advocacy groups, including the CLC, felt the campaign against the proposed rules, which would have exempted children working on their own family farm, profoundly misleading.

When the proposed rules were withdrawn, the CLC estimated that not implementing them would result in the death of 50 to 100 working children on farms over the next decade.

“In withdrawing these badly needed safety rules, the Obama Administration yielded to industry lobbyists, but this new information about exposure to tobacco raises new warning flags,” noted Greenberg. “The Nation’s reporting makes it clear that the US government has a responsibility to protect 12-year-olds toiling in the fields. It must pick up the process it started and protect child workers from the known dangers of tobacco harvesting.”

In an accompanying piece, “Regulations are Killed, and Kids Die,” researcher Mariya Strauss notes that at least 12 young farmworkers under the age of 16 have died since the proposed regulations were withdrawn. “At least four of them died doing the hazardous tasks those rules would have prohibited them from performing,” said Strauss.

Federal data on youth occupational injuries and fatalities is glaringly incomplete, suggested Strauss: “It’s impossible not to conclude that incidents are being missed.” The CLC calls on the federal government to correct the numerous data flaws cited by Strauss. “Without accurate data collection, health and safety experts cannot design appropriate prevention strategies,” said Reid Maki, coordinator of the CLC.

“We owe it to our children to give them every opportunity to thrive, and to keep them out of harm’s way,” said Lorretta Johnson, Secretary Treasurer of the American Federation of Teachers and Co-Chair of the CLC, “It is our responsibility to educate the whole child and look after their well being in and out of the classroom. Congress must raise the age at which children can work for wages in agriculture from the current age of 12 to the same minimum age of all other industries—15 or 16. Legislation currently in Congress, the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment (CARE), H.R. 2342, addresses the inequities and harsh conditions faced by many child farm laborers, it would close the child labor loopholes for kids not working on their family’s farm. We cannot afford to let political pressure keep us from fulfilling our collective responsibility of providing all children with equal access to high quality public education.”

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About the Child Labor Coalition

The Child Labor Coalition is comprised of 30 organizations, representing consumers, labor unions, educators, human rights and labor rights groups, child advocacy groups, and religious groups. It was established in 1989, and is co-chaired by the National Consumers League and the American Federation of Teachers. Its mission is to protect working youth and to promote legislation, programs, and initiatives to end child labor exploitation in the United States and abroad. For more information, please call CLC Coordinator Reid Maki at (202) 207-2820 [reidm@nclnet.org].

November 22, 2013

Contact: NCL Communications, Ben Klein, benk@nclnet.org, (202) 835-3323

Washington, DC – The nation’s pioneering consumer advocacy organization has issued a warning to consumers planning air travel this holiday season to avoid wasting money on travel “protection” insurance policies, which are often worthless to consumers.  The Washington, DC-based National Consumers League (NCL) found, in a report published this fall, that while online travel Web sites offer insurance as “peace of mind” for the consumer, some of the most popular policies give little actual protection if something unexpected necessitates and change in travel plans.

As the nation enters the beginning of the holiday travel season, and with one of the busiest travel weeks of the year just ahead, NCL is warning air travelers to think twice before making travel insurance purchases and read the policies over carefully before buying. According to the industry trade group Airlines for America, an estimated 25 million passengers will fly over the 12-day Thanksgiving travel period.

“With the rising cost of airfare, and the inability for most consumers to afford truly flexible, refundable tickets, consumers reasonably fear that the need for a last-minute change to air itineraries could break the bank. Enter air travel insurance, which consumers are buying to hedge against the risk of paying hefty change or cancellation fees,” said Sally Greenberg, NCL Executive Director. “The unfortunate reality is that these ‘protection’ policies bring in big bucks for the airlines each year but offer very little real value for consumers.”

Airline travel insurance is typically marketed as a small add-on after consumers buy tickets. The fee is typically based on the price of the ticket. These small fees are big business for the airlines industry. Travel insurance sales ballooned to a nearly $2 billion industry in 2012. It is unclear how much travel insurance policies actually pay out in benefits. Based on the high commissions travel insurance agents advertise receiving, advocates suspect that it is significantly higher than commissions earned for more traditional auto, home, or life insurance.

The NCL study focused on trip-cancellation insurance, which is aggressively marketed during the airline ticket-buying process. For example, the checkbox to buy travel insurance is sometimes pre-checked, meaning consumers must actively decline insurance they may not want in the first place.

NCL has issued a number of recommendations for reform, including a requirement that insurance sellers be transparent about the percent of claims they actually pay out. This would enable consumers to better judge the value of travel insurance. For example, relatively low premiums for travel insurance may not be a good deal if there is a track record of paying out few claims.

NCL’s close inspection of the fine print in these travel insurance policies revealed a long list of exclusions, including some of the most common scenarios an air travel consumer could reasonably anticipate. For example, common exclusions include losses stemming from:

• Illness involving an existing medical condition
• Pregnancy or childbirth
• Termination of employment
• A business meeting being cancelled
• A student’s test date being changed

“While airline travel insurance may seem like a modest price to pay to protect yourself from bigger costs later, the reality is that this insurance may not pay out,” said John Breyault, NCL Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud and author of NCL’s report. “Travel insurance gives consumers a false sense of comfort that they will be covered in the event they need to change their flight. In reality, these policies are riddled with exclusions and exceptions and are likely a bad deal for consumers.”

To read NCL’s full report, click here.

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About the National Consumers League

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 www.nclnet.org.

November 20, 2013

Contact: NCL Communications, Ben Klein, (202) 835-3323, benk@nclnet.org

Washington, DC—The nation’s pioneering consumer and worker advocacy group today is applauding the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for authorizing the filing of complaints against Walmart for violating workers’ rights. The set of charges includes unlawfully threatening employees with retaliation for engaging in strikes and protests on last year’s Black Friday and unlawfully threatening, disciplining, and/or terminating employees for having engaged in legally-protected strikes and protests.

“It is high time that Walmart be held accountable for its unlawful actions and violations against associates,” said NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg. “This set of complaints focuses on the threat of – and actual – retaliation used to keep workers in line and as a weapon against workers who are trying to stand up for their rights.”

Under the federal National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which the NLRB enforces, employees (whether or not they are unionized) are protected from retaliation for engaging in certain activities including protesting and organizing for better wages or working conditions. The NLRB Office of General Counsel found merit to alleged violations of the NLRA against Walmart for the following:

• During two national television news broadcasts and in statements to employees at Walmart stores in California and Texas, Walmart unlawfully threatened employees with reprisal if they engaged in strikes and protests on November 22, 2012.
• Walmart stores in California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas and Washington unlawfully threatened, disciplined, and/or terminated employees for having engaged in legally protected strikes and protests.
• Walmart stores in California, Florida, Missouri and Texas unlawfully threatened, surveilled, disciplined, and/or terminated employees in anticipation of or in response to employees’ other protected concerted activities.

“In order to silence its employees, Walmart has used the threat of discipline and termination. They even used their spokesman in two national television news broadcasts to threaten workers who were planning on striking and protesting,” said Michell K. McIntyre, NCL’s Outreach Director on Labor & Worker Rights. “Walmart doesn’t make empty threats – at least 43 workers were disciplined and as least 23 were fired.”

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About the National Consumers League

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 www.nclnet.org.

November 15, 2013

Contact: NCL Communications, Ben Klein (202) 835-3323, benk@nclnet.org

Washington, DC–The National Consumers League today applauded FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler for calling on the wireless industry to swiftly enact pro-consumer policies regarding mobile device unlocking.

The following statement is attributable to John Breyault, National Consumers League Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications and Fraud:

“Consumers will benefit from policies that make it easier to unlock the mobile devices that they own. Chairman Wheeler’s letter makes it clear that the FCC is focused on ensuring that consumers have the freedom to easily take their own devices with them when they switch wireless carriers. This change is low-hanging fruit that will promote competition in the wireless industry and benefit millions of users.”

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About the National Consumers League

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 www.nclnet.org.