by Tom Conway, Inequality.org
Brad Greve has been a Scout leader for more than 20 years. The Davenport, Iowa retiree leads 50-mile canoe trips on Minnesota’s Boundary Waters that test teens’ mettle while teaching them essential skills.
Greve told a story recently where two boys, despite being warned repeatedly, let their canoe drift perilously close to a section of stream that swept over rapids into a lake below. They just barely recovered and made it to streambank.
That near-accident a few years ago, Greve said, underscores the vulnerability of young teens. And it fuels Greve’s anger at Republicans across the country who want to gut child labor laws and fill dangerous jobs with still-maturing high schoolers.
A GOP bill in Iowa, for example, would allow 14-year-olds to work in industrial freezers, meatpacking plants, and industrial laundry operations. The legislation would also put 15-year-olds to work on certain kinds of assembly lines, allow them to hoist up to 50 pounds, and allow employers to force kids into significantly longer work days.
Recent Posts
Angie Nixon Says the Fight for Black Voting Power Demands Elected Officials ‘Get Louder’
Take Action Now As Black Floridians confront shrinking representation and political disillusionment, Nixon says the moment demands persistence.By…
Progressives Saw Wins in DNC, But Battle for the Future of the Party Continues
Take Action Now Resolutions calling to abolish ICE and pushing to block arms sales are laying a progressive groundwork for 2028.By Sam Rosenthal,…
Congress Must Investigate War Profiteers Once Again
Take Action Now Ninety years after the original Nye Committee exposed the arms industry’s corruption, the Pentagon and its contractors are bigger,…
Christa Pike Hospitalized in Critical Condition After Botched Execution
Take Action Now “I’ve never seen anything like what we saw Wednesday night,” said one reporter who witnessed the execution attempt.By Amy Goodman,…