Prairie Dog

From the Summer 2024 edition of The Prairie Progressive, Iowa’s oldest progressive newsletter. The PP is  funded entirely by reader subscription, available in hard copy for $15/yr.  Send check to PP, Box 1945, Iowa City 52244. Click here for archived issues

by Kim Painter

This summer in Iowa, the legislative stupid just rolls on. In the last week, we have watched in bemused wonderment as lawmakers, restaurant owners, and lobbyists had a meltdown. Why? Because the feds are enforcing child labor laws – even though Iowa’s GOP passed a state law contravening them, and the lobbyists told the business owners it would all be just fine. Turns out it is not just fine. Illegal staffing has been alleged against some businesses relying on the new state law. Numerous instances are being assessed by the federal government for violations. Penalties could be stiff. As they should be.

Contrary to the belief of Iowa’s GOP legislators, we are not living in a movie production of David Copperfield. It is not what we want as citizens; it is not allowed under federal laws. The fact that so many under the Capitol dome blithely went along with hurtling children into the way back machine, ever closer to 1800s London, is astonishing. Industry excuses, hurriedly composed and articulated this week, are beyond that.

As a vortex of publicity erupted, Iowa’s Restaurant Association began hearing from business owners in their organization who received visits and communications from federal regulators about practices they had adopted upon passage of the new law,
SF 542.

Turns out many felt, and documentation appears to confirm, that the Association at the very least downplayed the risks of adopting the new state law rather than hewing closely to federal guidelines with employees under the age of 16.

At  www.bleedingheartland.com Laura Belin gives the best overview of the bill, its passage, its implementation and how it was communicated to restaurant owners. There are moments when I read her communication from the Association’s President & CEO
Jessica Dunker, where I feel sorry for owner/employers trapped between amped-up GOP lawmakers, their own lobbyists, and the feds. But when you distill it all down to its essence, it appears this is what happened:

Said lawmakers, high on multiple conservative “wins” across federal, state and local governments, went to work to undermine protective child labor laws. They passed their bill and were jubilant about the prospect of clearing so much ‘obstruction’ from the pathways of young people seeking ‘a meaningful work experience.’

The bill was signed by our Governor, always eager to clear obstructive bureaucratic protocols out of the way of ‘common sense’ approaches to government or labor and
working conditions.

As the bill was communicated to business owners, it appears – and Belin shows the work on this – information on how and where the new state law might contradict federal law, and thereby create major trouble for them as employers, was not well done. There were print materials, but none with a simple side-by-side of federal and state regulations. There
was a statement about following federal law whenever that is what “gives the most protection.” It appeared in a section titled “Federal Labor Law.” Prior to this, Belin cites
language that appears to wholly ignore tensions between the two sets of laws on the association’s “Legislative Wins” page.

In short, it would have been terribly easy for a busy employer to miss out on the few, obscure signals that using the Iowa law as a polestar mightcause serious trouble. Now, some owners fear closure as it appears the federal law will be enforced with significant strength.

This boondoggle was created by a political party drunk on its ascension to ever greater power, aided by a statewide association eager to tout a giant legislative “win” to its membership.

Now, the association is crying foul. Dunker argues the kind of enforcement being undertaken in Iowa has not happened in the 19 or so other states where power-drunk GOP
legislatures have similarly vivisected child labor laws. I cannot weep for them on this point. We don’t get to tell the IRS that we know dozens of people in dozens of states who
have failed to declare a, b, or c and were never penalized. That’s just not how life, regulatory structures, tax codes, or basic laws work or have ever worked.

In addition, prior to the bill’s passage, federal regulators chimed warnings to Iowa that the impending law would be “inconsistent with federal child labor law in several respects.’

With warnings, time to spare, and any ‘common sense’ at all, the debacle being faced by some Iowa restaurant owners could have been avoided. It should have been. Their legislators let them down. Their association also appears to have some explaining to
do. Meanwhile Iowa and its child workers, for now, appear safe from a slide back into a very off-off-Broadway production of Little Dorrit.

—Kim Painter migrated to Iowa in 1981.

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Blog for Iowa editor’s note: Action alert from Iowa City Federation of Labor/Johnson County Dems –

**UPDATE – THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO REYNOLDS CANCELLING THE PRESS CONFERENCE**     Series of public forums planned for July & August**

Updated statement from Iowa City Federation of Labor:

Today Governor Reynolds’ office announced cancellation of the press conference she had planned for Monday in North Liberty with the Iowa Restaurant Association. We hope this change of plans also reflects a change of heart and that the Governor and Restaurant Association will cease the disinformation campaign which has encouraged Iowa businesses to violate child labor laws, already resulting in unnecessary dangers to kids and legal problems for Iowa businesses.

In place of Monday’s planned labor community press conference, we invite media and the public to join us for a series of public forums we will host in July and August in partnership with our sister labor federations across the state. These events will expand on information we had planned to share at the press conference, allow for additional Iowa workers to share their experiences with the growing crisis created by the Reynolds administration’s refusal to enforce worker protection laws, and ensure that all Iowans have access to accurate information about workplace rights and how business owners can fully comply with state and federal laws.

We encourage anyone with questions about workplace laws in Iowa to contact us or the other trusted sources of information listed below for assistance:
• Iowa City Federation of Labor: iowacityfedlabor@gmail.com
• U.S. Department of Labor: (515) 284-4625 or1-866-4-USWAGE

Speakers who had planned to participate in Monday’s press conference shared the following comments:

“Our county and cities are proud to provide employment opportunities to scores of young workers who serve our parks and recreations programs and provide other vital public services over the summer. We are equally proud that as employers of teens we follow all labor and employment laws to make sure these jobs are safe and rewarding work experiences for youth, and we expect all employers within Johnson County to do the same.” – Rod Sullivan, Chair, Johnson County Board of Supervisors

“It’s truly outrageous that the Governor of Iowa is telling employers it’s ok to break federal child labor laws. In the past decade I’ve stood with dozens of restaurant, construction, and service workers whose rights have been violated by bad actors. Again and again I’ve seen how our state’s failure to enforce basic workplace laws leaves low-wage workers vulnerable to wage theft, discrimination, or safety hazards—and how often it’s Black, brown, and young workers who experience the worst mistreatment.”—Greg Hearns, Board of Directors, Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa

“Every young person in Iowa deserves the opportunity to gain safe work experience and prepare for career success. It’s why I’ve strongly opposed absurd Republican proposals to put teens in hazardous situations—serving alcohol, driving long distances after late shifts on school nights, working with saws, guillotine shears, explosives, on demolition sites, and more. Iowa Republicans ignored warnings and passed the most extreme child labor laws in the country, but I and other Iowa Democrats won’t stop fighting to restore the commonsense guidelines that young Iowa workers and businesses need to thrive.”—Senator Zach Wahls, (D-District 43)

More info:

https://www.facebook.com/IowaCityFederationofLabor

Event link