CONTACT: Cleo Manuel, NCL, 202-835-3323, ext. 114

Diane Mull, AFOP, 703-528-4141, ext 101

Washington, D.C...December 14, 1997...Today, the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs and the National Consumers League launched the Children in the Fields: End Exploitation of Children in Agriculture Campaign. Hundreds of organizations, concerned individuals, and farmworkers join in protesting the deplorable abuse of children who work in agriculture and the inaction of the Administration, Congress, industry, and the public to address the problem. Agriculture is a $25 billion dollar industry in the United States. According to a recent Associated Press study, U.S. industries profits from the work of children in savings of $155 million each year.

"Hired child labor in agriculture is one of the most significant abuses in the United States," says Diane Mull, executive director of the AFOP. "This affects thousands of children, but the predominant response has been to turn a blind eye to the problem." The campaign strongly endorses responsible action from government, industry, and corporations. "The government must ensure that children are protected, as well as provide educational programs to encourage kids to stay in school. Moreover, you cannot help the children of farmworkers without providing economic justice for the farmworker families," says Mull. Industry and corporate response must include steps to remove children from the fields and into schools. "Just removing children from the fields or throwing farmworker families out of work or bringing in foreign labor to take their place is not acceptable. The industry must commit to improving the working conditions and economic opportunities for farmworker families."

"For the American consumer who purchases fresh produce or processed food in their grocery stores, the true cost of what they buy is hidden," says Linda Golodner, president of the NCL. NCL for nearly 100 years has represented consumers who care about the conditions under which products are manufactured. "Recent progress on ending sweatshops can be credited to consumers who spoke out and demanded change," says Golodner. "Consumers who want assurance that the food products they buy are free of child labor and friendly to farmworker families must be willing to demand it from corporations and grocery stores as well."

The campaign calls upon local, state and federal governments, consumers, and industry to ensure the health and safety of children and youth that work as hired workers in agriculture. "The children and youth of our nation are our most precious resource and we cannot allow them to be exploited for any reason, but especially not for economic gain," said Mull. "If all the players commit to working together, there is no doubt this problem can be solved."

Campaign Expectations:

• enact legislation that will improve and strengthen child labor protections for children who work as hired workers in agriculture.

• ensure economic justice for farmworker families by requiring that they are covered under federal minimum wage, overtime, workers and unemployment compensation, and health/medical legislation.

• eliminate the H-2A Foreign Guestworker program and redirect the emphasis and resources toward development of an effective recruitment system to identify American domestic farmworkers for American agricultural jobs.

• guarantee the right of education and training for the 65% of farmworker children and youth who drop out of school by establishing a stipend-based education and training program through the JTPA statute 402.

• take steps to significantly improve the enforcement of child labor and other labor standard protections for farmworkers and raise fines and penalities to a level that deters violations.

• provide adult farmworkers with a living wage and safe working conditions.

• ensure that all sectors in the agricultural industry and related corporations are aware of the negative aspects of exploitative child labor.

• work with campaign organizers to establish an independent monitoring mechanism to ensure that commodities are produced without child labor and are farmworker friendly.

• require that agricultural industry produce and manufacture fruits and vegetables that are free from child labor and harvested under conditions that are farmworker friendly.

• ensure consumers are provided with agricultural produce and commodities that are child labor free.

Please visit the web sites listed on this press release for more information on:

• Children in the Fields: End Exploitation of Children in Agriculture campaign

• Statistics from AFOP's National Farmworker Database

• Fact sheet on the problem of child labor in agriculture

• Guest Editorial on what consumers can do

• Child Labor Coalition's 1997 survey of state labor departments

• Highlights of the Child Labor Coalition's Model State Child Labor Law

• Guest Editorial on educational programs needed and responsible action to help migrant and seasonal child farmworkers

Web Sites:

The Children in the Fields campaign is a project of the national Child Labor Coalition. The campaign was formed in 1997 and the Child Labor Coalition was founded in 1989. The CLC is comprised of 53 organizations who share a common objective in raising the protections of children and youth who work and ending child labor exploitation.

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America's pioneer consumer organization. NCL's three-pronged approach of research, education and advocacy has made it an effective representative and source of information for consumers and workers. NCL is a private, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to representing consumers on issues of concern.