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 UpdateFebruary 21, 2001Letter to Senator James Jeffords, Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions from the members of the Human Rights Watch Council. February 8, 2001Letter to Ann M. Veneman, Secretary of Agriculture, US Department of Agriculture from Lois Whitman, Executive Director of the Children's Rights Division of Human Rights Watch. Letter to Elaine Chao, Secretary of Labor, US Department of Labor from Lois Whitman, Executive Director of the Children's Rights Division of Human Rights Watch. October 12, 2000Commentary:Profiting on the Backs of Child Laborers Published October 12, 2000 in the LA Times By Victoria Riskin, Mike Farrell (Co-chairs of the California Committee (South) of Human Rights Watch) June 21, 2000Following Human Rights Watch's release of its report on child farmworkers, U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman pledged support for stronger legal protections for children who work as hired farm laborers Citing HRW's report, Secretary Herman stated, that "it is important that child labor standards for young farm workers be brought into line with those applied to other young farmworkers." In a letter to Senator Tom Harkin, she reported the Clinton administration's support for a Harkin bill that would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to raise the minimum age for child farmworkers to 14, and for the first time, to limit the number of hours that child farmworkers under age 16 are permitted to work. Such amendments are a principal recommendation in HRW's report. In her letter to Senator Harkin, Secretary Herman said, "It is not acceptable for 12 and 13 year olds to be legally allowed to work in agricultural jobs. It is also not acceptable for 14 and 15 year olds to be able to legally work unlimited hours in farm jobs, adversely affecting their education." HRW welcomed Secretary Herman's announcement and will continue to work with the Department of Labor and Congress to build support for the stronger law. | |
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