Opmmur
Time Travel Professor
Child labor: Small hands legally picking our food
By Stephen Stock
NBC Bay Area
(Editor's note: Names have been changed and locations have been withheld to protect the minors in this story.)
SAN FRANCISCO — Thousands of children, many too young to drive, are hard at work putting in long hours in brutal conditions to make sure the rest of us eat well — and cheaply.
During weeks of investigation into the close-knit and tight-lipped community of migrant workers, NBC Bay Area found dozens of children working the fields in the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys — some who started work at 11 , 10 and even 8 years of age. Advocates say the number nationwide may be as high as half a million.
While 8-year-old children can't work in an office or a fast-food restaurant, a 1938 law allows them to legally work in agriculture.
"Children can work at any age on a small farm with their parents' permission. It's absolutely legal for a small farmer to hire a 6-year-old to pick blueberries," said Zama Coursen-Neff of Human Rights Watch, who produced a 2010 report that found child labor prevalent in fields across the U.S.
Critics of U.S. labor law say it's a relentless cycle: Young workers drop out of school to follow their families and the crops for work. They work a full day in the fields picking, trimming and cultivating fresh fruits and vegetables. They often work nine to 10 hours a day in 100 degree-plus heat.
Then they remain stuck in the fields because they never finish high school.
Read this story on NBCBayArea.com
A typical day in one Central Valley migrant labor camp starts at 4:30 a.m.
Among those workers is a 15-year-old boy, "Ralph," who joins dozens of other young people heading to work. Some of them were told by direct supervisors to lie about their ages to get past the bosses in order to work.
Documents in this story
• 'Fields of Peril' report from Human Rights Watch (.pdf)
• When and how minors can work around school hours (.pdf)
• Child labor regulations from the U.S. Labor Department (.pdf)
• Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (.pdf)
• Proposed rules changes from the Federal Register (.pdf)
During Ralph's work day, it reaches 106 degrees.
"We get kind of tired, and our arms hurt," said Ralph, who said he's in his second year working full time in the fields. "It is too hard to be in the fields."
U.S. labor law, which dates to 1938, allows children 12 years old — and depending on the circumstances, even younger — to legally work in agriculture.
There are many other children like Ralph.
"Like seven years, since I was 8 years old until now," one 15-year-old said, describing when he started in the fields.
Another of the young workers said, "I was in sixth grade. I was 11."
Yet another young girl described working so hard when she was 11 that her fingers bled.
"I had to carry a box, and I had cuts on my fingers," she said. "I came out really tired. It was really hot, and I didn't really like it, but it was worth it to go help my mom."
Certain crops are harder to pick for the children than others.
"Well, right now it's tomatoes," a teenager said. "It's the hardest thing I've done. I have to (work hard), bending over, standing up, carrying the buckets and throwing them."
Because of the hard work and long hours, some parents are trying to keep their kids away from the fields, even though their families need the money.
The mother of one young girl forces her to stay in school away from the fields.
"She says because it's a lot of work," said the girl, whom NBC News is calling Carmen. "She doesn't want me to go through what she goes through (in the fields). She says it's really painful, hard work. Every night I massage her back so that she can feel better in the morning."
Carmen vowed to go to college and get a higher-paying job so she can support her mother and get her out of the fields.
"I told her that when I get older I'm going to buy her a house and stop her from working," Carmen said.
Carmen isn't alone in her dreams. All of the children interviewed for this report said they hoped the money they earned would help them break out of the cycle and live a better life.
"Right now, I want to be an artist, like drawing," one teenager said.
Coursen-Neff of Human Rights Watch stressed that as unfortunate as it may seem, those long hours in the fields are perfectly legal.
"You have to realize that many children who are working in hazardous conditions in the United States are working absolutely legally because U.S. child labor law — which is pretty good — has a big gaping hole in it when it comes to agriculture," Coursen-Neff said. "Children are working in American fields at far younger ages for far longer hours and in far more hazardous conditions than all other working children in America," Coursen-Neff said.
By Stephen Stock
NBC Bay Area
(Editor's note: Names have been changed and locations have been withheld to protect the minors in this story.)
SAN FRANCISCO — Thousands of children, many too young to drive, are hard at work putting in long hours in brutal conditions to make sure the rest of us eat well — and cheaply.
During weeks of investigation into the close-knit and tight-lipped community of migrant workers, NBC Bay Area found dozens of children working the fields in the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys — some who started work at 11 , 10 and even 8 years of age. Advocates say the number nationwide may be as high as half a million.
While 8-year-old children can't work in an office or a fast-food restaurant, a 1938 law allows them to legally work in agriculture.
"Children can work at any age on a small farm with their parents' permission. It's absolutely legal for a small farmer to hire a 6-year-old to pick blueberries," said Zama Coursen-Neff of Human Rights Watch, who produced a 2010 report that found child labor prevalent in fields across the U.S.
Critics of U.S. labor law say it's a relentless cycle: Young workers drop out of school to follow their families and the crops for work. They work a full day in the fields picking, trimming and cultivating fresh fruits and vegetables. They often work nine to 10 hours a day in 100 degree-plus heat.
Then they remain stuck in the fields because they never finish high school.
Read this story on NBCBayArea.com
A typical day in one Central Valley migrant labor camp starts at 4:30 a.m.
Among those workers is a 15-year-old boy, "Ralph," who joins dozens of other young people heading to work. Some of them were told by direct supervisors to lie about their ages to get past the bosses in order to work.
Documents in this story
• 'Fields of Peril' report from Human Rights Watch (.pdf)
• When and how minors can work around school hours (.pdf)
• Child labor regulations from the U.S. Labor Department (.pdf)
• Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (.pdf)
• Proposed rules changes from the Federal Register (.pdf)
During Ralph's work day, it reaches 106 degrees.
"We get kind of tired, and our arms hurt," said Ralph, who said he's in his second year working full time in the fields. "It is too hard to be in the fields."
U.S. labor law, which dates to 1938, allows children 12 years old — and depending on the circumstances, even younger — to legally work in agriculture.
There are many other children like Ralph.
"Like seven years, since I was 8 years old until now," one 15-year-old said, describing when he started in the fields.
Another of the young workers said, "I was in sixth grade. I was 11."
Yet another young girl described working so hard when she was 11 that her fingers bled.
"I had to carry a box, and I had cuts on my fingers," she said. "I came out really tired. It was really hot, and I didn't really like it, but it was worth it to go help my mom."
Certain crops are harder to pick for the children than others.
"Well, right now it's tomatoes," a teenager said. "It's the hardest thing I've done. I have to (work hard), bending over, standing up, carrying the buckets and throwing them."
Because of the hard work and long hours, some parents are trying to keep their kids away from the fields, even though their families need the money.
The mother of one young girl forces her to stay in school away from the fields.
"She says because it's a lot of work," said the girl, whom NBC News is calling Carmen. "She doesn't want me to go through what she goes through (in the fields). She says it's really painful, hard work. Every night I massage her back so that she can feel better in the morning."
Carmen vowed to go to college and get a higher-paying job so she can support her mother and get her out of the fields.
"I told her that when I get older I'm going to buy her a house and stop her from working," Carmen said.
Carmen isn't alone in her dreams. All of the children interviewed for this report said they hoped the money they earned would help them break out of the cycle and live a better life.
"Right now, I want to be an artist, like drawing," one teenager said.
Coursen-Neff of Human Rights Watch stressed that as unfortunate as it may seem, those long hours in the fields are perfectly legal.
"You have to realize that many children who are working in hazardous conditions in the United States are working absolutely legally because U.S. child labor law — which is pretty good — has a big gaping hole in it when it comes to agriculture," Coursen-Neff said. "Children are working in American fields at far younger ages for far longer hours and in far more hazardous conditions than all other working children in America," Coursen-Neff said.