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There's ~450 words in this article, and maybe only 100 of them have to do with this law, which isn't even named or linked in the article. Usually that's a good

There's ~450 words in this article, and maybe only 100 of them have to do with this law, which isn't even named or linked in the article. Usually that's a good tell that something is fishy and this "journalist" isn't actually reporting but driving a narrative. I don't live in Arkansas, so I don't have a dog in this fight, but I found what I think is the actual law[1] and it looks like it's removing a requirement that under-16 year olds and/or their employers have to register with the State before they can get a job, where they needed to verify the age of the child in the process. I'll admit, when I first read that my reaction was "what, why would they have to register with the state?" but I'm from the midwest where getting a job when you're 14 or 15 at the hardware store or gas station was pretty dang common (this was somewhere back in the 90s). Anyway, the article makes it seem like all of child labor enforcement in Arkansas hinges on 18 lines of Arkansas legal code. There's plenty of other laws on the books that do that. [1] https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Bills/FTPDocument?path=%2FBills%2F2023R%2FPublic%2FHB1410.pdf https://www.arkleg.state.ar.us/Bills/FTPDocument?path=%2FBil...

matthewdgreen 4y ago
I worked at 15 too, and I had to obtain some kind of work permit. It was pretty common throughout the country even back in the 80s/90s. I don’t remember anyone making a big deal about this being “registering with the state” back then and it was pretty trivial. This reminded me of a batch of widely-reported stories from way back in… December, where Hundai/Kia suppliers in Alabama were found to be employing under-16 year olds throughout their parts businesses [1]. It was a big deal, and not some minor issue with kids getting part-time jobs at gas stations. I cannot help but wonder if this change in Arkansas is designed to get ahead of similar issues, which sure would be a lot more sinister. [1] https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-immigration-hyundai/ https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-immi...
- remarkEon 4y ago
  I guess I don't really have a problem with it on principle, it's just foreign to me as a concept. In a small, high trust area where everyone knows each other is something like registering with the state really necessary? Probably not. If you're a large company employing people to do hard, manual labor? Yeah seems like you should be subject to increased scrutiny. >I cannot help but wonder if this change in Arkansas is designed to get ahead of similar issues, which sure would be a lot more sinister. Is there any evidence that something like what the Reuters investigation uncovered is going on in Arkansas? In any case, federal child labor laws exist.
  - matthewdgreen 4y ago
    Two pieces of context I got from other news stories: (1) “Sanders' signing of the bill comes after a major US food sanitation company that operated facilities in eight states, including Arkansas, recently paid a $1.5 million civil penalty for employing minors in hazardous conditions. Packers Sanitation Services illegally employed at least 102 children between the ages of 13 and 17 in jobs that required them to use toxic chemicals and clean razor-sharp saws.“ and (2) this is the result of a major Federal crackdown on child labor announced a month ago. There are also similar bills advancing in other states that seem problematic to me: “a bill advancing in Iowa would allow 14- and 15-year-olds to work certain jobs in meatpacking plants and would shield businesses from civil liability if a youth worker is sickened, injured or killed on the job.” I suppose there’s a bright-eyed idealistic view that these state legislatures just happened to make this change now, because they suddenly want to make it easier for kids to get part-time jobs at the ice cream parlor (despite the fact that work permits have existed for many years.) A more cynical view is that we’re in a labor crunch and major industrial processors are desperate for (mostly migrant) workers, so state politicians are rolling back child-labor protections to oblige them and reduce their liability. Nothing about Arkansas politics has ever inclined me to the idealist view.

matthewdgreen 4y ago

I worked at 15 too, and I had to obtain some kind of work permit. It was pretty common throughout the country even back in the 80s/90s. I don’t remember anyone making a big deal about this being “registering with the state” back then and it was pretty trivial. This reminded me of a batch of widely-reported stories from way back in… December, where Hundai/Kia suppliers in Alabama were found to be employing under-16 year olds throughout their parts businesses [1]. It was a big deal, and not some minor issue with kids getting part-time jobs at gas stations. I cannot help but wonder if this change in Arkansas is designed to get ahead of similar issues, which sure would be a lot more sinister. [1] https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-immigration-hyundai/ https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-immi...

remarkEon 4y ago
I guess I don't really have a problem with it on principle, it's just foreign to me as a concept. In a small, high trust area where everyone knows each other is something like registering with the state really necessary? Probably not. If you're a large company employing people to do hard, manual labor? Yeah seems like you should be subject to increased scrutiny. >I cannot help but wonder if this change in Arkansas is designed to get ahead of similar issues, which sure would be a lot more sinister. Is there any evidence that something like what the Reuters investigation uncovered is going on in Arkansas? In any case, federal child labor laws exist.
- matthewdgreen 4y ago
  Two pieces of context I got from other news stories: (1) “Sanders' signing of the bill comes after a major US food sanitation company that operated facilities in eight states, including Arkansas, recently paid a $1.5 million civil penalty for employing minors in hazardous conditions. Packers Sanitation Services illegally employed at least 102 children between the ages of 13 and 17 in jobs that required them to use toxic chemicals and clean razor-sharp saws.“ and (2) this is the result of a major Federal crackdown on child labor announced a month ago. There are also similar bills advancing in other states that seem problematic to me: “a bill advancing in Iowa would allow 14- and 15-year-olds to work certain jobs in meatpacking plants and would shield businesses from civil liability if a youth worker is sickened, injured or killed on the job.” I suppose there’s a bright-eyed idealistic view that these state legislatures just happened to make this change now, because they suddenly want to make it easier for kids to get part-time jobs at the ice cream parlor (despite the fact that work permits have existed for many years.) A more cynical view is that we’re in a labor crunch and major industrial processors are desperate for (mostly migrant) workers, so state politicians are rolling back child-labor protections to oblige them and reduce their liability. Nothing about Arkansas politics has ever inclined me to the idealist view.