labor dept bans kids doing chores on a farm

[Losethem]

Please give us support for this conclusion.

I'll just way one thing... no-bid contracts. That's what I was talking about. Who got most of those? Halliburton.

No conflict of interest there, is there? I bet they got more than what is being railed about here.

--LT

[StefanIsMe]

Gotta say, I'm with Cainanite here.

This line got me:

Prohibit youths from using electronic devices such as cellphones while operating power-driven equipment.

This one is imperative. At work (I work in a print shop with 400 employees), the youth (by that I mean the 18-22 year olds) are the absolute WORST for playing with their fucking cell-phones all day while machinery is running.

We just activated a new rule wherein you get one warning for texting or using a cell phone at work; by "warning", I mean the offender is given a choice, on the first time caught; either give the cellphone to the supervisor and reclaim it at the end of the shift, or go home for the rest of the day. We don't care how important your job is... you go home. That's the first time.

2nd time, no matter who you are, if you're working production (either operating machinery or not) and you're caught playing with a phone, you're fired.

Our management has worked out the metrics, and you would be astounded at the monetary cost of all incidents in the last year at our shop directly attributable to playing with a phone while working.

So, yeah. A child should be banned from this.

And, Moi's right, in my mind. Kids (say, 15 and under), whether raised on a farm or not, have absolutely NO BUSINESS operating loaded grain trucks, tractors without direct supervision, or balers/combines/grain-loaders/ AT ALL. Period. And before any farmers call me out, I was raised rural for several years, and every single year we'd here about some kid in the area being killed. Adults, too.

[Riverwind]

I agree with you on cell phones, you are talking to a person and wait, they have a text message that must be answered now, then you continue talking and a text message, then another, and another, until you would love to take that cell phone and throw it off some cliff, I get it, they are connected, connected to everything but life.

River

[nullorchis]

Since there appears to be a sufficient number of people who do not receive education or training, or who just don't listen or use common sense, at the very least apply warning labels to equipment to the effect certain equipment should only be operated by adults or under adult supervision, and here are the list of things to be aware of that might cause anyone harm or death.

Like, Warning, The steaming beverage in this cup may be scalding hot and if you spill it into your crotch it might destroy your sex organs".

We just have too many laws period, and even good laws are not enforced. They just make someone responsible, liable, and fodder for the courts and attorneys.

the law books would be much smaller if they contained only those things that we were permitted to do.

I guess it is a carry over from religion...........Thou Shall NOT, not do this , not do that, so humans act as if they are a god and make laws, laws, laws. phooey.

[curious1111]

POWER TO THE PEOPLE

pressure applied and Obama backs down labor dept


The Power of Grass Roots: Obama Administration Pulls Overbearing Proposed Rules on Child Labor



Just moments ago US Department of Labor issued a statement withdrawing a proposed rule dealing with children who work on farms and ranches.







Last year thousands of farm and ranch families submitted comments opposing proposed standards for child labor on farm and ranches. In many cases the rules would have prevented family members from working on farms in summer months.



The statement, issued today, reads, "The Obama Administration is firmly committed to promoting family farmers and respecting the rural way of life, especially the role that parents and other family members play in passing those traditions down through the generations. The Obama Administration is also deeply committed to listening and responding to what Americans across the country have to say about proposed rules and regulations. As a result, the Department of Labor is announcing today the withdrawal of the proposed rule dealing with children under the age of 16 who work in agricultural vocations. The decision to withdraw this rule - including provisions to define the 'parental exemption' - was made in response to thousands of comments expressing concerns about the effect of the proposed rules on small family-owned farms. To be clear, this regulation will not be pursued for the duration of the Obama Administration. Instead, the Departments of Labor and Agriculture will work with rural stakeholders - such as the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Farmers Union, the Future Farmers of America, and 4-H - to develop an educational program to reduce accidents to young workers and promote safer agricultural working practices."


At least Obama has some smarts and sees a stupid law when it is presented to him

I think the millions of emails yesterday had something to do with it as well

Farm country is still quite powerful

WE WIN

http://dailycaller.com/2012/04/26/am...ld-labor-rule/

http://www.dol.gov/whd/media/press/w...l/20120426.xml

[Riverwind]

As I said in an earlier post, who or what group was pushing for such a law? Me I always look at the money, insurance companies would love this kind of law because as it sits now they would pay out the nose in an accident, where as if it was against the law they could claim that the did not need to pay because a law was broken, so sense I don't know where this bill started if its a loss for insurance companies then good.


River

[Elizabeth]

POWER TO THE PEOPLE

pressure applied and Obama backs down labor dept


The Power of Grass Roots: Obama Administration Pulls Overbearing Proposed Rules on Child Labor



Just moments ago US Department of Labor issued a statement withdrawing a proposed rule dealing with children who work on farms and ranches.







Last year thousands of farm and ranch families submitted comments opposing proposed standards for child labor on farm and ranches. In many cases the rules would have prevented family members from working on farms in summer months.



The statement, issued today, reads, "The Obama Administration is firmly committed to promoting family farmers and respecting the rural way of life, especially the role that parents and other family members play in passing those traditions down through the generations. The Obama Administration is also deeply committed to listening and responding to what Americans across the country have to say about proposed rules and regulations. As a result, the Department of Labor is announcing today the withdrawal of the proposed rule dealing with children under the age of 16 who work in agricultural vocations. The decision to withdraw this rule - including provisions to define the 'parental exemption' - was made in response to thousands of comments expressing concerns about the effect of the proposed rules on small family-owned farms. To be clear, this regulation will not be pursued for the duration of the Obama Administration. Instead, the Departments of Labor and Agriculture will work with rural stakeholders - such as the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Farmers Union, the Future Farmers of America, and 4-H - to develop an educational program to reduce accidents to young workers and promote safer agricultural working practices."


At least Obama has some smarts and sees a stupid law when it is presented to him

I think the millions of emails yesterday had something to do with it as well

Farm country is still quite powerful

WE WIN

http://dailycaller.com/2012/04/26/am...ld-labor-rule/

http://www.dol.gov/whd/media/press/w...l/20120426.xml

That is so odd to me that you consider it a win to exploit and cause injury to children. I find it absolutely disturbing to force children into doing the work of adults, just to save money. And the fact that it continues and thousands of children will be needless injured by farm equipment is just fine with you, as long as you get free labor. What a win.

Elizabeth

[Cainanite]

This is one of the reasons I don't much like the Obama Administration. They back down too easily. They don't make a case for what they believe in. The people in charge, Obama too, just cave at the first sign of a fight.

They didn't offer to amend the bill, or give reasons for the changes. They just caved.

Of course the bloody bill was 85 pages long. The changes I read were only a couple of bullet points, and those were easy to agree with. I'll admit, I'm too lazy to look up foreign work practice bills, and proposals to read it for myself, but 85 pages to say kids shouldn't be working in dangerous situations seems like a bit much.

Looks like kids will be able to work around threshing equipment with their cell phones out after all. They'll be able to get green tobacco sickness, get sucked into grain silos and drown in corn. Kids with no experience will be able to drive heavy machinery with no roll bars or seat-belts on open and uneven terrain. And, they'll be able to do this far from any parental supervision. What a victory for democracy!

Boy, I'm glad to be Canadian.

[curious1111]

it was unenforceable anyway

who is going to park someone in the outback of montana to check on farmers and if they do show up we do what we do now .....run them off the place as they have no rights without warrants beyond the fence line which is usually miles from the homestead .

as a child i enjoyed driving tractor at 8 years old

when i was 10 i drove combine for 3 solid weeks from 9 am till 9 pm till one night the combine just quit

a coil went out

i had to walk home over the fields 5 miles as i was not old enough to drive the truck down the road....would have loved a cell phone

My life on the farm gave me fond memories and i enjoyed a lot of it

mostly the hunting and fishing especially the fishing

people should not pass laws on people till they walk a day in their shoes as most city folk dont have a clue what the real rural america is like and what our children want to do for fun.

As i said before the atv is the most dangerous machine on the farm as most children consider it a toy and not dangerous which it is.

That is so odd to me that you consider it a win to exploit and cause injury to children. I find it absolutely disturbing to force children into doing the work of adults, just to save money. And the fact that it continues and thousands of children will be needless injured by farm equipment is just fine with you, as long as you get free labor. What a win.

Elizabeth

[Mac]

This is one of the reasons I don't much like the Obama Administration. They back down too easily. They don't make a case for what they believe in. The people in charge, Obama too, just cave at the first sign of a fight.

They didn't offer to amend the bill, or give reasons for the changes. They just caved.

Of course the bloody bill was 85 pages long. The changes I read were only a couple of bullet points, and those were easy to agree with. I'll admit, I'm too lazy to look up foreign work practice bills, and proposals to read it for myself, but 85 pages to say kids shouldn't be working in dangerous situations seems like a bit much.

Looks like kids will be able to work around threshing equipment with their cell phones out after all. They'll be able to get green tobacco sickness, get sucked into grain silos and drown in corn. Kids with no experience will be able to drive heavy machinery with no roll bars or seat-belts on open and uneven terrain. And, they'll be able to do this far from any parental supervision. What a victory for democracy!

Boy, I'm glad to be Canadian.

Most bills are way too long to be clear and effective. They contain way too many unrelated conditions. The healthcare bill with over 1,000 pages is another good example of this. How was anybody able to read and understand it before voting for it? A famous quote by one of it's proponents: "We will have to pass it to see what is in it.".

Is that any way to run the government effectively?

[Riverwind]

Mac, I read the equivalent of a novel a week, this is about 400 pages, I read slow, you make a 1000 page document sound like it would take year and decades to read, NO, a week at most.

Now, I know we have talked about this before but somehow you don't seem to remember.

Each Senator or Congressman have a staff of people that work for them, they debated the health care bill for a year, they all knew everything in the bill before it came to a vote and if they did not its the fault of that Senator or Congressman. If you have herd different from any one of these people in office ------------ THEY LIED and YOU believed them, shame on you.

Bills are written to try and cover every loop hole that anybody can think of, they do this for a living, its not new or something that is bad, it just is the way congress works.


River

[Eunuchorn]

That must have been annoying. I had a coil go out on my bug once. (thank God for AAA) Coils don't usually go out, but when they do, your F-bombed.

[moi621]

Doing manual labor as kids on the family farm is not my issue.
Operating major agricultural machinery or being anywhere near one in operation is.
Does a 12 year old appreciate the threat of a life without arms as an 18 year old?
You can tell both to stay a respectful distance from the hay baler, but . .! <no joke>

Moi

BTW Dr. Paul came out with an outstanding point of opposition. Go Google.

[curious1111]

as a kid who wants to do manual labor


driving the machinery is the cool job
most modern machinery does all the work nowadays with the driver there to turn it on or off and watch the dials and gauges

my neighbor raises grass seed and his children help drive the 6 combines and they are 12 and up in age and they do a fantastic job as i ride along with them sometimes

they just cruise along the fields at 1 or 2 mph with the stereo cranked up and the air conditioning going full bore

the gps in the machines keep them going in a straight line with a few tweeks from the operator and no need to turn the wheel

the operators platform in these new machines are beginning to look like airliner cockpits

i guess thats why the new combines cost 250,000$

[Cainanite]

as a kid who wants to do manual labor


driving the machinery is the cool job
most modern machinery does all the work nowadays with the driver there to turn it on or off and watch the dials and gauges

my neighbor raises grass seed and his children help drive the 6 combines and they are 12 and up in age and they do a fantastic job as i ride along with them sometimes

they just cruise along the fields at 1 or 2 mph with the stereo cranked up and the air conditioning going full bore

the gps in the machines keep them going in a straight line with a few tweeks from the operator and no need to turn the wheel

the operators platform in these new machines are beginning to look like airliner cockpits

i guess thats why the new combines cost 250,000$

Those new machines also have roll bars, safety cages, seat-belts, and in many cases airbags, and emergency alert systems built in (think OnStar for farmers). The old combines were rolling death machines. They were a rickety seat, a steering wheel, and spinning cylinder of sharpened metal at the front. The hopper was big enough to suck a full grown man into, the ogger was sturdy enough to turn a body into hamburger, and even something as simple as a kill switch was unheard of. If you are a farmer and still using one of those, you shouldn't let a kid within a mile of the thing when it is running.

I know a lot of farmers personally. A lot of them are still using their old combines from the seventies and eighties. If they can keep fixing them, they'll save the $250,000 thank you very much.

That is the reason there are still so many rolling death machines on smaller farms. Frankly, I would have felt better if there were some restrictions about keeping kids off of those things.

You are right though. If everyone had one of those new, ultra safe machines, I wouldn't see much of a problem with kids being around them.

Oh well. It seems the US of A has chosen to go the Darwin method of Natural Selection. It is after all, only natural.