Illegal child labor is surging in WA and across US. Sen. Murray wants to hold businesses accountable

A record 138 businesses in Washington were fined for violating child labor laws last year, the highest number in recent memory, according to U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat.

Murray introduced legislation Thursday to crack down on the growing problem.

“Companies have gotten away with it,” Murray said in an interview with KUOW. “And the more they get away with it and the more they have cheap labor and nobody's noticing you're doing anything, they just keep doing it.”

The CHILD Labor Act, which stands for Children Harmed in Life-Threatening or Dangerous Labor Act, would increase penalties companies pay for violating child labor laws tenfold. The civil penalty for child labor violations would jump from $11,000 to more than $150,000. The criminal penalty fine would balloon from $10,000 to $750,000.

The measure would also expand liability to contractors and subcontractors and give exploited children the right to sue for damages themselves.

Asked whether Murray would try to attach the legislation to a larger budget bill to circumvent disfunction in Congress, she said everything is on the table.

“I will look at every possible road to be able to make sure that people who are using child labor pay the price and that our kids are not being abused in this country,” she said.

Murray may have an ally in the White House. President Joe Biden launched an initiative to rein in child labor earlier this year. The administration is pushing for higher penalties for violating child labor laws and beefing up oversight spending.

Biden announced the new measures after the U.S. Department of labor revealed child labor has increased nearly 70% since 2018. In the last fiscal year, the federal government found 955 violations of child labor law. Often the children work in factories and other potentially hazardous workplaces.

Murray introduced her bill with co-sponsor Sen. Bob Casey, a Democrat from Pennsylvania. The two are seeking additional lawmakers to co-sign the legislation.

“Obviously, our laws are not strong enough to make sure that these companies are not using our kids… as labor,” Murray said. “We need to crack down on this.”