The trend of exploiting children, literal children, for
labor is unfortunately becoming more and more popular in several red states.
Many of them have loosened child labor laws, and
Iowa is on the path to do so as well.
In fact, the Senate, the state Senate in Iowa,
has just advanced a bill that would, in fact, loosen child labor laws.
So they're looking to basically have children
as young as 16 work in jobs involving roofing,
demolition, manufacturing.
This is hard labor, okay?
Initially, they wanted children as young, or
teenagers as young as 14 to be able to do these jobs, but
eventually they're like, all right, maybe that's too much, too fast.
Let's go to 16.
So it's advanced in the Senate, and it looks like this is very likely to pass.
We'll see how it plays out.
But I think More Perfect Union did a really, really great job in not only
covering what's happening in Iowa when it comes to this child labor deregulation,
but more importantly, explaining who's behind these efforts.
Let's watch.
>> Why are lawmakers actually doing this?
>> The bill was really spearheaded by the Restaurant Association.
We sort of came along.
We were invited to come along.
>> That's Brad Epperly, a lobbyist who works for
big corporate clients like the Iowa Grocery Industry Association.
He's outright admitting to us that the Iowa Restaurant Association was
the driving force behind this bill.
This child labor law rollback originated at a meeting of
the Iowa Workforce Development Board,
which is overseen by Governor Kim Reynolds.
Most of its members are corporate CEOs and lobbyists, and
they meet up several times a year to come up with new policies.
This bill was a product of a meeting in November.
The WDB is chaired by Jay Iverson,
executive officer of the Association of Iowa Builders.
Hence the emphasis on kids using bandsaws on work sites.
Lobbyists from the Iowa Association of Business and
Industry are well represented on the board,
which gives member corporations like John Deere and Google seats at the table.
And, of course, no race to the bottom would be complete without
the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity and Opportunity Solutions Network.
>> So this is how the game is played.
This is how laws get passed.
It's not about doing right by the very individuals who elected these politicians
into power, it's not about representing them.
It's about representing the moneyed interests that pad their pockets with this
campaign cash.
>> Guys, if you wonder why I go on such a giant warpath against
mainstream media fairly regularly on this show.
Because as you see the money flowing,
it's definitely coming from the Restaurant Association and
the Koch brothers, etc.- >> And developers.
>> It's an organized effort, and they're pushing those
corporate contributions to the politicians who are passing the laws.
What you see in media is, they're just trying to give the kids a chance to work
over the summer, and get some experience so they can get a better job later.
But that's just mythology, and it's not even close to true.
So when you look at how the sausage is actually made with pretty appropriate for
this story, you realize, no, this isn't about.
Golly gee, some of the families in Iowa thought they should work a little bit in
construction when Bob's 16 and get some experience.
No, they're like, hey, the construction industry, their astronaut industry
are like, hey, we need more workers and we need cheap workers.
Get us those little kids, we don't have to pay them that much.
There was another story we did a couple of weeks ago when they found out what jobs
are they?
Is it like, hey at Burger King and you're just flipping burgers for
a second when you're 17 for extra cash?
No, most of the kids were working at meat packing industry,
with blood all over the floor, severed heads, etc.
And why were they working at meat packing?
Cuz they need the money!
>> Cuz they're desperate.
>> Yes, cuz their families are desperate.
And so they need a little bit of extra cash.
ANd corporate power buys off politicians, which creates desperate
situations through the laws of they pass rigging the system.
And then when you get desperate enough, they go, now give me your kids.
This is an absolutely sick system.