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As GOP Erodes Child Labor Laws, Alabama Roofer Fined Just $117K for Teen's Worksite Death
"It's unconscionable that roofing companies hire 15-year-olds," said one labor expert—but in state after state and even at the federal level, lawmakers are rolling back restrictions on teen workers.
Feb 07, 2024
Workers' rights advocates on Wednesday decried a meager fine for an Alabama contractor that illegally employed a 15-year-old boy who died on the job, a move that came amid a push by Republicans at the federal and state level to roll back child labor protections.
The U.S. Department of Labor fined Pelham, Alabama-based Apex Roofing & Restoration $117,175 in civil penalties for violation of child labor laws resulting in the July 1, 2019 death of a 15-year-old Guatemalan worker during his first day on the job in Cullman, 50 miles north of Birmingham.
The teen—who could not be identified because he was a minor—fell through insulation and plunged 35-50 feet to his death on a concrete floor inside the building on which he was working,
according to a Cullman Tribune report at the time.
The Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division found that the company's employment of the teen violated a provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act that prohibits workers under the age of 18 from doing dangerous jobs including roofing or construction.
"Apex Roofing risked the life of a child by employing him to work on a roof in violation of federal child labor laws, leaving relatives and friends to grieve an unnecessary and preventable tragedy," Wage and Hour Administrator Jessica Looman said in a statement.
The Labor Department action came shortly after the Alabama Policy Institute, a right-wing think tank, published its annual agenda. The document advocates rolling back limits on 14- and 15-year-olds in the workplace.
An Apex Roofing spokesperson told Common Dreams:
We at Apex Roofing & Restoration are truly heartbroken by the senseless death of a minor at a job site in 2019. The tragic incident occurred when a subcontractor's worker brought his sibling to a worksite without Apex's knowledge or permission.
Apex has a long-standing policy prohibiting any form of child labor. In addition, since that accident, Apex has implemented a number of measures to further strengthen job site security and safety. Our hearts are with this family and any family who suffers a loss.
Common Dreams reported last year that congressional Democrats implored the Labor Department to act following a Reuters investigation that found dozens of chidren as young as 12 years old—most of them Central American migrants—working in Alabama and Georgia factories supplying the Korean auto giant Hyundai.
Across the country, Republican state lawmakers have been advancing legislation to remove restrictions on child labor, despite several high-profile workplace deaths of minors.
At the federal level, Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho) and Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) last year introduced a bill that would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to work in the logging industry.
Major corporations including McDonald's, Costco, Starbucks, Amazon-owned Whole Foods, and PepsiCo have said they're taking steps to tackle child labor in their supply chains, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
Whole Foods said in a statement that it has "been actively evolving our focus on the risk of migrant child labor domestically."
According to Labor Department data, the number of minors employed in violation of child labor laws soared by 283% from 2015 to 2022. Over that same period, the number of minors employed in violation of hazardous occupation orders rose 94%.
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130+ Groups Send Letter to Whole Foods Market Calling on Company to Put "Planet Over Plastic"
This is the second letter to the retail chain, which continues to fail in reducing its plastic footprint.
Mar 10, 2021
Environment America Research & Policy Center, U.S. PIRG Education Fund and more than 130 additional groups from coast-to-coast mailed Whole Foods CEO John Mackey a letter Thursday calling on him to commit to a concrete and verifiable plan to reduce the company's plastic footprint. This is the coalition's second letter imploring the market to make this change, and it comes on the heels of a Greenpeace report released last week that found the chain was failing on its policies and practices aimed at eliminating plastic waste.
Specifically, the letter says that the company needs to commit to steps that eliminate single-use plastic packaging from its stores by Amazon's annual shareholder meeting in May 2021. These steps include: A 25 percent reduction in the amount of single-use plastic packaging units sold by the 365 Everyday Value product line by 2025; a commitment to generate 15 percent of annual revenues from the sale of products packaged in reusable packaging by 2025; and a public report on the company's plastic footprint by 2022. Other groups who signed onto the letter include Greenpeace USA, Oceana and The Plastic Pollution Coalition. In October, several groups in the coalition sent its first letter to Mackey, but received no response.
"To protect marine species, companies like Whole Foods, who are responsible for this source of plastic pollution, must act to put the planet over plastic by committing to a bold path forward on reducing plastic waste," said Kelsey Lamp, Protect Our Oceans campaign director for Environment America Research & Policy Center. "The rising tide of plastic entering our rivers and oceans each year can harm and kill turtles, seabirds and fish. This plastic is a clear example of a culture that prioritizes a moment's convenience over the long term health of our planet and we clearly must change."
According to Greenpeace's report, which ranked 20 U.S. grocery chains, Whole Foods scored 15 out of a possible 100 points, placing it in 10th place for its efforts to tackle the plastic pollution crisis. Notably, the market not only failed to release a bold and comprehensive policy on plastic waste, but also failed to disclose information on the company's overall plastic footprint. For these reasons, such other supermarkets as Walmart, Aldi and Krogers performed better than Whole Foods in the report.
"Nothing we use for just a few minutes should pollute our planet for hundreds of years," said Alex Truelove, Zero Waste campaign director for the U.S. PIRG Education Fund. "In order to protect our environment and the health of communities from plastic pollution, we must hold the companies that package their products in single-use plastic responsible. We know that better alternatives to single-use plastic packaging exist, and Whole Foods, along with other companies like it, need to transition to more sustainable forms of packaging."
Studies show that 15 million metric tons of plastic litter enter our oceans each year. This is the equivalent of two garbage trucks dumping a load of plastic into the sea every single minute, and it's devastating for wildlife because birds, fish and other species, like turtles, can so easily mistake small pieces of plastic for food. Nearly 700 types of marine animals, as well as more than 50 freshwater species, have ingested plastic or become entangled in it, often with deadly results.
"While Whole Foods improved slightly in this year's ranking, it continues to drag its feet on committing to bold, comprehensive reforms to eliminate single-use plastics," said Greenpeace USA Plastics Project Leader Kate Melges. "Whole Foods has developed a reputation as a company that cares about sustainability, but it continues to fail its customers on tackling the plastic pollution crisis. It is time for the retailer to significantly reduce its throwaway plastics and shift toward reuse and package-free solutions."
In addition to the coalition letter, Environment America Research & Policy Center, U.S. PIRG Education Fund and several other groups in the coalition have gathered tens of thousands of petitions, hosted public events with more than 200 attendees, and held other public communication events.
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Workers Gear Up for Major May Day Strike in Pushback Against Unsafe Conditions Amid Pandemic
One organizer explained that the goal is to "push back with large numbers against the right-wing groups that want to risk our lives by reopening the economy."
Apr 29, 2020
Workers at some of the nation's biggest companies including Amazon and Target are preparing to symbolically lock arms Friday for a May 1 strike and demand better protections on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic.
\u201cWhole Foods, Amazon, Target, and Instacart workers are striking on May 1st\u201d— Michael Sainato (@Michael Sainato) 1587574303
Among the lead organizers of the action, Motherboard reported Wednesday, is Chris Smalls, the Amazon worker who was fired last month from his job at a fulfillment center in Staten Island after organizing a protest.
"We formed an alliance between a bunch of different companies because we all have one common goal which is to save the lives of workers and communities," Smalls told Motherboard.
"Right now isn't the time to open up the economy," Smalls added. "Amazon is a breeding ground [for this virus] which is spreading right now through multiple facilities."
\u201cChris Smalls (@Shut_downAmazon), former #Amazon warehouse worker, talks about organizing for #MayDay labor actions. Listen to the conversation on @KPFA (94.1 FM, Berkeley) starting at 3:10 pm PT, or watch it later at https://t.co/36KL8tuYa9. #shutdownamazon\u201d— Rising Up With Sonali (@Rising Up With Sonali) 1588110311
Adam Ryan, who works at a Target store in Virgina, is another lead organizer of the May Day action. He explained to Motherboard that the goal of the strike is "to shut down industry across the board and push back with large numbers against the right-wing groups that want to risk our lives by reopening the economy."
As Motherboard reported:
While the mass strike action might not be enough to shut down society, the collective action certainly echoes the calls for a general strike--a coordinated work stoppage across businesses and industries in pursuit of a common goal--the likes of which have not been seen in the United States since World War II.
The workers are demanding their profitable employers provide increased pay and paid leave, health insurance for all workers, and for Covid-19 affected stores to be shut. The workers are also calling on customers to show solidarity by not shopping at the stores on May 1, according to a flier shared on social media.
\u201chttps://t.co/vw8fTxBjB6\u201d— Michael Sainato (@Michael Sainato) 1588186695
The Intercept also reported on the upcoming strike, with Daniel Medina writing Tuesday:
The May 1 strike is the latest in a wave of actions led by union and nonunion front-line workers. Last month, Amazon workers in New York City and more than 10,000 Instacart workers across the country staged a walkout.
Whole Foods employees led a national sickout on March 31, while upwards of 800 workers skipped their shifts at a Colorado meatpacking plant as coronavirus cases were confirmed among employees. Sanitation workers in Pittsburgh and bus drivers in Detroit both staged wildcat strikes.
"These workers have been exploited so shamelessly for so long by these companies while performing incredibly important but largely invisible labor," said Stephen Brier, a labor historian and professor at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies. "All of a sudden, they're deemed essential workers in a pandemic, giving them tremendous leverage and power if they organize collectively."
"May 1 is a celebration of working people around the world," Margaret Kimberley wrote Wednesday at Black Agenda Report. "It is the perfect moment to begin the fight for economic justice which has accelerated due to the COVID-19 pandemic."
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