Department of Labor Outlaws American Kids from Working on Farms

I remember working on farms in our local community, when I was a kid. My friends and I baled hay, worked the fields, shoveled shit, fed the animals, and milked cows; some drove combines during the harvest, along with trucks filled with grain to the elevator. It was hard work, but it instilled pride and appreciation for a dollar earned. This great American tradition is about to come to an end.

Obama’s Department of Labor has made it illegal via fiat, for kids to work on farms not owned by their parents.

Wage and Hour Division (WHD)

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Amend the Child Labor in Agriculture Regulations

Welcome to the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) Website on the proposed changes to the child labor in agriculture regulations.

On September 2, 2011, the Department published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to revise the child labor regulations to strengthen the safety requirements for young workers employed in agriculture. The current child labor agricultural hazardous occupations orders have not been updated since they were promulgated in 1970. The department is proposing a dramatic updating of these regulations based on the enforcement experience of the Wage and Hour Division (WHD), recommendations made by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and a commitment to bring parity between the rules for agricultural employment and the more stringent rules that apply to the employment of children in nonagricultural workplaces. The proposed regulations would not apply to children working on farms owned by their parents.

The proposed updates include:

Strengthening current child labor prohibitions regarding agricultural work with animals in timber operations, manure pits, storage bins and pesticide handling.

Prohibiting hired farm workers under the age of 16 from employment in the cultivation, harvesting and curing of tobacco.

Prohibiting youth in both agricultural and nonagricultural employment from using electronic devices, including communication devices, while operating power-driven equipment.

Prohibiting hired farm workers under the age of 16 from operating almost all power-driven equipment. A similar prohibition has existed as part of the nonagricultural child labor provisions for more than 50 years. A limited exemption would permit some student-learners to operate certain farm implements and tractors (when equipped with proper rollover protection structures and seat belts) under specified conditions.

Preventing children under 18 years of age from being employed in the storing, marketing and transporting of farm-product raw materials. Prohibited places of employment would include country grain elevators, grain bins, silos, feed lots, stockyards, livestock exchanges and livestock auctions.

Not only is this new regulation a direct attack on the establishment of a decent work ethic; it also enables the illegal alien lobby by prohibiting a viable workforce from participation. The next time I hear an editor from a liberal rag bemoan a farmer’s dilemma of rotting crops in the fields, because of stringent immigration laws, I’ll be sure to point out this asinine act by the Obama administration.

Source: http://www.dol.gov/whd/CL/AG_NPRM.htm