A child labor expansion bill being pushed by Republicans and industry groups in Iowa to allow children to work in meat coolers would stand in violation of federal labor laws, top Department of Labor officials are warning.
Several provisions proposed under S.F. 542, which was passed by the Iowa legislature earlier this month, appear to be “inconsistent” with federal laws surrounding child labor, federal officials wrote in a letter sent last week. The officials point out that the Department of Labor is already looking into potential federal child labor violations in the state.
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) “establishes federal standards with respect to child labor, and states cannot nullify federal requirements by enacting less protective standards,” the officials wrote. “Therefore, if Iowa law were to conflict with the FLSA and the Department’s regulations by permitting minors to work in occupations and during or for hours that they are otherwise prohibited from working under federal law, those state law provisions would be inconsistent with FLSA.”
Allowing children to work in meat freezers and industrial laundry, as the Iowa bill proposes, is prohibited by federal law, the officials say.
Meanwhile, the officials point out that the bill’s provisions expanding the hours that 14 and 15 year olds are allowed to work are also in violation of federal law.
Federal law only allows 14 and 15 year olds to work until 7 p.m. during the school year and 9 p.m. during the summer, but the bill proposes allowing them to work until 9 p.m. during the school year and 11 p.m. during the summer. And, while the FLSA mandates that 14 and 15 year olds work no more than 3 hours on a school day and no more than 18 hours a week during the school year, S.F. 542 would expand the number of hours to 6 hours a day on a school day and 28 hours a week during the school year.
The letter was sent in response to a request by seven Iowa Senate Democrats who asked the Department of Labor to review the bill in March. The lawmakers said that the letter confirmed that Republicans’ true aim with the bill, as with similar child labor bills in other states, is to make it easier for businesses to violate federal child labor laws.
“This letter confirms what we’ve argued since this debate began: in the rush to expand child labor in Iowa, Republican legislators will be inviting businesses to break federal law,” said state Sen. Nate Boulton (D) in a statement. “Protections against unsafe and exploitative child labor are there for a reason, and failed measures to address Iowa’s workforce crisis is no excuse to undermine those safeguards.”
State Rep. Jeff Cooling, the top Democrat on the House Labor and Workforce Committee, pointed out that the bill was originally pushed by Republican lobbying groups.
“With active child investigations underway in Iowa, now is not the time to put more kids at risk in dangerous working environments,” Cooling said. “Since this bill was pushed by out-of-state special interests, the governor should do what’s best for Iowans and veto the bill.”
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.
There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
Last week, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.
We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.
We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment.
We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.
With love, rage, and solidarity,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy