In fact, Michael Schuls, a high school student who had turned 16 just weeks before his death, should never have been trying to unjam a stick stacker machine at Florence Hardwoods in the first place.
In the 1990s, federal watchdogs looking into reports of employers using underage workers would typically find teens working overly long hours in malls, movie theaters and grocery stores; in the worst cases, minors would be discovered in grueling jobs like farming or construction.
Multiple factors are driving the troubling rise in child labor, which conjures images from the turn of the 20th century through the 1930s, when American children 10 and younger commonly worked on farms, on the street and in industrial settings.
In recent years, an influx of migrant children fleeing poverty and violence in Latin America has provided a pipeline of workers for employers willing to exploit them, particularly given that many kids arrive in the U.S. without a parent.
Relatedly, a tight labor market has made it harder for meat processors, farms, roofing contractors and other employers to find workers willing to do physically taxing, often low-paying work.
“There is no excuse for allowing underage workers to operate this type of machinery,” Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su said in a statement earlier this month after Florence Hardwoods agreement was announced.
The original article contains 981 words, the summary contains 219 words. Saved 78%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
In fact, Michael Schuls, a high school student who had turned 16 just weeks before his death, should never have been trying to unjam a stick stacker machine at Florence Hardwoods in the first place.
In the 1990s, federal watchdogs looking into reports of employers using underage workers would typically find teens working overly long hours in malls, movie theaters and grocery stores; in the worst cases, minors would be discovered in grueling jobs like farming or construction.
Multiple factors are driving the troubling rise in child labor, which conjures images from the turn of the 20th century through the 1930s, when American children 10 and younger commonly worked on farms, on the street and in industrial settings.
In recent years, an influx of migrant children fleeing poverty and violence in Latin America has provided a pipeline of workers for employers willing to exploit them, particularly given that many kids arrive in the U.S. without a parent.
Relatedly, a tight labor market has made it harder for meat processors, farms, roofing contractors and other employers to find workers willing to do physically taxing, often low-paying work.
“There is no excuse for allowing underage workers to operate this type of machinery,” Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su said in a statement earlier this month after Florence Hardwoods agreement was announced.
The original article contains 981 words, the summary contains 219 words. Saved 78%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!