United Farm Workers President Arturo S. Rodriguez issued the following statement after the U.S. Labor Department withdrew on Thursday a proposed rule that would have expanded protections for farm working youth under the age of 16.
“The UFW is disappointed to learn the U.S. Department of Labor has withdrawn the proposed regulations that would had protected teenagers from working in potentially dangerous conditions on U.S. farms. The stricter regulations would have prohibited thousands of children from being injured while working on U.S. Farms. Under the proposed rules, children would had not been allowed to handle hazardous pesticides or operating heavy machinery.
According to the DOL’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, children lives are under tremendous risk of being fatally injured and maimed. Farm workers between the ages of 15 to 17, are four times at risk of fatal injury than in any other occupation.
Once again, farm workers and their children are being excluded from protections most U.S. workers have enjoyed for decades."