On Monday, the Nation (in partnership with the Investigative Fund of the Nation Institute) released a devastating look at the child labor abuses in the tobacco industry. The piece tells the story of the Cuello sisters, and other young workers, in North Carolina’s tobacco fields who worked 60 hours a week multiple summers and endured the nauseating effects of exposure to the plant.
A quick sampling of the symptoms of acute nicotine poisoning, also known as ?the green sickness? or ?the green monster?: headaches, abdominal pain, blurry vision, dizziness, vomiting, difficulty breathing, and fainting. On a humid day, these toxic plants are estimated to be as harmful as smoking 36 cigarettes in a day.
It’s easy to assume child labor is a thing of the past. Look no further than the lack of oversight and tracking of child labor in agriculture. While studies show increases in injuries and illnesses across adults in the agricultural sector, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration does not even track children, as it’s not required to do so.
The idea that the tobacco industry should be forbidden from employing children is common sense, but that’s been no match for the industry’s lobbyists.
In 2011, the Labor Department had the common sense to propose orders that would prohibit children from working in tobacco, but the American Farm Bureau fought back with an onslaught of lies, specifically a message that the measure would hurt family farms. This simply wasn’t true, as no child labor laws apply to family farms. However, the Farm Bureau successfully organized its affiliates and coalitions, including Monsanto, to add to its $5 million a year lobbying power. In April 2012, this made the Labor Department back down, not just for the Congressional session, but for the ?duration of the Obama administration.?
Fortunately, the new Children’s Act for Responsible Employment (CARE Act) would pick up where the Labor Department ended — and hopefully become the piece of legislation labor and child advocates can rally around before Big Ag gears up for the fight.
Edited by SS
