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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Sunday Evening Open Thread: Florida Men ‘Youth Workers’

Sunday Evening Open Thread: Florida Men ‘Youth Workers’

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1938 — that banner year for fans of autocracy. Per the Orlando Weekly, “Florida lawmakers advance bill that would weaken child labor protections for 16- and 17-year-olds”:

… Sponsored by Republican State Rep. Linda Chaney, the bill (HB 49) was advanced during its first of three committee stops by a 10–5 vote along party lines, with Democrats opposed.

Six amendments proposed by Democrats, including language requiring businesses that employ 16- and 17-year-olds to maintain a record of workplace sexual harassment incidents and provide that to their parents, were shot down by the subcommittee’s Republican majority.

Backed by industry groups representing restaurant and hotel owners, the proposed bill would get rid of state guidelines on when 16- and 17-year-olds can work and would limit local governments’ ability to enact stronger regulations in their communities…

Currently, under Florida law, it’s illegal for employers to work minors under 18 more than 30 hours a week during the school year, put them to work during school hours, put them to work overnight (between 11 p.m. to 6:30 a.m.) or schedule older teens to work more than six days in a row.
There are exceptions to this, including students enrolled in public school career and technical education programs, minors who are or have been married, and minors employed in homes (think babysitting) or employed by their parents. Waivers can also be requested.

The Republican-backed bill, fed to Rep. Linda Chaney by the right-wing Foundation for Government Accountability — a think tank that wrote the bill — would gut the state’s current restrictions on child labor for older teens, which were originally established to prevent work from interfering with a child’s health, safety and education…

… Chaney and industry groups like the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association — a state affiliate of the anti-union National Restaurant Association, representing industry giants like McDonald’s (a repeat violator of child labor law), Olive Garden, the Walt Disney Co., Universal Orlando and other restaurant and hotel owners that employ a large percentage of the youth workforce — say that current restrictions on allowed work hours for older teens are burdensome and restrict older teens’ “freedom” to work.

A spokesperson for the FRLA previously told Orlando Weekly that their support for the bill is also driven by a labor shortage in the hospitality industry, which is predominantly low-wage and therefore not the most enticing option for workers struggling to make ends meet for themselves or their families.

State Democrats on the subcommittee weren’t buying it, and strongly criticized the proposed legislation. Some questioned whether it’s appropriate to bring forward at a time when child labor violations in Florida — and nationwide — are on the rise. ..

Those McDonald’s staffers should probably be grateful they’re not hammering shingles in the tropical heat. Another Orlando Weekly report, “Powerful lobbying groups wrote new Florida bill that would allow teens to work dangerous jobs”:

As Florida’s construction and roofing industries face labor shortages exacerbated by a new state law cracking down on immigrant workers, deep-pocketed industry groups are pushing for a new solution: to add more teenagers into the labor pool.

A new bill, filed by Republican Sen. Corey Simon of Tallahassee for consideration during the 2024 legislative session, would lower age requirements for working in roofing and scaffolding — jobs currently deemed too hazardous for children under existing state law.

Email communications obtained by Orlando Weekly through a public records request show the bill’s founding advocates are two powerful industry lobbying groups: the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) of Florida — a top anti-union lobby — and the Florida Home Builders Association, both of which write generous checks to Republican politicians’ campaign funds (and yes, occasionally some Democrats’, too)…

Broadly speaking, the bill isn’t just targeting child labor regulations. The proposal, vaguely titled “Career and Technical Education,” aims to expand efforts in schools to recruit students to the trades. But the most notable section would amend a portion of state law to allow 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds to work in roofing, scaffolding, and residential and nonresidential construction.

The amendment makes up just a small section of the 18-page proposal — reminiscent of a ban on rent control that was tucked into a 95-page housing bill this spring that was similarly backed by industry groups…

But Florida’s influential trade groups aren’t working on this in isolation. The Home Builders Association of Iowa, for instance, was a major industry supporter of a bill signed into law by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds — a backer of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign — that similarly lifts restrictions on hazardous work performed by teens.

Reader Interactions

51Comments

  2. 2.

    cain

    @Alison Rose:

    Kids are now the new cheap labor. Not sure how that is going to work because population is falling and there are less kids.

    So they have to create more impoverished families willing to sell their kids out.

    Let’s see if that is popular with their base.

    ETA #2!

  3. 3.

    Suzanne

    And I presume they’re going to change the law and allow those 16- and 17-year-olds to vote, yes?

    BWAAAAAAHAHAHAHA I made a funny.

  4. 4.

    dmsilev

    My view is all such bills should be allowed if and only if the children and/or grandchildren of all sponsoring legislators and lobbyists be required to work such jobs.

  5. 5.

    FelonyGovt

    Next they will be bringing back the poorhouse, and debtor’s prison, and other great ideas from yesteryear.

  6. 6.

    Chetan Murthy

    I think we’re all getting het up over nothing here.  I worked 40+ hr/wk when I was 15-16 in fast food, no problemo.  I slept in high school classes all the time, and it didn’t affect my grades none.  Then again, my high school was so shitty I didn’t learn a damn thing from my teachers.  Which suggests the solution to the problem: strip all public funding from public high schools!  Then the kids won’t need to feel badly about sleeping in classes, or skipping classes, b/c they wouldn’t have learned anything anyway!

    Problem solved!

  9. 9.

    Another Scott

    I assume the minimum wage for 16 year olds being $4.25/h has nothing to do with the desire to ram this law through.

    Hey, they are only working for the fun of it and for candy money, right?? They’re happy to be gaining valuable experience!!

    :-/

    Grr…,
    Scott.

  10. 10.

    Wileybud

    @FelonyGovt: Well, on the bright side debtor’s prison would be a wonderful place to permanently store the Vulgar Talking Yam (h/t Charles Pierce), Rudy Guiliani, Alex Jones…..

  11. 11.

    Suzanne

    @FelonyGovt: And consumption! And chamber pots! And leeches! And those stupid bicycles with the big front wheels! So many fantastic things to bring back.

  12. 12.

    wjca

    …their support for the bill is also driven by a labor shortage in the hospitality industry, which is predominantly low-wage and therefore not the most enticing option for workers struggling to make ends meet for themselves or their families.

    Well, they’re making Florida exceptionally unattractive for immigrants (legal or illegal). But those low wage jobs still need to get done.  So the only options are a) child labor, or b) elderly labor.  The kids aren’t eligible to vote, so they’re obviously going to be the preferred option.  At least until someone can figure out how to reinstitute the poll tax, to keep the working class elderly from voting.

  14. 14.

    Gvg

    @Another Scott: i doubt it. Thats a federal rule not state that new hires under 20 may be paid a training wage og 4.25 for 90 days only. That won’t help much.

    I don’t think this is going to supply enough workers to make a difference and i hope the blowback is mean. Disney is in this trade group.

    Another group wants 16 year olds allowed to do roofing and other dangerous construction jobs. That is really sick.

  15. 15.

    Adam L Silverman

    This will be used to lower Florida’s age of consent from 18 to 16. The argument will be that if you’re old enough to work full time, you’re old enough to consent. It will be called the Gaetz Act,

  17. 17.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    For years, right wingers have said that minimum wage jobs are supposed to be for teens, not a career for adults. I’ve responded with, ‘Then who is supposed to work the fast food window at lunch when those teens are in school?’ They’ve grumbled with no real response. I guess this is the response.

  18. 18.

    hells littlest angel

    Florida currently has a shortage of emergency room doctors. Who knows how many Doogie Howsers there are out there in the Panhandle idling away their Saturday nights when they could be saving the lives of shooting and drunk driving victims?

  20. 20.

    sdhays

    Could a sufficiently inclined Federal Government (i.e. one with Republicans unable to obstruct) put a stop to this shit? These fucking “third world” fascist states need to be rescued from themselves.

    Just appalling.

  21. 21.

    satby

    It all makes perfect sense when you remember that high school dropouts have limited mobility into better career paths, so by starting them young they can ensure a steady supply of low wage workers for the future.

  26. 26.

    Parfigliano

    Not that I needed it but another reason I will never spend a cent in the cesspool called Florida.

  28. 28.

    dirge

    @cain:  So they have to create more impoverished families willing to sell their kids out.  Let’s see if that is popular with their base.

    Families eager to sell out their kids are their base.  Local leadership consists of religious weirdos with fifteen home schooled foster kids locked up in the basement.  They’re all going to love this.

  29. 29.

    scav

    Drive down the numbers graduating from high school, drive down the number of kids getting away with in-state tuition — fill those hot seats with full-dollar out-of-staters looking for permanent spring break (without the bother of world-class instructors or troublesome ideas).  Besides, as stated above, who wants an educated voting pool?

  31. 31.

    Smiling Happy Guy (aka boatboy_srq)

    @billcinsd: Floriduh does indeed have a long and unpleasant history of underpaying. Feel free to reach out to me offline for some personal anecdotes.

  33. 33.

    Smiling Happy Guy (aka boatboy_srq)

    @Gvg: A training wage just means termination at Day 89. The Reichwing assumes a near unlimited supply of cheap labor.

  37. 37.

    Tehanu

    The “people” pushing this swill are just … well, the nicest thing I can think of to say about them is that they’re evil greedheads and monsters.  Cannibals have higher morals.  Defenestration is too good for them.

  38. 38.

    Shalimar

    If you eliminate undocumented immigration, someone has to step up and work the shitty roofing jobs for very low pay.  It’s basic Republican logic.

  39. 39.

    gene108

    @cain:

    So they have to create more impoverished families willing to sell their kids out.

    Let’s see if that is popular with their base.

    Republican voters will love love love it!

    It won’t be their kids doing this, so it’s not a problem. Plus, for most conservatives bringing back “discipline”* into society, like working a paying job, is essential to Make America Great Again.

    *I remember hearing this when I was a teen in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. Seems to be repurposed every generation by conservatives.

  40. 40.

    NotMax

    @gene108

    But- but- all those kiddies will be paying into and fattening the coffers of Social Security. Which in R eyes is a Very Bad Thing. Such a conundrum!
    //

  42. 42.

    gene108

    Part of the problem with migrant child labor comes from the horrible camps the Trump administration setup, when faced with a child migration crisis.

    The solution was to find families willing to take them in, but no real background screening was done. The government wanted to move kids out of the camps and detention centers, and end the bad press associated with those.

    I don’t think a government running an institution for migrant unaccompanied children will ever be done well, but a government facility may do better in keeping track of children, than making it someone else’s problem. And more than likely not put the children to work in dangerous jobs.

  43. 43.

    lgerard

    “In 1938, 60 percent of 16 and 17-year-olds were working”
    Of course the high school graduation rate was considerably less then 50%, and college enrollment was less then 4%
    Bring back the good old days!​

  44. 44.

    Martin

    Oh, yeah, three more California Legislature Advent Calendar:

    SB 848: Requires employers to provide five days of leave to an employee who suffers a reproductive loss such as a failed adoption, miscarriage, stillbirth, unsuccessful embryo transfer or artificial insemination.

    AB 783: Requires businesses to put signage on single-user restrooms that indicates the toilet facility is available to all genders.

    SB 497: Prohibits employers from retaliating against workers who complain about their wages, discuss wages with colleagues or inquire about another worker’s wages.

  45. 45.

    Martin

    @Adam L Silverman: There should be a federal law that if you collect a W-2 or a 1099-MISC, you are federally eligible to vote in all elections. If you are old enough to have taxes withheld, you should get to vote on how those taxes are used.

  46. 46.

    Brachiator

    @Martin:

    There should be a federal law that if you collect a W-2 or a 1099-MISC, you are federally eligible to vote in all elections. If you are old enough to have taxes withheld, you should get to vote on how those taxes are used.

    In Scotland and Wales, I think that 16 and 17 year olds can vote in local and Scottish and Welsh parliamentary elections. If Florida wants to let 16 year olds work, they should certainly let them vote.

  47. 47.

    lowtechcyclist

    This makes me spitting mad just to think about it.

    I’m surprised, though, that there isn’t Federal law covering this. There should be.

    The Dems in Congress should write legislation that would override this shit, and make the GQPers defend their almost certain opposition to it.

  50. 50.

    Paul in KY

    @Another Scott: If they weren’t working, they’d only be wasting their time working on their cool play, like that noted juvenile delinquent Mickey Rooney used to spend all his time doing…

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