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The War On Child Labor Laws: Maine Republicans Want Longer Hours, Lower Pay For Kids

Baculus

By Baculus
in The Tailgate

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Baculus

Baculus

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I noticed that a lot of these issues that the right-wing have been pushing, from anti-labor legislative efforts to rolling back worker safety and child labor laws, haven't been discussed on this forum of late. It is important that, as Americans who are concerned with maintaining the civic structure which we've built over the last century, we should be aware of these conservative undertakings.

As this article discusses:

"LD 1346 suggests several significant changes to Maine’s child labor law, most notably a 180-day period during which workers under age 20 would earn $5.25 an hour.

"The state’s current minimum wage is $7.50 an hour.

"Rep. David Burns, R-Whiting, is sponsoring the bill, which also would eliminate the maximum number of hours a minor over 16 can work during school days."

These people want to take us back to the Gilded Age. As it is, we are half-way there.

http://thinkprogress.org/2011/03/31/gop-loves-child-labor/

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PeterMP

PeterMP

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I wasnt making tips though,,,,it would have been lower

Neither was I. People working for tips made $2.10, I think.

Federally mandated minimum wage was essentially a flat line from 1979-1989.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://raycolon.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/chart-minimum-wage.jpg&imgrefurl=http://raycolon.com/blog/tag/deportation/&usg=__Fn0wikEd9OrPAAGxwc9qxY0-EsE=&h=294&w=570&sz=148&hl=en&start=0&sig2=xaOfb1h5hHdvdXbippAFKA&zoom=1&tbnid=LVyUIaAZYRN5dM:&tbnh=107&tbnw=207&ei=MTSVTaOaLsHSgQe4iY24CA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dfederal%2Bgovernment%2Bminimum%2Bwage%2Bgraph%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1279%26bih%3D804%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=109&oei=MTSVTaOaLsHSgQe4iY24CA&page=1&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:11,s:0&tx=141&ty=62

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Baculus

Baculus

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"The Gilded Age" and "Robber Barrons" ???

What world do you guys live in anyway? And look at the picture of those poor abused kids on that website. Good god, you guys are easy.

Where do YOU live? Are you oblivious to the real world?

First of all, child labor is STILL a major issue in this world, where millions of young people toil for little money -- often for American companies. Second, just in this country there are estimated HUNDREDS of thousands of people who work in sweatshops for low wages; slavery still exists, and right here in our backyard. And third, right-wingers have long said that child labor and other federal regulations are onerous and should be removed. We ONLY have child labor laws due to the reformers that conservatives and tea partiers now call "socialists." When child labor laws were put into place (or fire/worker protection, spurned by events such as the Triangle Building fire), capitalists screamed that they would be put out of business, which are the same excuses used today to oppose any reform regulation such as health care.

Worker wages have stagnated. Corporations and the upper 1% own most of the wealth in this country, while the gap between the and everyone else has widened. People have employment, health care, and home ownership issues. And now right-wingers want children to work longer, for less. But go ahead and play "Skip to My Lou" as if everything is peachy-king.

If anyone is "easy," it is you.

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Destino

Destino

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"The Gilded Age" and "Robber Barrons" ???

What world do you guys live in anyway? And look at the picture of those poor abused kids on that website. Good god, you guys are easy.

What world? One largely shaped by labor unions, increased regulation, and progressive labor laws.

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Baculus

Baculus

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Erm... wasn't the federal minimum wage at something like $5.50 just four or five years ago?

I'm not sure that this qualifies for "robber baron" status.

Just to clear something up, the term "robber barons" wasn't merely used for those who used child labor. More so, it was used to describe men, and their companies, who grabbed large amounts of federal land and resources for their own profit.

Sort of like the Koch brothers who pollute all over this country, suck up resources, and then use money to manipulate the political system for their gain.

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G.A.C.O.L.B.

G.A.C.O.L.B.

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I don't get working class folk who vote against their own interests. Useful fools? Blinded by the false hope that one day they could be one of the fortunate who benefits from stuff like this? I mean how can you get mad at teacher unions but not at stagnant working and middle class wages coupled with an ever increasing spike in wealth for the top 1%? (For example). I just don't get it.

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chipwhich

chipwhich

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Where do YOU live? Are you oblivious to the real world?

First of all, child labor is STILL a major issue in this world, where millions of young people toil for little money -- often for American companies. Second, just in this country there are estimated HUNDREDS of thousands of people who work in sweatshops for low wages; slavery still exists, and right here in our backyard. And third, right-wingers have long said that child labor and other federal regulations are onerous and should be removed. We ONLY have child labor laws due to the reformers that conservatives and tea partiers now call "socialists." When child labor laws were put into place (or fire/worker protection, spurned by events such as the Triangle Building fire), capitalists screamed that they would be put out of business, which are the same excuses used today to oppose any reform regulation such as health care.

Worker wages have stagnated. Corporations and the upper 1% own most of the wealth in this country, while the gap between the and everyone else has widened. People have employment, health care, and home ownership issues. And now right-wingers want children to work longer, for less. But go ahead and play "Skip to My Lou" as if everything is peachy-king.

If anyone is "easy," it is you.

Bac, would you not agree that workers wages in America have pushed jobs to illegals and overseas?

It's easy to soap box. It's easy to blame business. But survival in business isn't easy. The key is to manage "expenses". So there has to be a middle ground between employee salaries, and it's cheaper to take the other option.

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yank

yank

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How is it in (insert pedantic voice here) "working class folk" interests to belive that the corruption Gulf Stream of Unions/Democratic Party/Mafia/Community Organizations money flow is in their best interests?

These same groups have been raping the working class folk of their dues and more importantly their personal investment in their work. This results in shoddy products, wrenches intentionally left in car doors, kids with a sense of entitlement, incompetent teachers who can't be fired, schools who are failing and states who erroneously succomb to these groups by raising taxes which drives businesses out of their state/country resulting in increased unemployment. To top it off they claim "robber barons" are the culprint.

Really?

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Baculus

Baculus

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Bac, would you not agree that workers wages in America have pushed jobs to illegals and overseas?

I think the endless pursuit for lower wages pushed them overseas, especially after free trade acts, and I don't think it is fair to blame American workers seeking their fair due. After all, how low do we expect our fellow citizens to go?

That is called the "race to the bottom." Meanwhile, CEOs for some companies literally make hundreds of MILLIONS a year. This is why I favor syndicalism and worker ownership of companies.

BTW, I just wanted to add this bit: I have worked for low wages when I was younger -- .50 a bucket for picking blueberries, $1.50 an hour for bailing hay, etc. That doesn't mean that I think anyone should earn that amount just because I did, either.

It's easy to soap box. It's easy to blame business. But survival in business isn't easy. The key is to manage "expenses". So there has to be a middle ground between employee salaries, and it's cheaper to take the other option.

My intent wasn't to simply blame businesses, because there are many fine companies with conscious owners who strive their best to be fair, while earning the profit they deserve for their work. I don't have a problem with that, and neither did Teddy Roosevelt, who opposed corporations who made profit at the expense of society. Really, I want to bring attention to those people who want to change the sort of work culture, with worker safety, fair wages, etc., that most us believe is good for this nation. For example, there is a direction correlation between children working long hours (and some business owners do pressure children to work for as long as possible) and poor grades.

I don't think this nation, and its citizens, are here just to be a tax and labor siphon for corporations and the military industrial complex. That is why one of my heroes is Thomas Paine, who was one of the earliest champions for social justice in this country.

You know me -- I preach. It's what I sometimes do, but with reason: Because I truly love this land where my ancestors are buried. :-)

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chipwhich

chipwhich

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I think the endless pursuit for lower wages pushed them overseas, especially after free trade acts, and I don't think it is fair to blame American workers seeking their fair due. After all, how low do we expect our fellow citizens to go?

Or how high do American workers think they deserve? You have to admit there is some disparity between being "underpaid" and what I deserve.

That is called the "race to the bottom." Meanwhile, CEOs for some companies literally make hundreds of MILLIONS a year. This is why I favor syndicalism and worker ownership of companies.

BTW, I just wanted to add this bit: I have worked for low wages when I was younger -- .50 a bucket for picking blueberries, $1.50 an hour for bailing hay, etc. That doesn't mean that I think anyone should earn that amount just because I did, either.

Yeah and the blueberry company owner and the hay company owner wasn't making millions of dollars.

My intent wasn't to simply blame businesses, because there are many fine companies with conscious owners who strive their best to be fair, while earning the profit they deserve for their work. I don't have a problem with that, and neither did Teddy Roosevelt, who opposed corporations who made profit at the expense of society. Really, I want to bring attention to those people who want to change the sort of work culture, with worker safety, fair wages, etc., that most us believe is good for this nation. For example, there is a direction correlation between children working long hours (and some business owners do pressure children to work for as long as possible) and poor grades.

I don't think this nation, and its citizens, are here just to be a tax and labor siphon for corporations and the military industrial complex. That is why one of my heroes is Thomas Paine, who was one of the earliest champions for social justice in this country.

You know me -- I preach. It's what I sometimes do, but with reason: Because I truly love this land where my ancestors are buried. :-)

Yeah, the basis of the issue is what are FAIR wages?

An electrician making union wages, a non union electrician making medium wage, or an illegal working for minimum or below minimum wage. That's the premise of the issue.

Do I pay someone $40 an hour when I can get the same service for $10 an hour?

---------- Post added March-31st-2011 at 11:35 PM ----------

Once again the Republicans are here to save America.....for businesses, screw the worker there's plenty of them lying around.

You are turning into Larry :ols: I can only use an argument which is composed of GOP, Republican, and bull****. Have a thought. Please state an opinion without making a political "look at me" post.

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Hubbs

Hubbs

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And now right-wingers want children to work longer, for less.

Orrrrr - and I'm just spitballing here - there are people under the age of 20 who want to not have a limit on the number of days they can make money when we're in the middle of an economic nightmare and family financial support simply isn't there anymore for them.

The minimum wage thing, you know the actual argument. Given the nature of this forum, before I even make the point I probably have to say that as a self-proclaimed libertarian, this is one of the conservative economic arguments that I'm quite skeptical of. There, now that I've said that, the argument is that the unemployment rate for young people is at a post-WWII high. Being paid $5.25 an hour is better than being paid $0.00 an hour. That's the idea, anyway.

Why am I bothering to point this out? Because I'm sick of ridiculous political demonizations, and saying that Republicans want little kids to be working in sweatshops owned by robber barons (paraphrasing comments from the rest of the thread) is no different than saying that Democrats want America to live under sharia law. Can we please talk like adults?

---------- Post added March-31st-2011 at 11:47 PM ----------

Just to clear something up, the term "robber barons" wasn't merely used for those who used child labor. More so, it was used to describe men, and their companies, who grabbed large amounts of federal land and resources for their own profit.

Yes, I'm aware, I'm trying to consolidate the hyperbole. ;)

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oisn1

oisn1

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It should be lower. $7.50 for a 15 year old ringing a register is completely ridiculous

Except when taking into account things like food prices, electricity, family obligations, and Standard of Living.

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