Arkansas is rolling back a child labor law
By NJ Chicaa
@NJChicaa (116002)
United States
March 8, 2023 4:44pm CST
Because of course. The GOP wants to roll everything back and return the USA to labor conditions of like the 1920s and 1930s. Apparently their goal is to have companies emulate the meat-packing factory in The Jungle. 
Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a bill that required employers to get work certificates for employees under the age of 16. This is after a "food sanitization company" (what the heck is that?) in 8 states (including Arkansas) was fined $1.5 million for employing 13-17 year olds in hazardous conditions that involved using toxic chemicals and cleaning sharp saws.
Sanders' justification for this is that the step of getting the certificate is a burden. Give me a break. I work in a high school and see teenagers getting what we call "working papers" all the time. Hell, I got them myself back when I was 16. It is NOT a burden and it takes like a day or two for them to be filled out and then processed if the people dealing with them are competent.
But sure, let's have the children doing inappropriate and dangerous jobs. I read one GOP politician's justification for the law and whoever it was (can't remember) said it was to help with the shortage of workers in the country. Hmmmm. . . maybe 13 year olds shouldn't have to work. Maybe employers can improve working conditions and increase wages? The burden of lack of workers in this country should NOT be placed on the shoulders of teenagers. Disgusting.
Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed a bill that required employers to get work certificates for employees under the age of 16. This is after a "food sanitization company" (what the heck is that?) in 8 states (including Arkansas) was fined $1.5 million for employing 13-17 year olds in hazardous conditions that involved using toxic chemicals and cleaning sharp saws.
Sanders' justification for this is that the step of getting the certificate is a burden. Give me a break. I work in a high school and see teenagers getting what we call "working papers" all the time. Hell, I got them myself back when I was 16. It is NOT a burden and it takes like a day or two for them to be filled out and then processed if the people dealing with them are competent.
But sure, let's have the children doing inappropriate and dangerous jobs. I read one GOP politician's justification for the law and whoever it was (can't remember) said it was to help with the shortage of workers in the country. Hmmmm. . . maybe 13 year olds shouldn't have to work. Maybe employers can improve working conditions and increase wages? The burden of lack of workers in this country should NOT be placed on the shoulders of teenagers. Disgusting.https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/08/politics/sarah-huckabee-sanders-arkansas-child-labor/index.html
8 people like this
7 responses
@RasmaSandra (73444)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
8 Mar 23
Personally, I think teenagers should find summer jobs but jobs in fast food places or supermarkets and such but not in places where there are dangerous conditions,
3 people like this
@FourWalls (62145)
• United States
9 Mar 23
Gee, since those are federal laws against child labor, can they do that? I know, that won’t stop them.
1 person likes this
@JamesHxstatic (29242)
• Eugene, Oregon
9 Mar 23
How backward, no surprise though. I started work (no permit required in Texas) at age 14 in a grocery store, bagging, stocking, unloading trucks, three nights per week 5 to 10 PM plus 10 hours on Saturday. 40 cents an hour, school work suffered, but I thought I was having fun.
2 people like this
@Namelesss (3368)
• United States
14 Mar 23
This act literally does not ''roll back'' a single child-labor law. They simply don't have to go through the labor department to obtain a slip.
The stuff you posted in your second paragraph was illegal, is illegal and will stay illegal, hence the fact they were fined. One has nothing to do with the other.
I really wish before people commented on this 'gotcha crap' they would go look it up themselves.
@LindaOHio (156159)
• United States
13 Mar 23
I got my work permit at 14; and it wasn't a big deal. I've read The Jungle 3x. Good post.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (205770)
• Walnut Creek, California
13 Mar 23
As a man, I'm all for the '20s and '30s. Women should be barefoot and pregnant and in the kitchen, and young children should work anywhere they dang well want to, including driving for Uber. And gay homosexuals should go back where they belong, in the closet.
