Republicans Plan To Roll Back Child Labor Laws & Pay Them Less Than Minimum Wage
By: Desmond Price
Less than one year after approving a state law that loosened child labor restrictions for minors 16 and older, records show the Florida governor’s office pushed for additional rollbacks behind the scenes that could allow employers to schedule workers as young as 14 to work an unlimited number of hours per week, including overnight shifts.
Emails first obtained by Orlando Weekly through a public records request show that staffers within the Executive Office of the Governor emailed draft legislation to two Republican lawmakers this year who later filed the proposal (HB 1225/SB 918) for consideration during the state 2025 legislative session.
The push to weaken child labor law, mirroring similar efforts in other GOP-controlled states, comes at the same time that lawmakers are also considering a proposal that would allow Florida employers to pay young, inexperienced workers less than minimum wage.
Miller, the House sponsor, is a freshman lawmaker and self-described conservative “activist” affiliated with Moms for Liberty — a parental rights group that has allied with DeSantis on issues ranging from censorship in classrooms to the removal of LGBTQ+ and race-related books from school libraries.
“I think every family needs to make that decision for what’s best for them, instead of having the government tell them what's best,” Miller declared, in defense of her sponsored child labor-related bill during a hearing last week. Sen. Collins similarly described the proposal as a way to “stand up for parental rights.”
Last month, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, made national headlines for publicly pitching teenagers as a replacement for “dirt cheap labor” provided by immigrant workers.
“What’s wrong with expecting our young people to be working part-time now? That’s how it used to be when I was growing up,” DeSantis lamented during a forum in Sarasota featuring President Donald Trump’s border czar Tom Homan.
“Why do we say we need to import foreigners, even import them illegally, when teenagers used to work at these resorts? College students should be able to do this stuff.”
Source - Orlando Weekly
My Reaction To This Story
This particular story centers around the children in Florida, but red states across our country have been rolling back child labor laws for several years now.
In 2023, I covered stories about child labor laws being rolled back in Iowa & Arkansas & the backlash they received from those living in those states.
Make No Mistake - this is about creating a cheaper workforce for the billionaire class to exploit, as the Republican Party seeks to further roll back rights, protections & services across the board.
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