Yesterday, June 12th, marked World Day Against Child Labor. For this occasion I highlight the plight of young children employed to work in the tobacco agribusiness in the United States. It is estimated, by Deutsche Welle, that 500,000 children labor in this market; most are exposed to hazardous conditions ranging from exposure to high levels of nicotine and pesticides, farm implements, and long working hours among others. Variances in the standard federal child labor standards permit tobacco growers to employ children–some of whom are under twelve years in age.
After decades of public objection and later government restrictions on advertisements, marketing, and distribution of tobacco products to minors for reasons not limited to just health and nicotine dependency, the cultivation of “green tobacco” by children exposes them often to immediately hazardous levels of nicotine at often unconscionably young ages.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) in 2013 published an extensive study into the child labor practices of the tobacco growers industry in four states: North Carolina; Kentucky; Tennessee; and Virginia. According to this study one hundred and forty one children participating in the tobacco harvests of 2012 and 2013 were interviewed by HRW. Ages of these children ranged from seventeen to as young as seven.
According to this study, “nearly three quarters of those interviewed reported sudden onsets of serious illnesses—including nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, headaches, dizziness, skin rashes, difficulty breathing, irritations to their eyes and mouths—while working in the fields of tobacco plants and barns with dried tobacco leaves and tobacco dust. Many of these symptoms are consistent with acute nicotine poisoning.”
Duties assigned to children in tobacco cultivation and harvesting included seed planting, topping, thinning undesirable leaves, applying pesticides, harvesting leaves by hand or with machinery, cutting plants with sharpened tobacco knives, storage and removal of cured leaves from barns, and stripping and sorting dried leaves.
Resulting from these exposures, often from unprotected skin and lax safety policies, children suffer often from a condition known as Green Tobacco Sickness. This illness is an occupational disease caused by workers absorbing nicotine through their skin after prolonged exposure to the plants. These symptoms, references earlier, are identified by Public and Occupation health officials. The long term effects are currently unknown though other studies on the usage of tobacco products (such as smoking) in adolescents may have links to complications in brain development. Public health research indicates that non-smoking workers in tobacco agriculture have similar levels of nicotine in their bodies as do smokers in the general population.
The study contained interviews consistent with their findings generally, where child workers reported being sprayed by pesticides applied to rows nearby causing illnesses contemporaneously. To mitigate this environment the children often would bring plastic garbage bags with them that they could fashion into ad-hoc raingear to resist spray landing on their clothes and skin—though this did not protect necessarily their hands and faces.
Due to the nature of tobacco cultivation and harvesting occurring within the summer months, the combination of high levels of heat and long hours of labor puts great amount of stresses on children that often culminate with heat stroke and dehydration. Compliance with break time standards is widely varied with some farms providing a reasonable break period for workers and others mandating that workers continue almost without pause.
The introduction of labor contractors, those who sell labor for a fixed price to farmers and where the workers are actually the employees of the contractor, has provided an opportunity for exploitation. Since these contractors retain earnings based on the margin between the revenue from the farm and the labor costs they endure, the temptation to extract more earnings often becomes high; especially in light of the fact that most workers are of an economic underclass that is less likely to report labor abuses and especially in the case of children having not the life experience or foreknowledge of what constitutes a proper and healthy working environment.
Compounding the problem is that current U.S. child labor laws permit children to labor in tobacco farms with liberal policies that permit very young children to work simply with parental permission to do so. It is often the case where this parental permission is granted by parents who also work on these farms where low wages create a need and temptation for parents allowing their children to work to supplement household incomes. Small farms are given the most leeway to employ young children. Agriculture is permitted by federal law to employ children as young as twelve with parental permission but with these small farms children under twelve may labor with parental consent. In all other industries the employment of children under fourteen is prohibited, and children fourteen to fifteen may only be employed in certain jobs with a limited number of hours each day.
The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour for work in tobacco farms. Some employers caused children to be paid on a piece basis which can in some respects be exploited to motivate children to perform more productively than what is reasonable for their abilities. HRW reported children interviewed expressed that they are often confused as to the actual wage they are paid and some stating they were actually paid less than the minimum permitted. Contractors were said to stoop to the level of charging children for necessities such as water and for inaccurate recording of work performed.
Internationally, treaties ratified by the United States might actually be in conflict with current federal child labor laws and their applicability to the tobacco farming industry. HRW addresses this as follows:
International Standards on Child Labor
via Human Rights Watch
In recognition of the potential benefits of some forms of work, international law does not prohibit children from working. The International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention, which the US has ratified, obligates
countries to prohibit certain types of work for children under age 18 as a matter of urgency, including work that is likely to jeopardize children’s physical or mental health, safety or morals (also known as hazardous labor). The ILO leaves it up to governments to determine which occupations are hazardous to children’s health. Several countries, including major tobacco producing countries such as Brazil and India, prohibit children under 18 from performing work in tobacco farming. Based on our field research, interviews with health professionals, and analysis of the public health literature, Human Rights Watch has concluded that no child under age 18 should be permitted to perform any tasks in which they will come into direct contact with tobacco plants of any size or dried tobacco leaves, due to the health risks posed by nicotine, the pesticides applied to the crop, and the particular health risks to children whose bodies and brains are still developing.
The ILO Worst Forms of Child Labor
Recommendation states that certain types of work in an unhealthy environment may be appropriate for children ages 16 and older “on the condition that the health, safety and morals of the children concerned are fully protected, and that the children have received adequate specific instruction or vocational training in the relevant branch of activity.” Because exposure to tobacco in any form is unsafe, Human Rights Watch has determined, based on our field investigations and other research, that as a practical matter there is no way for children under 18 to work safely on US tobacco farms when they have direct contact with tobacco plants of any size or dried tobacco leaves, even if wearing protective equipment. Though protective equipment may help mitigate exposure to nicotine and pesticide residues, rain suits and watertight gloves would not completely eliminate absorption of toxins through the skin and would greatly increase children’s risk of suffering health related illnesses. Such problems documented by Human Rights Watch in the US seem likely to extend to tobacco farms outside the United States
HRW called upon the tobacco product manufactures and tobacco leaf companies to provide statements of their policy to address the issue of child labor. The NGO queried “companies that source tobacco from the states we visited. Eight of those companies manufacture tobacco products (Altria Group, British American Tobacco, China National Tobacco, Imperial Tobacco Group, Japan Tobacco Group, Lorillard, Philip Morris International, and Reynolds American), and two are leaf merchant companies (Alliance One International and Universal Corporation).”
In the months prior to the release of this report, HRW sent letters to each company and requested a response along with a request to meeting with company officials to discuss the issue. The HRW report stated the following regarding these exchanges:
Nine companies responded to Human Rights Watch and stated that they took steps to prohibit child labor in their supply chains. Only China National Tobacco did not respond to Human Rights Watch’s letter or repeated attempts to secure a meeting with company executives.
All of the tobacco manufacturing companies and leaf supply merchants that replied to Human Rights Watch expressed concerns about child labor in their supply chain. Only a few of the companies have explicit child labor policies in place. The approaches to child labor in the supply chain varied from company to company, as detailed below. Human Rights Watch correspondence with these companies is included in an appendix to this report, available on the Human Rights Watch website.
Of the companies approached by Human Rights Watch, Philip Morris International (PMI) has developed the most detailed and protective set of policies and procedures, including training and policy guidance on child labor and other labor issues which it is implementing in its global supply chain. PMI has also developed specific lists of hazardous tasks that children under 18 are prohibited from doing on tobacco farms, which include most tasks in which children come into prolonged contact with mature tobacco leaves, among other hazardous work.
Several companies stated that in their US operations they required tobacco growers with whom they contract to comply with US law, including laws on child labor, which, as noted above, do not afford sufficient protections for children. These companies stated that their policies for tobacco purchasing in countries outside of the US were consistent with international law, including with regard to a minimum age of 15 for entry into work under the ILO Minimum Age Convention, with the exception of certain light work, and a prohibition on hazardous work for children under 18, unless national laws afford greater protections. However, most companies did not specify the tasks that they consider to constitute hazardous work. Under these standards, children working in tobacco farming can remain vulnerable to serious health hazards and risks associated with contact with tobacco plants and tobacco leaves. A number of companies stated that they had undertaken internal and third party monitoring of their supply chains to examine labor conditions, including the use of child labor, as defined within the scope of their existing policies.
100 years later are we still doing enough?
To commemorate World Day Against Child Labor it is time to perhaps seek a reassessment of the need to employ children in an occupation that studies have shown is hazardous to their health, especially during their development. We as a society have said no to the notion of children consuming nicotine as end users but we have been mostly blind to the poisonous effect of the substance on children participating in its cultivation. Yet with inconsistent oversight by tobacco companies of their farm suppliers, it is likely that opposition from the tobacco states will result in protective child labor laws. The indifference to the subject by Congress is often due to lack of demands from their constituents and heavy lobbying efforts by the tobacco industry. It is not likely these children will see improvement in their young lives as long as they are employed in an industry that in many ways is shown to be detrimental to their wellbeing.
Since approximately ninety percent of the tobacco produced in the United States comes from these four tobacco states, it is probable that they industry still will survive the additional cost of a tobacco leaf that is harvested by an adult or machine instead of a child but it is unlikely tobacco agribusinesses will want you to believe such a reality.
A true measure of a society is how well it treats its most vulnerable.
The views expressed in this posting are the author’s alone and not those of the blog, the host, or other weekend bloggers. As an open forum, weekend bloggers post independently without pre-approval or review. Content and any displays or art are solely their decision and responsibility.
229 thoughts on “The Tobacco Industry And Child Labor”
This is an important study. I had never heard of Green Tobacco Sickness. However, I do have some firsthand experience with child agricultural labor.
My family at one time lived in Hatfield, Massachusetts, a small, mostly Polish farming community lying along the Connecticut River outside of Northampton. As Nick noted earlier, the Connecticut River Valley was once home to numerous wrapper leaf tobacco farms. Our next door neighbor in Hatfield was a farm manager for Consolidated Cigar Corporation, one of the largest growers in the area. When I finished my freshman year in college in the spring of 1966, our neighbor arranged a summer job for me with CCC. My job title was “straw boss.” Each morning I drove a small school bus to a company-owned dormitory where I picked up 15 to 20 kids and took them to whatever field we were working that day. I would then supervise their work and drive them back to the dormitory at the end of the day. The dormitory was owned by CCC and the kids were provided lodging and meals for the summer. I have no idea whether they were charged for room and board.
The kids I supervised were from 13 to 15 years of age. All of them were white and came from poor families in West Virginia. As I got to know them, I learned that what they earned during the summer was literally used to supplement their families’ incomes. Some of the kids had come to Massachusetts to work tobacco for several summers and had older brothers who had worked tobacco before them.
The work and the conditions were hard. Wrapper leaf tobacco is shade grown, which means that it is hot and very humid, with little air movement. The kids would pull and box leaves from the bottom of each plant, which often required going up and down each row on hands and knees. The leaves had to be laid in the boxes in a prescribed manner and, once filled, the boxes were stacked at the end of the rows, where they would be counted, loaded on trucks and carried to barns to be hung and dried. My job was to walk up and down the rows to make certain that the work was being done thoroughly and properly and to supervise lunch breaks.
Although I was paid an hourly wage, plus an additional amount for driving the bus, the kids were paid on a piece work basis. That meant that a kid who got sick and missed a day earned nothing. The kids wore their own clothes and were not provided gloves or any protective gear. I thought nothing of that at the time and certainly was not aware that exposure to wet tobacco and tobacco dust presented any sort of health risks.
That summer was truly an eye opener for me. I asked many questions and got to know most of the kids pretty well. They hated the work, but were there out of necessity. Most of them were educationally far behind where I had been at their ages and they harbored no illusions about their futures. I do not recall any of them talking about wanting to go to college. Their visions were limited to finishing high school, getting married and settling in to fairly marginal existences in rural West Virginia. I came away from that experience with a new appreciation for my own good fortune and an understanding of the randomness of circumstance.
“At the Altria Group’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders yesterday, shareholders voted to defeat three stockholder proposals that had urged the company to take action on farm labor issues and tobacco use among the poor, according to a story by John Reid Blackwell for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Shareholders also voted down a proposal put forward by the AFL-CIO (The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations) that would have required the company to publish a report on steps it has taken to address ‘green tobacco sickness’, which sometimes occurs when farm workers absorb nicotine through the skin after handling tobacco.
A third shareholder proposal was put forward by CHE Trinity Health, a Catholic health care organization, asking the company to prepare educational and tobacco-cessation materials for smokers who ‘live below the poverty line or have little formal education’. That proposal was defeated, too.”
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Nick
You sound like the Republican Party for the past decade or so. When a bona fide, good for all, progressive proposition came from the President or the Democrats the Republicans would fight it, turn the attention to all the other baggage in their cart, and hold the American people hostage until they got what they wanted. Republicans or libertarians or tea baggers would point to all sorts of unrelated issues to take the focus off of the valid issue at hand.
Regardless of what you, in your lifelong search for the truth, think the article is about the unhealthy conditions suffered by those who work with tobacco. The focus on the children is unique in that not only are children employed in the industry but underage as well, and they suffer perhaps the most as the poisons that they ingest, they ingest during their formative years. The article includes the disgusting conditions people and children suffer to keep ‘smokes’ cheaper. It includes the fact that children as young as seven work in these conditions, and it includes the fact that the industry cheats workers out of wages. What it doesn’t include is that the necessary regulation and policing of the industry is not performed by the government as it should be done is due to the fact that Tobacco lobbyists buy and sell our elected representatives, especially those in the tobacco growing areas. Yeah, let’s reduce regulation and get those kids back into the mines.
For you to become so incensed and turn this against the government and all your other personal demons reflects poorly on you.
Tobacco is a poison and if it is to be legal it should be taxed at a rate to produce funding to offset the medical costs to all due to those that smoke, chew, spit, etc. This is true of alcohol and sugar based products. The intelligent and progressive society encourages health and discourages the consumption of poisons. Taxation to offset cost is the first and most intelligent way to do this. Yes, education is important and can be funded through taxation. In other words, Big Tobacco should pay for the damage they do. The people should pay for their poisonous habits and directly or indirectly for the medical costs due to their addictions. It’s called ‘pay at the pump’, and it is just as right wing as left wing.
It has been statistically proven that the rise of tobacco prices or the cost of a smoke has reduced smoking and related health costs, costs that we all pay. It has been statistically proven that education and regulations reducing advertising reduces smoking and related health costs, costs that we all pay.
Instead of whining about the government and regulations why not focus on promoting that part of government that is necessary and works and criticizing that part of government that may not be necessary and/or doesn’t work.
As parents we brought up our son to believe that McDonalds and other fast food was poison. We also applauded every regulation by the government pertaining to the control of what we eat. He is more health conscious than us. We routinely get lectured on food, fitness, and lifestyle. We believe that there should be more government control in what we ingest. We didn’t have to teach much regarding tobacco as our society, thanks to the progressives, does a pretty good job there. It is the job and responsibility of both the I and the We.
Nick, progress is not all bad. Say it with me. Progress is not all bad.
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issac –
When a bona fide, good for all, progressive proposition came from the President or the Democrats the Republicans would fight it, turn the attention to all the other baggage in their cart, and hold the American people hostage until they got what they wanted. Republicans or libertarians or tea baggers would point to all sorts of unrelated issues to take the focus off of the valid issue at hand.
The major point you are missing, issac, is that there is NO good for all progressive proposition from anyone.
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DBQ, The ADA was not designed to require every pool to have a lift, and the thousands of insane rules because of ADA, but it has. ADA was not designed to make plaintiff’s attorneys rich, but it has. We all know w/ what the road to hell is paved. The ADA was well intended. Look @ it 25 years later.
And Squeek, are you seeing the real agenda here? There are these reasons who the obvious remedy will not work. I have spent my entire professional career seeking the truth. If this was about children then “Children” would have led off the title. We say what is most important to us, first. We do what is most important to us, first. And, if it were about children this would have included children working in the myriad other agricultural fields where pesticides and herbicides are used. This is about banning evil tobacco.
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Child labor laws were not designed with babysitting or paper routes in mind.
Too bad that is how they are applied now though.
Child labor laws are a necessary thing. No one wants to see little children working in the mines, exposed to toxic substances or in jobs that are harmful to children. Over application of the laws into areas that they were not intended, such as snow shoveling or lawn mowing, is just another instance of “mission creep”.
According to this it is illegal for your grandkids to mow your lawn for you in some areas. Sheesh.
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@Elaine M:
You’re right, protective gear in that climate would cause heat stroke. I picked tobacco as a sophomore in High School in NC. But we quickly learned to protect ourselves no matter what: long sleeves, jeans, and a hat. I see no mention of just how nasty a plant tobacco really is. If you walk down a row in short sleeves and no hat, the hair on your arms and head is black with tar by the end. Good luck trying to wash it out-we used kerosene to remove it. Then there are the caterpillars, the snakes, the shared waterjug, & the crap in the rows (there’s nowhere else to go). Heat stroke was a bit down on my list of worries, but teens don’t know any better.
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Squeek, Did you see the “Blah, Blah, Blah” witty retort? Remember that a couple weeks ago? LOL.
Child labor laws were not designed with babysitting or paper routes in mind.
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new CFL light bulbs we have to buy.
You don’t have to buy those toxic POS bulbs. I stocked up on incandescent light bulbs before they were banned. I probably have enough to last me for the rest of my life 🙂 We only use florescent bulbs in a few locations in the house or shop. And when it is time to replace them…..forget the hazmat procedures. We just throw them in the dump trailer and off they go. Too bad.
It’s the dew from the plants and wearing waterproof clothing for child workers would be dangerous also, hyperthermia is a real possibility. As well as any fungus based ailment that would be a real possibility under any waterproof garment. It’s not at all surprising to see the people who dismiss concerns regarding child labor are the same ones who advocate all manner of callous inhumane treatment of others on a regular basis. I think this selfish disregard is the hallmark of a certain kind of political philosophy and they are losing ground, thank goodness.
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@NickS
True. Simple safety regulations and reasonable protocols would probably prevent a lot of this.
We probably need the same type of training for the new CFL light bulbs we have to buy.
Before Cleanup
Have people and pets leave the room.
Air out the room for 5-10 minutes by opening a window or door to the outdoor environment.
Shut off the central forced air heating/air-conditioning system, if you have one.
Collect materials needed to clean up broken bulb:
stiff paper or cardboard;
sticky tape;
damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes (for hard surfaces); and
a glass jar with a metal lid or a sealable plastic bag.
After Cleanup
Promptly place all bulb debris and cleanup materials, including vacuum cleaner bags, outdoors in a trash container or protected area until materials can be disposed of. Avoid leaving any bulb fragments or cleanup materials indoors.
Next, check with your local government about disposal requirements in your area, because some localities require fluorescent bulbs (broken or unbroken) be taken to a local recycling center. If there is no such requirement in your area, you can dispose of the materials with your household trash.
If practical, continue to air out the room where the bulb was broken and leave the heating/air conditioning system shut off for several hours.
The hot climates where tobacco flourishes make protective gear impractical. Nicotine is water-soluble, so protective clothing must be waterproof. Meaningful protection would also have to cover the workers from head to toe, since tobacco plants are tall and grow close together. Such outfits would likely cause heat stroke. Many employers do not provide protective gear — the report found that the workers often brought their own black plastic garbage bags to wear as protection from wet leaves.
*****
Most children who harvest tobacco are poor and lack health insurance. The children in the HRW report were, on average, 13 when they started picking tobacco. Nearly all were Hispanic, the ethnic group least likely to have healthcare coverage. Four out of five were U.S. citizens, according to Arcury, but many were the children of undocumented immigrants.
Few of the young people interviewed had sought medical care after bouts of Green Tobacco Sickness. And agricultural workplaces are so lightly regulated that 77 percent of illnesses and injuries among agricultural workers are not reported, a study from the University of California, Davis, found.
Toxic jobs should not be done by children and adults who are exposed to toxicity should have all the protections available to prevent them from coming to harm while on the job. It isn’t JUST tobacco which is toxic. There are many other necessary occupations that have dangerous exposures. Someone has to do the dirty jobs. They should be done safely and will all protections available.
While some people, like myself, think that there are far too many government regulations and interference in free enterprise and in micromanaging of our daily lives, I think that regulations for job safety and health of the worker are very important. OSHA and other rules to prevent employees from being harmed are to most extents necessary. My husband works in a field that has significant exposure to dangerous substances and fumes in some of his jobs. Protection of the employee (himself) is paramount. Hard hats, protective clothing and ventilation equipment is used.
However, there is no reason that children should not be able to work in many instances or create their own jobs. As we discussed in the yesterday posting: selling lemonade, babysitting, mowing lawns, doing yard work, working on the family farm, helping in a restaurant or working in other businesses. As long as the job isn’t significantly dangerous, harmful to their health or overly taxing children should be allowed to be gainfully occupied. It is a good life lesson and builds responsibility as well as earning their OWN money.
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According to this study, “nearly three quarters of those interviewed reported sudden onsets of serious illnesses—including nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, headaches, dizziness, skin rashes, difficulty breathing, irritations to their eyes and mouths—while working in the fields of tobacco plants and barns with dried tobacco leaves and tobacco dust. Many of these symptoms are consistent with acute nicotine poisoning.”
Now why the devil didn’t these people take these kids to a doctor if they were that concerned about them?
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NIck
Yeah, children and ponies, in the coal mines. It toughens them up, builds character, and they die young of lung disease so it doesn’t cost the health care industry much at all.
Yeah, children and toxic substances so they don’t get too smart and become progressive.
Yeah, no government, leave it all to the golden rule, ‘He who has the gold, makes the rules.’
As an assistant to regulation, I wonder sometimes where you come from.
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“Workers can avoid this sickness by not harvesting when the crop is wet or wearing rain suits.” THERE YOU GO. I will assume this is a real sickness for the sake of trying to get along. So, I would favor regulations mandating no harvesting when wet, or rain suits when it is. Problem solved? Of course not. This isn’t about the sickness, this isn’t about “the children,” this is about banning tobacco.
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Blah, blah, blah.
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Isaac just proved my point like the Education Industry bureaucrat writing for Salon proved Seinfeld’s point. Liberals hate freedom and love control. Almost all Isaac’s “Yes’s” were really “No’s.” It’s about control. Liberals are control freaks. I avoid control freaks in my personal life and will stop control freaks in govt. by any means necessary. Thanks dude, you always come through in the clutch. You’re our George Brett, best clutch hitter in my lifetime.
Yesterday, June 12th, marked World Day Against Child Labor. For this occasion I highlight the plight of young children employed to work in the tobacco agribusiness in the United States. It is estimated, by Deutsche Welle, that 500,000 children labor in this market; most are exposed to hazardous conditions ranging from exposure to high levels of nicotine and pesticides, farm implements, and long working hours among others. Variances in the standard federal child labor standards permit tobacco growers to employ children–some of whom are under twelve years in age.
Resulting from these exposures, often from unprotected skin and lax safety policies, children suffer often from a condition known as Green Tobacco Sickness. This illness is an occupational disease caused by workers absorbing nicotine through their skin after prolonged exposure to the plants. These symptoms, references earlier, are identified by Public and Occupation health officials. The long term effects are currently unknown though other studies on the usage of tobacco products (such as smoking) in adolescents may have links to complications in brain development. Public health research indicates that non-smoking workers in tobacco agriculture have similar levels of nicotine in their bodies as do smokers in the general population.
The introduction of labor contractors, those who sell labor for a fixed price to farmers and where the workers are actually the employees of the contractor, has provided an opportunity for exploitation. Since these contractors retain earnings based on the margin between the revenue from the farm and the labor costs they endure, the temptation to extract more earnings often becomes high; especially in light of the fact that most workers are of an economic underclass that is less likely to report labor abuses and especially in the case of children having not the life experience or foreknowledge of what constitutes a proper and healthy working environment.
This is an important study. I had never heard of Green Tobacco Sickness. However, I do have some firsthand experience with child agricultural labor.
My family at one time lived in Hatfield, Massachusetts, a small, mostly Polish farming community lying along the Connecticut River outside of Northampton. As Nick noted earlier, the Connecticut River Valley was once home to numerous wrapper leaf tobacco farms. Our next door neighbor in Hatfield was a farm manager for Consolidated Cigar Corporation, one of the largest growers in the area. When I finished my freshman year in college in the spring of 1966, our neighbor arranged a summer job for me with CCC. My job title was “straw boss.” Each morning I drove a small school bus to a company-owned dormitory where I picked up 15 to 20 kids and took them to whatever field we were working that day. I would then supervise their work and drive them back to the dormitory at the end of the day. The dormitory was owned by CCC and the kids were provided lodging and meals for the summer. I have no idea whether they were charged for room and board.
The kids I supervised were from 13 to 15 years of age. All of them were white and came from poor families in West Virginia. As I got to know them, I learned that what they earned during the summer was literally used to supplement their families’ incomes. Some of the kids had come to Massachusetts to work tobacco for several summers and had older brothers who had worked tobacco before them.
The work and the conditions were hard. Wrapper leaf tobacco is shade grown, which means that it is hot and very humid, with little air movement. The kids would pull and box leaves from the bottom of each plant, which often required going up and down each row on hands and knees. The leaves had to be laid in the boxes in a prescribed manner and, once filled, the boxes were stacked at the end of the rows, where they would be counted, loaded on trucks and carried to barns to be hung and dried. My job was to walk up and down the rows to make certain that the work was being done thoroughly and properly and to supervise lunch breaks.
Although I was paid an hourly wage, plus an additional amount for driving the bus, the kids were paid on a piece work basis. That meant that a kid who got sick and missed a day earned nothing. The kids wore their own clothes and were not provided gloves or any protective gear. I thought nothing of that at the time and certainly was not aware that exposure to wet tobacco and tobacco dust presented any sort of health risks.
That summer was truly an eye opener for me. I asked many questions and got to know most of the kids pretty well. They hated the work, but were there out of necessity. Most of them were educationally far behind where I had been at their ages and they harbored no illusions about their futures. I do not recall any of them talking about wanting to go to college. Their visions were limited to finishing high school, getting married and settling in to fairly marginal existences in rural West Virginia. I came away from that experience with a new appreciation for my own good fortune and an understanding of the randomness of circumstance.
http://www.tobaccoreporter.com/2015/05/altria-shareholders-vote-down-farm-labor-issues/
“At the Altria Group’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders yesterday, shareholders voted to defeat three stockholder proposals that had urged the company to take action on farm labor issues and tobacco use among the poor, according to a story by John Reid Blackwell for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Shareholders also voted down a proposal put forward by the AFL-CIO (The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations) that would have required the company to publish a report on steps it has taken to address ‘green tobacco sickness’, which sometimes occurs when farm workers absorb nicotine through the skin after handling tobacco.
A third shareholder proposal was put forward by CHE Trinity Health, a Catholic health care organization, asking the company to prepare educational and tobacco-cessation materials for smokers who ‘live below the poverty line or have little formal education’. That proposal was defeated, too.”
Nick
You sound like the Republican Party for the past decade or so. When a bona fide, good for all, progressive proposition came from the President or the Democrats the Republicans would fight it, turn the attention to all the other baggage in their cart, and hold the American people hostage until they got what they wanted. Republicans or libertarians or tea baggers would point to all sorts of unrelated issues to take the focus off of the valid issue at hand.
Regardless of what you, in your lifelong search for the truth, think the article is about the unhealthy conditions suffered by those who work with tobacco. The focus on the children is unique in that not only are children employed in the industry but underage as well, and they suffer perhaps the most as the poisons that they ingest, they ingest during their formative years. The article includes the disgusting conditions people and children suffer to keep ‘smokes’ cheaper. It includes the fact that children as young as seven work in these conditions, and it includes the fact that the industry cheats workers out of wages. What it doesn’t include is that the necessary regulation and policing of the industry is not performed by the government as it should be done is due to the fact that Tobacco lobbyists buy and sell our elected representatives, especially those in the tobacco growing areas. Yeah, let’s reduce regulation and get those kids back into the mines.
For you to become so incensed and turn this against the government and all your other personal demons reflects poorly on you.
Tobacco is a poison and if it is to be legal it should be taxed at a rate to produce funding to offset the medical costs to all due to those that smoke, chew, spit, etc. This is true of alcohol and sugar based products. The intelligent and progressive society encourages health and discourages the consumption of poisons. Taxation to offset cost is the first and most intelligent way to do this. Yes, education is important and can be funded through taxation. In other words, Big Tobacco should pay for the damage they do. The people should pay for their poisonous habits and directly or indirectly for the medical costs due to their addictions. It’s called ‘pay at the pump’, and it is just as right wing as left wing.
It has been statistically proven that the rise of tobacco prices or the cost of a smoke has reduced smoking and related health costs, costs that we all pay. It has been statistically proven that education and regulations reducing advertising reduces smoking and related health costs, costs that we all pay.
Instead of whining about the government and regulations why not focus on promoting that part of government that is necessary and works and criticizing that part of government that may not be necessary and/or doesn’t work.
As parents we brought up our son to believe that McDonalds and other fast food was poison. We also applauded every regulation by the government pertaining to the control of what we eat. He is more health conscious than us. We routinely get lectured on food, fitness, and lifestyle. We believe that there should be more government control in what we ingest. We didn’t have to teach much regarding tobacco as our society, thanks to the progressives, does a pretty good job there. It is the job and responsibility of both the I and the We.
Nick, progress is not all bad. Say it with me. Progress is not all bad.
issac –
The major point you are missing, issac, is that there is NO good for all progressive proposition from anyone.
DBQ, The ADA was not designed to require every pool to have a lift, and the thousands of insane rules because of ADA, but it has. ADA was not designed to make plaintiff’s attorneys rich, but it has. We all know w/ what the road to hell is paved. The ADA was well intended. Look @ it 25 years later.
http://www.expertlaw.com/library/employment/child_labor.html
And Squeek, are you seeing the real agenda here? There are these reasons who the obvious remedy will not work. I have spent my entire professional career seeking the truth. If this was about children then “Children” would have led off the title. We say what is most important to us, first. We do what is most important to us, first. And, if it were about children this would have included children working in the myriad other agricultural fields where pesticides and herbicides are used. This is about banning evil tobacco.
Child labor laws were not designed with babysitting or paper routes in mind.
Too bad that is how they are applied now though.
Child labor laws are a necessary thing. No one wants to see little children working in the mines, exposed to toxic substances or in jobs that are harmful to children. Over application of the laws into areas that they were not intended, such as snow shoveling or lawn mowing, is just another instance of “mission creep”.
http://www.ktiv.com/story/17961763/can-kids-under-16-legally-mow-their-parents-lawn
According to this it is illegal for your grandkids to mow your lawn for you in some areas. Sheesh.
@Elaine M:
You’re right, protective gear in that climate would cause heat stroke. I picked tobacco as a sophomore in High School in NC. But we quickly learned to protect ourselves no matter what: long sleeves, jeans, and a hat. I see no mention of just how nasty a plant tobacco really is. If you walk down a row in short sleeves and no hat, the hair on your arms and head is black with tar by the end. Good luck trying to wash it out-we used kerosene to remove it. Then there are the caterpillars, the snakes, the shared waterjug, & the crap in the rows (there’s nowhere else to go). Heat stroke was a bit down on my list of worries, but teens don’t know any better.
Squeek, Did you see the “Blah, Blah, Blah” witty retort? Remember that a couple weeks ago? LOL.
http://youtu.be/Y3ukI3ay_ys
Child labor laws were not designed with babysitting or paper routes in mind.
new CFL light bulbs we have to buy.
You don’t have to buy those toxic POS bulbs. I stocked up on incandescent light bulbs before they were banned. I probably have enough to last me for the rest of my life 🙂 We only use florescent bulbs in a few locations in the house or shop. And when it is time to replace them…..forget the hazmat procedures. We just throw them in the dump trailer and off they go. Too bad.
You can still buy incandescent bulbs.
http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Arough%20service%20light%20bulbs
It’s the dew from the plants and wearing waterproof clothing for child workers would be dangerous also, hyperthermia is a real possibility. As well as any fungus based ailment that would be a real possibility under any waterproof garment. It’s not at all surprising to see the people who dismiss concerns regarding child labor are the same ones who advocate all manner of callous inhumane treatment of others on a regular basis. I think this selfish disregard is the hallmark of a certain kind of political philosophy and they are losing ground, thank goodness.
@NickS
True. Simple safety regulations and reasonable protocols would probably prevent a lot of this.
We probably need the same type of training for the new CFL light bulbs we have to buy.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Regarding the wearing of protective gear:
The hot climates where tobacco flourishes make protective gear impractical. Nicotine is water-soluble, so protective clothing must be waterproof. Meaningful protection would also have to cover the workers from head to toe, since tobacco plants are tall and grow close together. Such outfits would likely cause heat stroke. Many employers do not provide protective gear — the report found that the workers often brought their own black plastic garbage bags to wear as protection from wet leaves.
*****
Most children who harvest tobacco are poor and lack health insurance. The children in the HRW report were, on average, 13 when they started picking tobacco. Nearly all were Hispanic, the ethnic group least likely to have healthcare coverage. Four out of five were U.S. citizens, according to Arcury, but many were the children of undocumented immigrants.
Few of the young people interviewed had sought medical care after bouts of Green Tobacco Sickness. And agricultural workplaces are so lightly regulated that 77 percent of illnesses and injuries among agricultural workers are not reported, a study from the University of California, Davis, found.
http://www.healthline.com/health-news/us-child-workers-sickened-by-tobacco-072714
Toxic jobs should not be done by children and adults who are exposed to toxicity should have all the protections available to prevent them from coming to harm while on the job. It isn’t JUST tobacco which is toxic. There are many other necessary occupations that have dangerous exposures. Someone has to do the dirty jobs. They should be done safely and will all protections available.
While some people, like myself, think that there are far too many government regulations and interference in free enterprise and in micromanaging of our daily lives, I think that regulations for job safety and health of the worker are very important. OSHA and other rules to prevent employees from being harmed are to most extents necessary. My husband works in a field that has significant exposure to dangerous substances and fumes in some of his jobs. Protection of the employee (himself) is paramount. Hard hats, protective clothing and ventilation equipment is used.
However, there is no reason that children should not be able to work in many instances or create their own jobs. As we discussed in the yesterday posting: selling lemonade, babysitting, mowing lawns, doing yard work, working on the family farm, helping in a restaurant or working in other businesses. As long as the job isn’t significantly dangerous, harmful to their health or overly taxing children should be allowed to be gainfully occupied. It is a good life lesson and builds responsibility as well as earning their OWN money.
Now why the devil didn’t these people take these kids to a doctor if they were that concerned about them?
NIck
Yeah, children and ponies, in the coal mines. It toughens them up, builds character, and they die young of lung disease so it doesn’t cost the health care industry much at all.
Yeah, children and toxic substances so they don’t get too smart and become progressive.
Yeah, no government, leave it all to the golden rule, ‘He who has the gold, makes the rules.’
As an assistant to regulation, I wonder sometimes where you come from.
“Workers can avoid this sickness by not harvesting when the crop is wet or wearing rain suits.” THERE YOU GO. I will assume this is a real sickness for the sake of trying to get along. So, I would favor regulations mandating no harvesting when wet, or rain suits when it is. Problem solved? Of course not. This isn’t about the sickness, this isn’t about “the children,” this is about banning tobacco.
Blah, blah, blah.
Isaac just proved my point like the Education Industry bureaucrat writing for Salon proved Seinfeld’s point. Liberals hate freedom and love control. Almost all Isaac’s “Yes’s” were really “No’s.” It’s about control. Liberals are control freaks. I avoid control freaks in my personal life and will stop control freaks in govt. by any means necessary. Thanks dude, you always come through in the clutch. You’re our George Brett, best clutch hitter in my lifetime.