US: Iowa passes controversial bill to allow teens to work longer hours, serve alcohol

Lawmakers in USA's Iowa state senate on Tuesday passed a controversial bill that allows minors to work longer hours andserve alcohol in restaurants, which is banned under current labour laws. The bill passed 32-17 with most Republicans supporting it barring two.

Sens. Charlie McClintock and Jeff Taylor protested against the legislation and joined the Democratic party in the opposition. Under the bill's language, minors between 16 and 17 will be allowed to work till 9:00 pm during the school year and until 11:00 pm over the summer. Kids in the same age bracket can serve alcohol at restaurants if their parents sign a declaration, granting them permission.

Additionally, the bill states that anyone under the age of 18 can do 'light' assembly line or packaging work s long as machines are not involved. It prohibits 14 and 15-year-olds from any mining or manufacturing work.

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To become a law, the bill will have to be passed by the House, which may not be a big issue since it is controlled by the Republicans. Afterwards, Governor Kim Reynolds will have to approve the law and she appears to be in its favour.

“Ultimately, parents and kids will decide if they want to work or not. It teaches the kids a lot. And if they have the time to do it and they want to earn some additional money, I don’t think we should discourage that," said Reynolds.

Democrats against the legislation

Democrats have staunchly protested against the legislation saying it will endanger children by allowing them to work in dangerous fields.

“No Iowa teenager should be working in America’s deadliest jobs.Iowa Republican politicians want to solve the...workforce crisis on the literal backs of children," saidZach Wahls, the senate minority leader.

The Democrats attempted to include additional amendments to the bill like offering additional workers' compensation benefits to any teen that got injured on the job but could not be successful.

"Every parent wants their kids to grow up with every opportunity to succeed, not risk an early death by working in dangerous jobs.The legislation passed by the Senate tonight is every parent's worst nightmare," Charlie Wishman, the president of the Iowa Federation of Labor AFL-CIO was quoted as saying by Insider.

ALSO READ |US moves to contain 'alarming' increase in child labour

Since 2018, the number of illegally employed minors has increased by two-thirds in the USA. This uptick in child labour coincided with the massive influx of unaccompanied children trying to escape poverty and violence in Latin America. In the last fiscal year alone, 130,000 children were referred to US government shelters.

(With inputs from agencies)

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