By Cliff Montgomery – Oct. 8th 2014
Last week, a leading group of U.S. tobacco growers announced that children should not be employed to perform its often dangerous work.
It might seem an unusual statement to make in these modern times. But the Tobacco Growers Association of North Carolina is right to release such an official declaration. That’s because child labor on American tobacco farms remains a matter of great concern.
Current U.S. law “does not provide the same protections to children working in agriculture as it does to children working in all other sectors” of the economy, according to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report released in May.
“Outside of agriculture, the employment of children under 14 is prohibited,” continued the HRW study, “and even 14 and 15-year-olds can only work in certain jobs for a limited number of hours each day.” But in agricultural work, “children as young as 12 can legally work for hire for unlimited hours outside of school on a tobacco farm of any size,” provided those owning the farm have obtained a “parental permission.”
Not only that, but “children younger than 12 can work on small farms owned and operated by family members,” added the study. Such small farms may employ children of any age.
And though children are barred from engaging in hazardous work when they are employed in every other sector of the U.S. economy, current federal law sets the minimum age for hazardous farm work at 16.
So the new farmworkers’ policy issued on October 1st, 2014 by the Tobacco Growers Association of North Carolina is an acknowledged advance for human rights. But to be fair, the policy comes more than four months after HRW released its damning report on child labor practices in the tobacco industry.
The Tobacco Growers Association of North Carolina represents over 2,300 farmers who harvest tobacco around the North Carolina region. The Association’s new policy clearly states that it “does not condone the use of child labor,” and adds that no child under 16 should work on a tobacco farm.
The policy further advises those who own such farms to “be cautious about employing 16 and 17-year-old workers in tobacco,” stating that the young people should never be allowed to perform hazardous tasks.
“The Tobacco Growers Association of North Carolina has taken an important step toward ending hazardous child labor on U.S. tobacco farms,” declared Jo Becker, HRW Advocacy Director for Children’s Rights, in a statement.
“By implementing this policy, growers will protect child workers from real danger,” added Becker.
And according to the HRW study released in May, child labor on tobacco farms is a danger indeed.
“Children working on tobacco farms in the United States are exposed to nicotine, toxic pesticides, and other dangers,” stated the HRW report.
“Child tobacco workers often labor 50 or 60 hours a week in extreme heat,” often without shade or overtime pay, continued the human rights study. The children “use dangerous tools and machinery, lift heavy loads, and climb into the rafters of barns several stories tall, risking serious injuries and falls.”
“The tobacco grown on U.S. farms is purchased by the largest tobacco companies in the world,” pointed out the HRW report.
Nearly seventy-five percent of the child laborers queried by HRW reported experiencing a sudden onset of such symptoms as “nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, headaches, dizziness, skin rashes, difficulty breathing, and irritation to their eyes and mouths” as they worked with the tobacco in fields or in barns, according to the report.
“Many of these symptoms are consistent with acute nicotine poisoning,” added the human rights study.
As the HRW report pointed out, there’s only one answer for such a state of affairs.
The U.S. government – as well as the tobacco leaf suppliers and tobacco manufacturers – must “all take urgent steps to progressively remove children from such tasks in tobacco farming,” declared the study.
