What next Scott Walker, child labor apprenticeships?

Scott Walker is pushing 7th and 8th-grade middle school vocational training because according to right-wing orthodoxy, people don't have worth unless they're working. Employers give them "value." Proof? Just look at the GOP backed work requirements for food and healthcare, two items they claim are earned privileges." You can't get any more obvious than that.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker would make the state's youth apprenticeship program available to seventh- and eighth-grade students under a plan he described this week ... Walker's proposal would expand the program. "We’re putting Wisconsin’s students in control of their learning and future," read a fact sheet from the governor's campaign.

Because 12 and 13-year-olds, 7th and 8th-graders, should be in control of their learning and future, right?

Welcome back to Turn of the Century Child Labor?: Coincidentally, I just happen to run across a Washington Post article about child labor, and then it came to me. The headline above took on a whole new meaning. By defining a person worth by requiring them to be "workers," the next step won't so hard to sell, which takes us back to early 1900's:

The National Child Labor Committee (the NCLC) mission wasn’t about showing the public that children were being used for financial gain — that was already a well-known fact. At the time, many believed the practice had substantial benefits. Youths could learn the value of hard work. Businesses could ... decrease the hourly pay. Parents could depend on their children to support the family, meaning the adults could work less or not at all. 

As one mother remarked to the NCLC in 1907: “I am really tired of seeing so many big children ten years old playing in the streets.”

Let's go back to child labor and fewer costly regulations?

Walker Plan Nothing like Germany's VET System: Republicans like Walker like to point to European success stories that supposedly justify their agenda and cancel out Democratic objections. But in every case, they always leave out that one important factor they would never agree to: Education, Health Care, and now Germany's VET job training program are all standardized by their national governments, an important issue no Republican would ever support. But without national standards, the programs could collapse into chaos. Vouchers are one great example; some work and many don't.

I highlighted a few facts below that separates what Walker's Wisconsin is doing and what Germany's training programs accomplish; Germany has tight federal control and standards, nothing like the unregulated patchwork of programs that are untested and probably thrown together by campaign contributors:

A Brief Description of Germany’s VET System: Despite being a federal country in which individual states have autonomy over educational matters, Germany has established a fairly uniform and highly regulated VET system nationwide. There are a number of different training programs including full-time school programs, but most vocational sector students enroll in the dual system. This system straddles ninth or tenth grade, and continue in vocational programs lasting two to four years. Participating companies are obligated to provide training in accordance with national regulations and pay students a modest salary ... regulated and funded by both the federal government and the German states ... the final graduation examinations are uniform throughout the country and lead to formal vocational qualifications. Graduates earn a state-examined or state-recognized vocational title or a journeyman certificate, all of which are official certifications recognized throughout Germany. 

Child labor exploitation creeps quietly back into Wisconsin, and parents can't do a thing about it.

Kids can now work without a parental permission permit. 

No one asked for it, but parents are now at a major disadvantage, and business can now exploit child labor again while kids should still be in school. Laws designed to solve the problems of the 19th and 20th century are being eliminated, and Democrats are saying what? Doing what? 

Keep in mind, the excuse Republicans used to exploit child labor targeted just a few kids who were not living at home, leaving the other 70,000 parental permits in the dust. 

The good old days....

Republicans said the bill is a barrier to employment for some low-income youth and a needless government intrusion. Democrats and labor unions said it prevents parents from being able to control the work/school balance for their children. More than 70,000 permits were issued to 16- and 17-year-olds last year.

 How did we ever survive without out this change?

Gov. Scott Walker signed 10 bills into law Wednesday, including (an) end to work permits for 16- and 17-year-olds.

Two of the bills drew opposition from Democrats, including one that eliminates the phrase "child labor" from statutes and replaces it with "the employment of minors." 

The law turns back a century-old requirement that teenagers obtain a parent's signature and permit in order to work.

Walker Republicans return to 1910 Child Labor, know better than Parents what's best for Kids.

Wisconsin Democracy Campaign's (WDC) Urban Milwaukee article spelled it out quite clearly; unregulated child labor is back with a vengeance. 

And you thought parent knew what was best for the kids education, a familiar refrain to school privateers? Not anymore. Now parents don't have any control over teens 16 and 17 who want to work.

WDC pointed out how two laws passed under Walker will make child exploitation a walk in the park for Wisconsin Manufactures and Commerce, who has been backing legislation that envisions children manning dangerous machines again without regulatory accountability.

The GOP-controlled legislature has given final approval and sent to Republican Gov. Scott Walker a bill that would loosen child labor laws. Assembly Bill 25 removes the requirement for 16- and 17-year-olds to obtain permits signed by a parent or guardian in order to work. The measure was approved on a party line 20-12 vote. Democrats maintain the bill would allow children to make important life decisions that could adversely affect their educations — against their parents’ wishes.

Welcome back to those nostalgic days of pre-Depression labor. Oddly, Republicans chose not to narrowly define the bill to accomplish their stated goal...I wonder why?

Republicans said the measure would make it easier to secure jobs for children who have parents who are incarcerated or otherwise absent.

Pair this bill with the law passed in 2011... and we're almost there:

In 2011, Walker signed into law a provision in the 2011-13 state budget which eliminated restrictions on 16- and 17-year-olds working more than 26 hours during a school week and more than 50 hours a week during vacations.

I didn't even know these restrictions were lifted. Milwaukee Gazette pointed out...:

The Child Labor Coalition said that change allowed employers to leverage cheap child labor to avoid paying a living wage.

“Research suggests that when teens work more than 20 hours a week, their grades go down, they drop out of school more often, and they have more behavioral issues,” said coalition coordinator Reid Maki of the 2011 law. “By allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to work unlimited hours during the school week, Wisconsin legislators are failing Wisconsin teens … the legislators who did this should be ashamed.”

A more nefarious reason for the law? The Wisconsin AFL-CIO explained:  

Supporters of the bill claim that the signature requirement is a hurdle that keeps some kids out of the workforce. In reality, if no parent or guardian is available, a DWD officer can sign off for a child worker. These officers are funded by a $10 permit fee paid by the employer. A portion of the fee also goes to the state’s General Treasury. By eliminating this fee, Republicans are cutting funding for the enforcement of child labor laws and at a time when every penny counts needlessly reducing state revenue.

Just before passage, here's what legislators had to say, noting the bizarre Republican reason that parents don't need a government permit to be a parent like this...

Rep. Amy Loudenbeck: "...what we're hearing from the kids...Jamial (inaudible) who was on the front page of the Journal Sentinel a couple of weeks ago, who scored a perfect 10 on the ACES...you know what, she falsified her parents signature on the work permit, got her first job at Goodwill and told us it was the best thing that happened to her..."

Now that's something to base legislation on. Upside Down Rep. Jim Steineke unintentionally flaunted his own hypocrisy when he accused Democrats of opposing parental signatures for abortions, but requiring them for work permits. Ah, Jim, don't you want a parents signature for abortions but now hypocritically don't a parents consent for a work permit? Doh!!!



 From the Republican arguments here, what's next, letting kids decide what school to go to?

Texas bill goes well beyond Wisconsin's: Do Republicans hate unions? We should be thankful the Walker administration didn't insist on going this far:

If the bill passes, children as young as 14 will be able to enter into an employment agreement with most employers without parental consent, but they will not be permitted to join a union without a signed parental consent.

There appears to be no problem for which this bill is a solution. Texas has long been a right-to-work state, which means that any worker who is represented by a union can choose to pay no dues ... the bill positions unions as something that children need to be protected from. It hardly seems coincidental that the bill “protecting” children from unions is in the same packet as bills protecting children from sex offenders or a parent who sexually assaults the other parent. The bill treats unions not as organizations that represent and work on behalf of workers, but as something that preys on innocent children.

Republicans Amy Loudenbeck and Dale Kapenga to start Dismantling Child Labor Law in Wisconsin.

If Trump is going to throw out our hard working immigrant laborers, repealing and restarting child labor to fill that void makes a lot of sense:

The Senate Committee on Public Benefits, Licensing and State-Federal Relations is preparing to discuss a bill that would weaken child labor law in Wisconsin. 

Sure our kids may still be in school, but if they want to work, why should we let parents get in the way. Still, you have to wonder, don't parents know best about their child's education? Guess not:

Senate Bill 11 and Assembly Bill 25, introduced by Rep. Amy Loudenbeck (R- Clinton) and Sen. Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield), will make it easier for businesses to use child labor without sign off by parents by completely eliminating the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) permit process currently required for children aged 16 and 17 entering the workforce. 

I know, it's hard to believe your reading this now, in this day and age. According to Stephanie Bloomingdale, Secretary-Treasurer Wisconsin AFL-CIO:

"This bill undermines parental rights by eliminating the requirement for moms and dads to approve their kid's work schedule and other workplace conditions. Everyone who had a job during high school remembers how important a first job can be to teach young people responsibility and important life skills. The point is that parents should still have the right to sign off on their child's work permit."

What could go  wrong with this....

If a child has no legal guardian available, a Department of Workforce Development officer can sign off on a work permit for the 16 or 17-year-old, which they do routinely.