Ruthless Exploitation of Child Labor, US Regressing to the Late 19th Century

Published in People's Daily Overseas Edition
(China) on 14 August 2023
by He Suoyi (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Matthew McKay. Edited by Helaine Schweitzer.
The New York Times reported recently that an Arkansas law took effect a few days ago allowing 14 and 15-year-olds to work without the written consent of their parents. Iowa, New Hampshire and New Jersey have also introduced bills to weaken child labor protections.

This troubling trend in American society is attracting an increasing amount of attention. “You might think that in the face of this mounting problem, lawmakers across the country would rush to protect these children. You’d be wrong,” Britain’s Guardian newspaper reported. The data show that the number of children employed in the U.S. in violation of federal child labor laws increased by 37% last year, 283% more than in 2015. In the past two years, 14 states have introduced or enacted laws to relax restrictions on working hours for child laborers, lower the age limit for hiring minors, and legalize wages for minors that fall below the minimum wage.

In the 21st century, why is the U.S.—the world’s No. 1 power—still exploiting child labor? Some American politicians reason that working keeps children away from computers, video games and television and fosters both a work ethic and vocational skills—and when it comes to children from poor backgrounds, working at an earlier age is an opportunity. These political leaders say the use of child labor has many advantages and no disadvantages. But what is the truth? In July, The Nation reported that the COVID-19 pandemic caused labor shortages in the U.S., while according to The Washington Post in April, hiring child labor allowed employers to keep wages low while maintaining a workforce given the labor shortages in the U.S. market.

Remove the political whitewashing and the true state of child labor in the U.S. is bleak. The Guardian reported in February that the U.S. found that a slaughterhouse cleaning company had illegally employed more than 100 minors aged 13 to 17 from across the U.S. Not only had they been required to work night shifts, but they had also been exposed to hazardous chemicals used to clean meat processing equipment including back saws, brisket saws, and guillotines, and at least three minors were injured on the job. Among them, a 14-year-old was forced to work five to six days a week, from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., and he not only dozed off in class, but also missed school due to chemical burns.

The situation of immigrant children is of particular concern with respect to American child labor, as it involves a large group that has long lacked attention and protection. The New York Times reported in February that a large number of unaccompanied minors come to the U.S. and work in some of the country’s most miserable jobs and in terrible conditions. In the food industry, child laborers are exposed to dust and dangerous conveyor belts, and on construction sites, children have broken their backs and had their hands burned by hot tar while laying roof tiles. Further, the U.S. government has turned a blind eye to the fact that companies employing these children, including some of the largest corporations, have deliberately ignored the fact that child laborers are being employed, and schools have been reluctant to report child labor violations inflicted on students.

The U.S. government’s indifference has also created opportunities for human trafficking. Take, for example, Nery Cutzal, a Guatemalan child who was tricked into going to the United States when he was 13. Nery came from a poor family, and someone contacted him on Facebook, persuading him to go to the U.S. to work and subsidize his family, and promising that he would be able to go to school and be taken care of. But when he arrived in the U.S., he discovered that he had been thoroughly scammed The person who had asked him to come to the U.S. demanded $4,000 for help with paperwork and food, threatening that he would have to work to pay off his debts and find his own place to live. The child was eventually rescued, but he was one of the lucky few. In the past decade, federal prosecutors have prosecuted only about 30 cases involving forced labor of minors. Then there was Juanito Ferrer, a 15-year-old who was forced to paint houses during the day and guard apartment buildings at night. His pay was docked, and he slept in a basement where he was monitored by close surveillance camera. When he called the police, no one came to check on him, and ultimately, he was lucky enough to escape.

There are also intermediaries in the U.S. that facilitate child labor in business. In April, Reuters reported that an immigrant from Mexico who had just turned 16 was discovered carrying heavy loads by hand in an automobile factory, and he held the identify papers of a 34-year-old man. In addition, his file contained other crudely forged documents, and he had been working under false identification papers since the age of 14. Experts say that U.S. law enables major companies to shirk responsibility and use intermediaries for protection, making it difficult to enforce child labor protection laws when employers provide false documents, even if they are clearly forged. The Mexican minor, for example, passed through the a multilevel employment service filter.

While the unsavory track record of such child labor is at least considered illegal, there is an exception to the rule in the U.S.: American farms can legally make use of child often without any age limit. The reasoning is just as lofty. Traditionally, there is nothing wrong with having children help out on family farms as a way of familiarizing them early on with the work and life of a farmer. But the reality is that children are performing extraordinarily difficult tasks in the fields, and they are getting hurt as a result.

National Public Radio reported in June that children are generally prohibited from doing hazardous work in industries apart from agriculture. There, children from the age of 16 may operate heavy machinery and work at any height on the farm without any protection from falling. Vox reported in June that about Jacqueline Aguilar, who had worked from 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. six to seven days a week in the fields since she was 11, earning $10 an hour. The work was exhausting, her feet hurt all the time, and her hands developed blisters from using the hoe, Aguilar said. She wore a headscarf and long-sleeved clothes to prevent sunburn. She could not eat at lunchtime, and her employer did not provide her with clean water, so she had to work without eating or drinking. Under U.S. law, intense labor like this would have been legal when Aguilar turned 12 in many states where children that young can pick tobacco and milk 1,500-pound cows. In fact, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identify farm work as one of the most dangerous industries, and the American Federation of Teachers has published an article stating that there are approximately 500,000 child farm workers in the U.S. Many of these children have been working since they were 8 years old, and it is not uncommon for them to work 72 hours a week. They are at a greatly increased risk of cancer due to their frequent exposure to pesticides. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports that children are three times more sensitive than adults to the carcinogenic effects of pesticides. Working conditions on farms are so harsh that a Government Accountability Office report showed that 100,000 child farm workers are injured on the job each year, with children accounting for 20% of agricultural deaths.

The Guardian observed that the U.S. is currently allowing the return of a brutal form of capitalism, a kind of social Darwinism, in which business lobbies and lawmakers argue that they are not exploiting the underprivileged, but rather providing opportunities for those who need to work so that they do not go hungry or become homeless. On the one hand, they claim that they cannot provide these children with more protection, such as a safe place to live and adequate nutrition, but on the other hand, they say that the government “can easily afford” to subsidize businesses, and that “businesses need and deserve” such subsidies. The U.S. appears to be regressing to the late 19th century, when laborers and young children were treated like muck, and robber barons reigned supreme.

For a long time now, the U.S. has been the only member of the United Nations that has not ratified the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, and now that the problem of child labor in the U.S. is worsening, rather than strengthening legislative protections, standards have been further relaxed. How can the U.S. talk about human rights when it uses the flesh and bones of children to generate profit?


无情剥削童工,美国“正倒退至19世纪末”

海外网 2023-08-14 15:09:12

据《纽约时报》日前报道,美国阿肯色州近日一项法律生效,14、15岁的青少年无需父母签字同意就可工作。除阿肯色州外,爱荷华州、新罕布什尔州和新泽西州等地也都出台法案,削弱童工保护。

美国社会这种令人担忧的趋势,正引起越来越多关注。英国《卫报》3月刊文称,“你可能认为,面对日益严重的童工问题,美国各地的立法者急于保护儿童,那你就错了”。数据显示,去年违反美国联邦童工法雇佣儿童的情况增加了37%,比2015年增加了283%;过去两年中,14个州引入或颁布法律,放宽了童工工作时长限制、降低了雇佣未成年人的年龄限制,并将未成年人工资低于最低工资标准合法化。

已经21世纪了,作为世界头号强国的美国为何竟还在压榨童工?美国一些政客给出的理由是,工作可以让孩子们远离电脑、电子游戏或电视,并且也能为青年儿童培养职业道德、发展职业技能,而且对于贫困儿童而言,提前工作也是一个机会。按这些政客的说法,使用童工几乎是“有百利而无一害”。而真相究竟如何呢?美国《国家》杂志7月报道称,新冠疫情造成了美国劳动力短缺。据《华盛顿邮报》4月报道,由于美国劳动力市场短缺,雇佣童工能让雇主在保持低工资的同时保证劳动力。

去除政客的粉饰,美国童工的真实状况堪忧。据英国《卫报》2月报道,美国政府发现一家屠宰场清洁公司在全美范围内非法雇佣了100多名未成年人,年龄最小的13岁,最大的也才17岁。他们不仅需要上夜班,还需要接触危险化学品来清洁肉类加工设备,包括背锯、胸肉锯和切头器等,至少3名未成年人在工作时受伤。其中,一名14岁的未成年人每周要工作5至6天,从晚上11点工作到第二天凌晨5点,他不仅在课堂上打瞌睡,还因为化学烧伤缺课。

在美国童工中,移民儿童群体的状况更加令人担忧,这个群体庞大,却长期缺乏关注、缺乏保护。《纽约时报》2月报道称,大量未成年人孤身一人来到美国,他们从事着美国最痛苦的一些工作。他们的工作环境也相当糟糕,在食品行业,童工面临粉尘和危险的传送带;在工地,有童工脊椎被折断,在房顶铺瓦时被热焦油烧伤双手。而雇佣他们的公司,甚至包括一些大企业,故意忽视雇佣童工的情况,学校不愿报告学生遭遇的违规行为,美国政府也睁一只眼闭一只眼。

美国政府的淡漠,也给了人口贩运可乘之机。例如,一个名叫内里·库察尔的危地马拉儿童,他在13岁时便来到美国,但他却是被骗来的。内里家境贫穷,有人在脸书上联系他,劝他去美国打工补贴家用,并承诺他可以在美国上学、得到照顾。但当他抵达美国,却发现自己彻底被骗了,让他来美国的人向他索要4000美元,名目是帮忙填写文书、帮忙买饭菜,在威胁之下,他必须打工还债,而且他还得自己找住处。这名儿童最终得到救援,但他是少数幸运者,过去十年中,联邦检察官只对大约30起涉及强迫未成年人劳动的案件提起诉讼。还有一名叫胡安尼托·费雷尔的15岁少年,他被强迫白天粉刷房屋,晚上给公寓大楼看门,他的薪水被拿走,睡在地下室,有人用摄像头对他严密监视。而当他报警时,甚至根本没有人来检查,最终他自己侥幸逃脱了。

美国还有一些中介机构为企业雇佣童工提供方便。据路透社4月报道,一名来自墨西哥的移民刚满16岁,被发现在一家汽车厂手动搬运重物,但他却持有一个34岁男子的身份证明。此外,他的档案中还有其他粗制滥造的伪造文件,他从14岁开始就在冒用身份文件打工。专家表示,“美国法律使龙头企业能够逃避责任,并利用中介机构保护自己”,当雇主提供虚假文件,哪怕是明显伪造的文件,都会使童工保护法律难以执行。例如这名墨西哥未成年人,就通过了所谓“多层就业服务机构的过滤”。

上述雇佣童工的种种劣迹至少被认定为“不合法”,但美国还有一种例外情况——在美国农场,童工是能够被合法使用的,往往连年龄限制都没有。理由同样冠冕堂皇,按照传统观念,家庭农场让孩子帮忙无可厚非,这也是为了让孩子早点熟悉农场主的工作和生活。但真实情况是,孩子们在田间做着异常繁重的工作,并因此受到伤害。

美国全国公共广播电台(NPR)6月报道称,其他行业一般禁止儿童从事危险工作,但农业除外。16岁时,孩子们就可以在农场工作时操作重型机械并在任何高度作业,没有任何防坠落保护措施。美媒Vox网站6月报道称,杰奎琳·阿吉拉尔从11岁开始就在田间劳作,从早上5点干到下午2点,每星期工作6到7天,每小时能赚10美元。阿吉拉尔表示,这真是太累了,脚一直很痛,手被锄头磨出了很多水泡。她戴着头巾、穿着长袖衣服以防晒伤。她在午餐时也吃不上饭,雇主也不提供干净的水,她就只得在不吃不喝的情况下劳作。而根据美国的法律,这种强度的劳动,当阿吉拉尔年满12岁,就是合法的了。在许多州,年仅12岁的儿童就可以采摘烟草、给1500磅重的奶牛挤奶。事实上,美国疾控中心将农场工作认定为最危险的行业之一,美国教师联盟发文称,美国大约有50万名农场童工。这些孩子中许多人从8岁起就开始工作,每星期工作72小时的情况并不少见。儿童由于经常接触农药,大大增加了患癌的风险。美国环境保护署认为,儿童对农药致癌作用的敏感度是成人的3倍。农场工作环境十分恶劣,政府问责办公室的一份报告显示,每年有10万名农场童工在工作中受伤,并且儿童占农业死亡人数的20%。

《卫报》评论称,当前,美国正任由一种残酷的资本主义卷土重来,这是一种社会达尔文主义,商业游说团体和立法者辩称自己不是在剥削弱者,而是给需要工作的人提供机会,以免他们挨饿或是无家可归。他们一方面声称“无法”为这些孩子提供安全的住所和足够的营养等更多保障;但一方面他们又声称给企业补贴是“政府可以轻松负担的,企业需要而且应该得到相关补贴”。美国似乎正在倒退至19世纪末,当时工人以及年幼的孩子像被粪土一样对待,而强盗大亨称霸一方。

长久以来,美国是唯一未批准联合国《儿童权利公约》的联合国成员,如今美国童工问题日益严重,不但没有加强立法保护,反而进一步放宽标准。“儿童的血肉和骨头仍在被用于创造利润”,这样的美国有何资格大谈“人权”?

(文/何所忆)
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