Child labor is child abuse

By BERRY CRAIG

Alliance for Retired Americans. 

I suspect World Day Against Child Labor, June 12, is among the least known annual observances in Kentucky.

But the date will be particularly timely this year with anti-labor Republicans in the GOP supermajority General Assembly hellbent to pass legislation to weaken the state's child labor laws. 

In a last ditch effort to ram through this regressive legislation, some House Republicans are trying to amend SB 369 to include the bad language of HB 255 in an innocuous Senate bill.

Tell your legislators to stop the attacks on Kentucky's children, regardless of the bill number.

EMAIL YOUR LAWMAKERS NOW BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE.

From the start, organized labor has been at the forefront of the broad-based, progressive movement for child labor laws. Unions are also in the front ranks of Americans who are outraged at the current nationwide campaign by the anti-labor corporate right wing and its allies in government to enfeeble child labor laws.  

"Unions are outraged at the recent rise in corporate exploitation of children, most often immigrants, in dangerous workplaces around the country," says a statement from the AFL-CIO. This unconscionable reality has been enabled by failings of both labor and immigration policy that must be addressed holistically and urgently. We stand ready to work with lawmakers to advance real solutions that will lift labor standards across our industries, guarantee workers equal and enforceable rights, and ensure that migrant children arriving in our communities receive the support and protection they deserve."

Child labor is child abuse.