Majority Democrats Vote Down Sweeping Repeal of Child Labor Laws

The Maine House and Senate have voted on party lines to defeat two bills that would repeal child labor protections. The Maine House voted 74-65 and the Senate voted 21-13 to reject LD 644 An Act to Expand Employment Opportunities for Minor Students by Eliminating Certain Work Limitations, sponsored by Rep. Alicia Collins (R-Sidney), which would have repealed child labor laws for minors who are 16 and 17 years old. Rep. Nathan Carlow (R-Buxton) was the sole Republican who joined Democrats in opposing the bill. Rep. Sharon Frost (U-Belgrade) joined Republicans in supporting it.

LD 644 would eliminate the law that limits the number of hours 16 and 17-year olds can work to no more than 24 hours a week when school is in session, more than six hours a day when school is in session and no more than 50 hours a week and ten hours a day when school is not in session. It would also repeal the law that states children cannot work more than six consecutive days. Finally it would repeal the law that states children under 17 cannot work when school is in session and eliminates all record keeping rules for child labor.

In a separate vote, the Maine Senate voted 20-14 to reject Rep. David Boyer’s (R-Poland) bill LD 618, which would allow minors under 16 years of age to work until 9pm during the school year and until 10 p.m. during summer vacation.
 

Testifying in support of LD 644, Rep. Alicia Collins said that Maine’s truancy rate is 9.5 percent, so allowing employers to have them work long hours and late nights would keep them out of trouble (instead of, for example, maybe helping them get back into school or get their GEDs).

“Picture it! Skowhegan Maine. The year is 1909. You walk into the local store and a 12-year-old waits on you. Her name is Margaret Chase,” she said. “At about the same time, my grandfather, Robert Leab, was graduating from the 8th grade. Preparing himself for a life of dairy farming and raising five children.”

The bipartisan measure was co-sponsored by Senators Scott Cyrway (R-Kennebec) and Dick Bradstreet (R-Kennebec) and Reps. Gary Drinkwater (R-Milford), Sharon Frost (U-Belgrade), Kimberly Haagan (R-Hampden), Rachel Henderson (R-Rumford), Wayne Parry (R-Arundel), Jennifer Poirier (R-Skowhegan), and David Rollins (D-Augusta). Rollins ultimately ended up voting to reject the bill. See how your legislator voted here. The bill was supported by the Maine State Chamber of Commerce and the Maine Policy Institute, a billionaire-funded organization that runs the anti-labor website the Maine Wire.

Testifying against the measure, Dillan Murray of the Maine Department of Labor said that LD 644 would eliminate protections that ensure minors are not working excessive hours that interfere with their education and well-being.

“The bill also removes provisions that prevent minors from working during school hours, effectively allowing them to work at any time, which could negatively impact school attendance and performance, especially for minors experiencing poverty and may contribute to their household income,” Murray said. “Additionally, record-keeping requirements for employers hiring minors would be repealed, reducing oversight and accountability in youth employment.”

Andy:On a personal note, my late father submitted testimony in 2011 opposing legislation to repeal child labor protections, citing his personal experience working as a teenager in the 1950s in Augusta. Because his parents made him work late every day after school to help pay rent, his grades slipped and he was forced to quit school sports that he had excelled in. He went from receiving good marks to graduating last in his class from Cony High School. In the end, he was able to get a college degree after a commanding officer in the army encouraged him to use the GI Bill to take college classes. But generations of Maine kids were not so lucky. As he often said, working all of the time as a teenager didn’t teach him the value of work. It taught him that employers will exploit children and young people for the labor for profit if allowed to freely do so.

And contrary to Rep. Alicia Collins' claims, the early 1900s were not the "good ol' days" for child laborers. Just take a look at Lewis Hine's photos of child workers in the Lewiston textile mills and Eastport fish canneries. Maine's Labor Movement fought to strengthen laws to protect children and  young adults from exploitation to ensure they could get an education and have a childhood. We won't go back.