Iowa state senate votes to allow children to work longer hours and serve alcohol

[jgo]

Source: The Guardian

In a pre-dawn session on Tuesday, the Iowa state senate voted to allow children to work longer hours and serve alcohol, the latest move by Republican-controlled statehouses to combat a labor shortage by loosening child labor laws.

The Iowa bill would expand the number of hours that children under 16 can work from four to six a day, allow minors to work in previously prohibited industries if they are part of a training program, and allow 16- and 17-year–olds to serve alcohol with a parent’s permission.

It passed the state senate by a vote of 32-17, two Republicans joining every Democrat in opposition. The vote took place just before 5am, after protests and delay tactics by Democrats.

“We do know slavery existed in the past but one place it doesn’t exist, that’s in this bill,” said Adrian Dickey, the Republican responsible for shepherding the bill to passage, according to the Iowa Capital Dispatch.


Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/18/iowa-senate-child-labor-law

[NullTuples]

1. This must be part of that "protect children" thing Republicans talk so much about...

[Grins]

21. "It simply is providing our youth an opportunity to earn and learn!!!" - Republican on the bill.

See? It's not evil!

[Judi Lynn]

2. If only this evil turn will be reversed by a national attack of decency.

More from the original article:

Labor unions have held protests against the bill. Charlie Wishman, president of the Iowa Federation of Labor, said efforts to loosen child labor laws around the US were “a lazy way of dealing with the fact that certain states don’t have enough workers”.

Republican Senator Adrian Dickey





Isn't it strange to see the nation's original exploiters of children resurrected for a new life once more?

They win, humanity loses.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

16. And folks are harping on labor laws abroad?? American fascists want sweatshops again,

…these politicians are blind to their own corruption, hoping we will be also.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

17. And folks are harping on labor laws abroad?? American fascists want sweatshops again,

…these politicians are blind to their own corruption, hoping we will be also.

Not so much a lazy way to get cheap labor, more an evil way.

[betsuni]

3. So now not dusky immigrants spelling of cumin "Takin' our jobs," it'll be their own kids.

Republicans really are the party of the working class!

[TreasonousBastard]

4. Just allow immigrants.

[dchill]

9. Well, yeah.

[bringthePaine]

5. these are the same assholes worried about drag shows? they want slaves! fuck em' entirely!

[Rhiannon12866]

8. +100

[Gaugamela]

6. People who serve alcohol, especially women, are much more likely to be

the targets of sexism, groping, and worse. Letting minors serve alcohol simply plays into the hands of pedophiles and patriarchal assholes. If there’s a difference.

Small wonder the GOP supports it.

[progressoid]

10. Yeah, fuck this state.

It's been one hit after another from these knuckle-draggers. They're turning this state into a shit hole.

[burrowowl]

11. Kick

[NBachers]

12. These sick republicans have a big woodie for exploiting children.

[swong19104]

13. Ewww

16-17 year-olds (probably mostly female) serving drinks to older men. The song by Townes Van Zandt, best covered by Nanci Griffiths and Arlo Guthrie, Tecumseh Valley, comes to mind.

[Lonestarblue]

14. Iowa used to support good public education.

Kids don’t learn when they’re tired and lack sleep. Kids under 16 working 6 hours a day, plus 7 hours a day in school, plus needing 8 or more hours of sleep leaves just three hours for everything else, like meals, traveling to/from work, homework, and play. But migrant families and poor families may have no choice but to have their children work long hours.

Republicans know that their children will not be working these hours because they can afford to support their children. To me, this bill is a not-so-subtle means of letting migrant kids and kids from poor families do more work and skip their education. They want an uneducated class of people who will have a hard time getting ahead in life and will not compete with their own kids. This is partially white supremacy but also caste supremacy. This is also a win for business because they can pay child laborers lower wages.

The Republican Party would gleefully turn to slavery again if they could. And their voters are perfectly fine with whatever they do because it’s all about maintaining privilege for a certain group of people.

[William Seger]

15. It should say, "...to combat a CHEAP labor shortage..." (nt)

[NullTuples]

24. "Cheap & easy to abuse or manipulate labor..."

[Rebl2]

26. Definitely

[tanyev]

18. See, that's why more babies need to be born.

Somebody's got to do the work no one else wants to do.

[Crowman2009]

19. I knew that when Roe vs. Wade was overturned, the child labor laws would be next.

More proof that the pro-life holy rollers are just puppets of the 1%.

[CrispyQ]

20. I assumed this was The Onion.

Serving alcohol? JFC!

And people will still vote for them.

[Grins]

22. I don't want to hear about the "Heartland's values," ever again.

It's only a lie they tell themselves.

[Marthe48]

23. My Dad and Mom owned a grocery store

All of us kids worked at the store, through the 1960s. My parents had a liquor license, and sold beer, wine, and 40 proof alcohol. I was under 14 when I learned to run the register, and if a customer came through with any alcohol, I had to call on an adult to ring that item up, and bag it.

I don't even know how far back iowa is regressing to come up with this law.

[Ford_Prefect]

25. Welcome to the 19th century.