U.S.
May 11—Until The New York Times published an astonishing series in February on pervasive child labor abuses in the United States, such exploitation widely was regarded as a relic of the past.
The series detailed widespread use of underage labor in dangerous occupations, especially construction and meat-processing. Migrant adolescents especially were at risk.
Since then, the series has produced variable reactions among state legislatures. Some have produced bills to toughen child labor restrictions; others have entertained bills to loosen such regulations to enable more children to work.
The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry announced Monday that it had issued citations and collected fines in a child labor case that occurred Oct. 22, prior to The Times series.
But regulators were aware of the violation only because a 17-year-old was injured when he fell from the roof of a commercial building in New Castle, Lawrence County, while working illegally for JVS Roofing of Jonesboro, Georgia. (The boy recovered from his injuries.)
That led to a broader investigation by state and federal regulations.
The U.S. Department of Labor found that the company also had misclassified 30 employees as independent contractors to avoid wage and benefit costs and ordered the company to pay them $92,000 in back pay.
Pennsylvania's Child Labor Act regulates work hours and conditions for anyone younger than 18, and precludes them from working in dangerous jobs, including roofing and most other aspects of construction.
But, perhaps because child labor abuses are perceived as a plague of the past, the Department of Labor and Industry has just 27 inspectors to cover the state's 67 counties.
The New Castle incident should indicate to lawmakers that they need to increase scrutiny of child labor.
They should begin by embracing Gov. Josh Shapiro's proposal, contained in his tentative fiscal year 2024 budget, that would enable the department to hire eight more inspectors.
And, given that the fines against the roofing company totaled just more than $22,000, they should increase the risk for employers who would exploit child labor by significantly increasing the fines and creating a criminal offense for willful violations.
Pennsylvania has too much experience with child labor abuses, from the coal era and Industrial Revolution, to allow it to take root again.