Jay GW
09-14-2003, 08:50 PM
Here is a letter making the rounds about child labor in the agriculture industry, the worst offender in the child labor hall of shame.
Copy and print it, and below it are some names of the largest food processors in the U.s. Mail as many as you can, and do it once every two weeks/month if possible. Thanks
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Dear Sirs,
"Laws governing child labor in agriculture are inadequate and out of date, enforcement is lax, and sanctions against violators are insignificant. The differential treatment of children working in agriculture as opposed to children working in other occupations is indefensible and discriminatory.”
This quote is from the Human Rights Watch 2000 report, detailing child labor conditions in American agriculture.
No one knows how many children labor in the fields of the United States and estimates vary widely. The General Accounting Office estimates that there are 300,000 fifteen to seventeen year olds working in agriculture, while acknowledging that is probably a low estimate. The United Farm Workers Union put the figure at about 800,000.
Despite the fact that agriculture is the most hazardous and physically taxing area of work in which children are allowed, it is the least regulated and offers the least protection. Children are subject to the same or worse discrimination that adults face with respect to laws and their enforcement (or lack thereof) when working in agriculture. But the impacts of working long hours in dangerous situations have more lasting and negative consequences for children who are still developing physically, mentally and emotionally. Twelve-hour days are the norm. These long hours interfere with schooling as child farm workers do not attend school or are too tired to learn if they are enrolled in school. The system perpetuates the cycle of poverty that plagues farm worker families.
The parents of child farm workers are themselves farm workers. The below poverty wages and other conditions make it very difficult for farm workers to afford to send their children to school and children are forced to work to assist the family to meet immediate survival needs. Families are thus trapped in a cycle of poverty. Migrant farm worker families are particularly affected as their transitory life styles make it difficult for children to attend school regularly.
Child farm workers are twice denied. The poverty their families suffer and which forces them to work denies them the joys of childhood. The opportunities for education and learning denied them during childhood also rob them of a future in which they can fully realize their potentials as human beings.
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), children working on farms are provided less protection than their counterparts working in less hazardous jobs. FLSA allows children working on farms to be employed at a younger age, for longer hours with no overtime pay and in more dangerous circumstances. In addition to the failure of the FLSA to protect child farm workers, the United States Congress exempts all farms with fewer than eleven employees from enforcement of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations.
The laws allowing discrimination against child farm workers are in contravention of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international laws that prohibit the exploitation of children and their exposure to work that is harmful to them. Human Rights Watch reports that “the United States appears to be headed toward non-compliance with the 1999 International Labor Organization’s (ILO) Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention, which will enter into force in the US in December 2000."
In the United States:
· Only 55 per cent of farm worker children will graduate from high school. (Human Rights Watch)
· The drop out rate for farm worker youth is 45 percent, compared to 29 per cent in the non-farm worker population (General Accounting Office)
· Only 10 per cent of migrant farm workers finish high school (Sandy Smith-Nonini, University of North Carolina)
· Eighty per cent of adult migrant farm workers function at the 5th grade literacy level or less (Human Rights Watch)
· There is no limit on the number of hours per day a child can be required to work in agriculture. In all other occupations, children under seventeen are limited to three hours of work per day when school is in session.
· Children may engage in hazardous work at the age of sixteen in agriculture. In other occupations, the minimum age for hazardous work is eighteen
· It is estimated that there are over one million violations related to child labor in US agriculture each year (Human Rights Watch)
· There are eighteen states that have no minimum legal age requirement for children working in agriculture (The Child Labor Coalition, reported by Human Rights Watch.)
If your business buys food from American farms, you should be aware that you are buying fruits and vegetables picked by children. America will never be a just nation while there are children too poor to go to school working in the American agriculture industry. The key to ending the exploitation of children and poor illegal immigrants is investing in technology. However, the agriculture industry does not want to invest in what, in the long run is more efficient, but has short term costs. So the exploitation of poor children will continue until there are enough people pressuring the farm owners to invest in new technologies.
Sincerely,
Your name
-------
National Food Processors Association:
http://www.nfpa-food.org/memberlinks.htm
Thomas Register - 30,000 food companies (fill out name and there's a free search/index)
http://www.tfir.com/thomasfood/index.asp
Yahoo finance - food co's.
http://biz.yahoo.com/research/indgrp/foa_ar_group.html
Do your own searches for your area also.
Largest private food processors in the U.s. with revenues and employees.
3 Mars VA Food Processing 17,500e 30,000
14 Swift & Co CO Food Processing 7,733 21,400
40 ContiGroup Cos NY Food Processing 3,300 14,500
50 Schwan's Sales Enterprises MN Food Processing 3,0002 22,000
55 Keystone Foods PA Food Processing 2,716e 6,700
56 Perdue Farms MD Food Processing 2,700e 20,000
114 Leprino Foods CO Food Processing 1,800e 3,000
125 Rich Products NY Food Processing 1,702 6,500
133 Golden State Foods CA Food Processing 1,659 2,000
147 Dot Foods IL Food Processing 1,5002 1,750
152 Schreiber Foods WI Food Processing 1,500e 4,400
188 Foster Farms CA Food Processing 1,269 11,000
209 Michael Foods MN Food Processing 1,161 4,050
251 Agrilink Foods NY Food Processing 1,011 4,000
Copy and print it, and below it are some names of the largest food processors in the U.s. Mail as many as you can, and do it once every two weeks/month if possible. Thanks
----------
Dear Sirs,
"Laws governing child labor in agriculture are inadequate and out of date, enforcement is lax, and sanctions against violators are insignificant. The differential treatment of children working in agriculture as opposed to children working in other occupations is indefensible and discriminatory.”
This quote is from the Human Rights Watch 2000 report, detailing child labor conditions in American agriculture.
No one knows how many children labor in the fields of the United States and estimates vary widely. The General Accounting Office estimates that there are 300,000 fifteen to seventeen year olds working in agriculture, while acknowledging that is probably a low estimate. The United Farm Workers Union put the figure at about 800,000.
Despite the fact that agriculture is the most hazardous and physically taxing area of work in which children are allowed, it is the least regulated and offers the least protection. Children are subject to the same or worse discrimination that adults face with respect to laws and their enforcement (or lack thereof) when working in agriculture. But the impacts of working long hours in dangerous situations have more lasting and negative consequences for children who are still developing physically, mentally and emotionally. Twelve-hour days are the norm. These long hours interfere with schooling as child farm workers do not attend school or are too tired to learn if they are enrolled in school. The system perpetuates the cycle of poverty that plagues farm worker families.
The parents of child farm workers are themselves farm workers. The below poverty wages and other conditions make it very difficult for farm workers to afford to send their children to school and children are forced to work to assist the family to meet immediate survival needs. Families are thus trapped in a cycle of poverty. Migrant farm worker families are particularly affected as their transitory life styles make it difficult for children to attend school regularly.
Child farm workers are twice denied. The poverty their families suffer and which forces them to work denies them the joys of childhood. The opportunities for education and learning denied them during childhood also rob them of a future in which they can fully realize their potentials as human beings.
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), children working on farms are provided less protection than their counterparts working in less hazardous jobs. FLSA allows children working on farms to be employed at a younger age, for longer hours with no overtime pay and in more dangerous circumstances. In addition to the failure of the FLSA to protect child farm workers, the United States Congress exempts all farms with fewer than eleven employees from enforcement of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations.
The laws allowing discrimination against child farm workers are in contravention of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international laws that prohibit the exploitation of children and their exposure to work that is harmful to them. Human Rights Watch reports that “the United States appears to be headed toward non-compliance with the 1999 International Labor Organization’s (ILO) Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention, which will enter into force in the US in December 2000."
In the United States:
· Only 55 per cent of farm worker children will graduate from high school. (Human Rights Watch)
· The drop out rate for farm worker youth is 45 percent, compared to 29 per cent in the non-farm worker population (General Accounting Office)
· Only 10 per cent of migrant farm workers finish high school (Sandy Smith-Nonini, University of North Carolina)
· Eighty per cent of adult migrant farm workers function at the 5th grade literacy level or less (Human Rights Watch)
· There is no limit on the number of hours per day a child can be required to work in agriculture. In all other occupations, children under seventeen are limited to three hours of work per day when school is in session.
· Children may engage in hazardous work at the age of sixteen in agriculture. In other occupations, the minimum age for hazardous work is eighteen
· It is estimated that there are over one million violations related to child labor in US agriculture each year (Human Rights Watch)
· There are eighteen states that have no minimum legal age requirement for children working in agriculture (The Child Labor Coalition, reported by Human Rights Watch.)
If your business buys food from American farms, you should be aware that you are buying fruits and vegetables picked by children. America will never be a just nation while there are children too poor to go to school working in the American agriculture industry. The key to ending the exploitation of children and poor illegal immigrants is investing in technology. However, the agriculture industry does not want to invest in what, in the long run is more efficient, but has short term costs. So the exploitation of poor children will continue until there are enough people pressuring the farm owners to invest in new technologies.
Sincerely,
Your name
-------
National Food Processors Association:
http://www.nfpa-food.org/memberlinks.htm
Thomas Register - 30,000 food companies (fill out name and there's a free search/index)
http://www.tfir.com/thomasfood/index.asp
Yahoo finance - food co's.
http://biz.yahoo.com/research/indgrp/foa_ar_group.html
Do your own searches for your area also.
Largest private food processors in the U.s. with revenues and employees.
3 Mars VA Food Processing 17,500e 30,000
14 Swift & Co CO Food Processing 7,733 21,400
40 ContiGroup Cos NY Food Processing 3,300 14,500
50 Schwan's Sales Enterprises MN Food Processing 3,0002 22,000
55 Keystone Foods PA Food Processing 2,716e 6,700
56 Perdue Farms MD Food Processing 2,700e 20,000
114 Leprino Foods CO Food Processing 1,800e 3,000
125 Rich Products NY Food Processing 1,702 6,500
133 Golden State Foods CA Food Processing 1,659 2,000
147 Dot Foods IL Food Processing 1,5002 1,750
152 Schreiber Foods WI Food Processing 1,500e 4,400
188 Foster Farms CA Food Processing 1,269 11,000
209 Michael Foods MN Food Processing 1,161 4,050
251 Agrilink Foods NY Food Processing 1,011 4,000