California Congressman Proposes Child Labor Rules for Ag Industry

Doctor and Congressman Raul Ruiz of California is proposing the Children’s Act for Responsible Employment and Farm Safety Act to extend labor safety protections to children dragooned into agricultural work.

Agriculture is the only industry with labor laws that allow children as young as 12 to work with virtually no restrictions on the number of hours they spend in the fields outside of school. According to the National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety, every day, 33 children are injured while working on U.S. farms. What’s more, a recent GAO report found that more than half of work-related fatalities for children happen in the agriculture sector.

To address this, the CARE Act would bring age and work hour standards for children in agriculture up to the standards for children working in all other industries. Among its other provisions, the bill would also establish a minimum penalty for child labor violations, increase the maximum civil monetary penalties and maximum criminal penalties for child labor violations, and provide children with greater protection against pesticide exposure.

“Farm labor is incredibly dangerous work with one of the highest occupational injury rates in our nation. In fact, every three days, a child employee dies while working in agriculture,” said Dr. Ruiz. “Despite these dangerous conditions, agriculture is the only industry with little to no protections for the 400,000 young children who work in this industry every day. As the son of farmworkers, I’m working to change that. My bill, the CARE Act, would raise labor standards for child farmworkers across the country, protecting their health, safety, and overall well-being. This legislation will bring much-needed parity to farmworkers, advancing equity for the families and workers who help put food on our tables and play an essential role in our economy every day” [Rep. Raul Ruiz, press release, 2023.06.12].

Congressman Dusty Johnson is not among the co-sponsors. Expect Johnson, Governor Kristi Noem, and other tools of the ag-industrial complex to cry that restricting child labor on farms the same as we do in other factories would destroy family farming traditions:

Prior iterations of the CARE Act were met with fierce opposition from farms. At a hearing last fall, agricultural policy attorney Kristi Boswell, who grew up on farm and later served in President Trump’s agriculture department, warned that traditions held families like her own would be threatened.

“My niece and nephews would not have been able to detassel corn at ages 12 and 13, despite their parents knowing they were mature enough to handle the job,” Boswell said in her testimony.

“It is critical now more than ever that our policies develop our next generation of farmers and ranchers, rather than discouraging them” [Andrea Hsu, “Children as Young as 12 Work Legally on Farms, Despite Years of Efforts to Change Law,” NPR, 2023.06.12].

Ruiz notes that his CARE Act would retain current exemptions for family farms. It would, however, impose the following protections on the industry:

• Bring age and work hour standards for children in agriculture up to the standards for children working in all other industries;
• Establish a minimum penalty for child labor violations;
• Increase the maximum civil monetary penalties and maximum criminal penalties for child labor violations;
• Provide children with greater protection against pesticide exposure in agriculture by raising the labor protections to EPA standards.
• Includes reporting requirements on work-related injuries and serious illnesses [Ruiz, 2023.06.12].

Agriculture should operate under the same labor protections as other big businesses. That includes protecting children from exploitation and harm.