WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) introduced the bipartisan Preventing Child Labor Exploitation Act, legislation that would leverage the multi-billion dollars in federal procurement contracts to hold corporations accountable for the exploitation of child workers. The bill would prohibit federal agencies from contracting with companies that have violated federal child labor laws or employ vendors that have failed to address child labor infractions.

Since 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor has seen a 69 percent increase in the illegal employment of children by companies. Recent reporting from NY Times has continued to expose the ongoing child labor exploitation of major corporations, detailing an eighth grader who was killed on the cleaning shift at a Mar-Jac plant in Mississippi in July, a 14-year-old who was hospitalized in Alabama after being overworked at a chicken operation, a 17-year-old in Ohio who had his leg torn off at the knee while cleaning a Case Farms plant, another child who lost a hand in a meat grinder at a Michigan operation, and a 14-year-old who was maimed while working an overnight shift.

“Exploitation of children by big corporations to drive profit is an abhorrent practice, but is not a new one,” said Senator Booker. "Across the country, major corporations are relying on children to clean dangerous machinery, handle toxic chemicals, and work exhausting overnight shifts in their facilities for low wages and no benefits. Often, this work is done in violation of existing federal labor laws, but employers have shielded themselves from any accountability by relying on third-party vendors with long records of labor infractions. Despite efforts by Congress and this Administration to challenge these bad practices, too few companies have taken significant steps to address the ongoing child labor issues in their facilities. That’s why today I am joining Senator Hawley to say that, at a bare minimum, there is no reason that the federal government should contract with companies violating child labor law. We must ensure that federal contracts support good-paying jobs, and do not benefit corporations that continue to rely on children working in dangerous environments."

“Child labor is an abomination and it has no place in our country. Companies that illegally employ children must be held accountable – especially those that contract with the federal government. This bipartisan legislation requires federal contractors to root out child labor in their operations and has the teeth to go after those who don’t comply,” said Senator Hawley.

Specifically, the Preventing Child Labor Exploitation Act would:

  1. Require companies competing for contracts with federal agencies to disclose child labor and worker safety infractions by the company itself as well as by any of their contractors in the preceding three years, with stiff penalties for failure to report.
  2. Empower the Secretary of Labor to determine corrective measures for a company and/or their contractors to remain eligible for the executive agency contracts.
  3. Require the Secretary of Labor to prepare a list of companies that are ineligible for federal contracts for that year based on serious, repeated, or pervasive violations of child labor laws.
  4. Establish transparency measures to ensure executive agency and DOL compliance.
  5. Create a federal study on the prevalence and nature of child labor among federal contractors.

The full text of the bill can be found here