Eastern Iowa workers criticize state over fight to ease child labor laws

Eastern Iowa workers are disillusioned with state lobbying efforts to ease child labor restrictions.

At a roundtable held at the IBEW 405 Union Hall in Cedar Rapids Tuesday evening, representatives from labor federations in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City gathered to share the history of child labor restrictions and their experiences with local child workers, and to call on the state and local businesses to comply with federal child labor laws.

Panelists focused on the recent battle between state officials — including Gov. Kim Reynolds — local businesses and the federal government over Iowa’s less restrictive child labor law, which the governor signed last May.

Senate File 542 allows 16- and 17-year-olds, with parental consent, to serve alcohol in restaurants and work in several historically prohibited jobs through a work-based learning program. The bill allows teens as young as 14 to work up to six hours a day during the school year and longer into the evening.

Jennifer Sherer of the Economic Policy Institute shared statistics and a brief history of federal restrictions on child labor Tuesday, July 16, to a room of more than 30 union workers and officials. She directs the institute’s Worker Power Project and is a former head of the University of Iowa Labor Center.

The data shows that the labor force continues to grow even as the number of U.S. Department of Labor agents available to investigate claims — from child labor to unpaid wages — shrinks.

“We are living through and experiencing a moment in U.S. history that we cannot describe other than as a crisis,” Sherer said.

Child labor violations have increased significantly, Sherer said. The latest labor data from Fiscal 2023 shows nearly 5,800 minors were employed in violation of federal law, a 50% increase from the previous year and a nearly 260% increase since 2017.

“We are witnessing a growing child labour crisis,” she said.

More: Kim Reynolds: Feds Should Use Common Sense. Working Is Good for a Kid

Child labor is not uncommon in eastern Iowa

Some panelists shared personal experiences with child labor cases in eastern Iowa.

Rep. Sami Scheetz, D-Cedar Rapids, also works with Teamsters Local 238. He recalled seeing a worker who “couldn’t have been more than 12 or 13 years old” during a tour of the construction site in 2023.

“It was a really tough day for many of us who saw a child doing dangerous, harmful work,” Scheetz said.

Governor Reynolds was scheduled to hold a press conference at an Iowa City business on June 24 to discuss the impact of federal child labor laws on small businesses. Extensive flooding in northwest Iowa forced the cancellation of the event, which was to be held outside Sugapeach Chicken and Fish Fry, owned by Chad Simmons and his wife, Carol.

Simmons told the Des Moines Register he had passed an audit by the Labor Department but declined to comment further.

“Sugapeach, like many small businesses, is a staple of its community, and its potential closure due to the department’s severe penalties will have repercussions that extend beyond its own doors,” Reynolds wrote in a July 1 statement.

More: Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds holds press conference to address enforcement of federal child labor laws

Ayman Sharif is the executive director of the Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa, a nonprofit organization that helps low-wage workers maintain their wages and access their rights.

He told the story of a 16-year-old boy who fell off a roof he was working on and injured himself. Current federal law does not allow workers that young to do such work, but it does allow 16-year-olds to work in construction.

The employer, Sharif claims, did not help cover the boy’s medical expenses.

“We need much stronger action from state and federal agencies to defend the safety and fundamental rights of workers in our state,” Sharif said.

Rick Moyle, executive director of the Hawkeye Area Labor Council, said some children feel they need to get a job as soon as possible to help their family.

“A lot of these kids are going to come from poorer families where they may not have a choice (or) they may feel like this is what they have to do to survive and help their family,” Moyle said. “And I think it’s sad, it’s disgusting and it should never happen.”

More: Restaurant employment increases as Iowa eases child labor laws

Some panelists criticize Governor Reynolds

Felicia Hilton said long-standing child labor laws protect children in a variety of ways, keeping them out of dangerous jobs and exploitation by employers. She also said labor laws allow children to get the education they need to ensure a bright future.

“I am here (and) we are here to defend ourselves because Governor Reynolds has really been attacking children for quite some time and for most of his term,” Hilton said.

Hilton is the political director of Carpenter’s Union and told the Press-Citizen that she went to Des Moines last year to lobby against the child labor bill. She and her colleagues couldn’t believe it had passed.

“It’s a sad, sad day for Iowa that (the Department of Labor) is seen as the bad guy protecting Iowa’s children,” she said. “Someone has to do it because you can’t rely on Kim Reynolds to do anything.”

More: Federal crackdown on Iowa children sparks protest from Gov. Kim Reynolds, lawmakers

Reynolds: Iowa ‘in the crosshairs’ of Labor Department

In June, Gov. Kim Reynolds said the state’s penalties were “excessive.” Republican leaders, including Reynolds, questioned whether other states with similar child labor laws face the same level of scrutiny.

Reynolds issued a statement July 1 alleging that Iowa had been “targeted” by the Department of Labor. She said that “singling out Iowa was misguided and will likely backfire.” The Department of Labor denied the accusations in written statements provided to the Des Moines Register.

Reynolds said most “reasonable people” and “most Iowans” believe young people should have jobs that teach them responsibility and work ethic.

“I fully support enforcing labor laws against businesses that subject workers to harmful and oppressive conditions,” Reynolds said in a statement. “But we do not run sweatshops in Iowa. Our children work in small-town Subway, the local pizza place, or the family restaurant. Small businesses that are the lifeblood of Iowa families and the lifeblood of our state’s economy.

“And in fact, a few extra hours of work for kids who choose to work is much more likely to help them than to hurt them.”

Des Moines Register jobs and economy reporter Kevin Baskins contributed to this article.

Ryan Hansen covers local government and crime for the Press-Citizen. He can be reached at [email protected] or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ryanhansen01.

This article originally appeared in the Iowa City Press-Citizen: Eastern Iowa labor groups criticize state for lenient child labor laws