Why the Construction Industry Is Relying More on Child Labor

On the morning of April 14 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Amid sweeping cornfields, open sky and the calm, easy way of life that can make the Midwest so charming, Felicia Hilton stepped onto the worksite of Banjo Block, a $49 million mixed-use development funded largely by city and state tax incentives.

1. Accompanied by the Linn County attorney, the vice chair of the state Senate labor committee, and two members of Iowa’s House of Representatives, Hilton began her surprise tour of the sprawling Downtown Cedar Rapids construction site.

As the political director of the North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters

Hilton usually leads elected officials, business people and law enforcement on unannounced visits to contrasting worksites to see the difference between legitimate sites that follow safety and legal precautions and those that do not.

1. That morning at Banjo Block, lawmakers found not only safety and fire concerns throughout the nascent development, but they also came across an underage child serving as a construction worker — a discovery that set off a federal Department of Labor (DOL) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) investigation that is still ongoing. (The story was first reported by The Gazette in Cedar Rapids.)
2. “We found a kid no more than 11 years old,” Hilton told Commercial Observer. “What really triggered the investigation is that elected officials saw the child. If we had seen the child and took a picture, I don’t know what the response would’ve been. We’ve complained about finding kids on job sites numerous times, and nothing has been done.”

Inaction is the rule rather than an anomaly when it comes to child labor in the United States

A phenomenon closely tied to a wave of illegal immigration and illegal migrant work spreading across nearly every state to create a Venn diagram shaded in the center by an unfortunate commonality: undocumented, underage workers.

1. Hilton noted that on one worksite tour her team came across an entire group of child workers who entered into the country illegally from Honduras. Somehow they’d made it north to Iowa.
2. “We see kids all the time,” she said. “Construction has an underground gig economy in it, and it’s mostly undocumented immigrants.”

Peter Hird, secretary and treasurer for the Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO

Described the confluence of illegal immigration, child labor and unregulated construction sites as “a melting pot of misery for workers,” and said that the most egregious violations in the industry never see the light of day.

1. “Nobody really wants to come forward. So much of this is hidden underneath, unless someone goes and investigates it or some kid gets hurt,” Hird said. “On construction sites, there’s not a lot of supervision, no human resources department — there’s nothing like that to watch out for people.”

Moreover, the very nature of the construction industry

With its nebulous labyrinth of contractors and subcontractors, who use union workers and nonunion workers, often day laborers and illegal laborers alike — makes it particularly difficult to police an established set of federal hazardous occupation orders barring those under 18 years old from participating in construction work, or the dozens of hours of mandated OSHA training necessary to perform legal construction work.

1. The industry is anchored by union-approved general contractors, who manage the work, and union subcontractors, who perform the work. But, there’s also an entire tier of general contractors that nefariously use nonunion subcontractors who bid on a job, get the job, and have no other employees except the undocumented and potentially underage laborers brought to them by “labor brokers,” or sponsors of undocumented immigrant adults or children willing to work for low wages.
2. “We do have a lot of subcontractor labor brokers that do hire workers, and they misclassify them on the job site and they pay them whatever they want to pay them,” said an employee at the Central South Carpenters Regional Council, a union representing construction professionals in five Southern states, who asked to remain anonymous. “They 1099 the guys, and the working conditions are not up to par.”

This network of illegal subcontracting of undocumented immigrants, child workers and migrant children

Is often buttressed by numerous other violations that cannot be enforced by federal or local officials, according to public policy research.

1. “The construction contractors hiring teens illegally are nonunion, low-road firms that are often also cutting corners in other ways — violating wage payment laws and OSHA standards, failing to provide proper safety equipment and training, and putting workers of all ages in danger,” said Nina Mast, state economic analyst at the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank, and author of a recent policy paper examining the issue.

Hilton said that, despite her numerous complaints

Very little regulation has been applied to the overwhelming use of child workers and other illegal labor on construction sites in her state. She said that in the last few years, Iowa has gone from 21 DOL site inspectors to seven.

1. “The biggest problem we have with labor laws, in general, is the lack of enforcement,” she said. “Whenever a contractor gets busted, it’s a $500 fine and they move on. It’s the cost of doing business.”

State of play

If the construction industry is rife with contradictions and potential illegalities, then the state legislatures that regulate who can and can’t be hired on worksites have decided to muddy an already dirty pool of water. In fact, construction is just one of myriad blue-collar industries like factory work, packing plants and agriculture that have been upended by an influx of child workers and new laws aimed at accommodating that underage surge.

1. For one, the demand for teenage workers is real. The number of minors employed in violation of child labor laws in fiscal year 2022 increased 37 percent over fiscal year 2021 and 283 percent over fiscal year 2015, according to DOL data found in a recent Economic Policy Initiative report authored by Mast and Jennifer Sherer.
2. In the last two years, at least 10 states have introduced or enacted laws aimed at weakening existing child labor laws, with seven bills introduced in 2023 across six Midwestern states

   SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

   SDGs Addressed in the Article:

   1. SDG 4: Quality Education
   2. SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
   3. SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
   4. SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions

   Targets Identified Based on the Article’s Content:

   • Target 4.1: By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes.
   • Target 8.7: Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labor, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labor, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labor in all its forms.
   • Target 10.7: Facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies.
   • Target 16.2: End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children.

   Indicators Mentioned or Implied in the Article:

   • Indicator 4.1.1: Proportion of children and young people (a) in grades 2/3; (b) at the end of primary; and (c) at the end of lower secondary achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in (i) reading and (ii) mathematics, by sex.
   • Indicator 8.7.1: Proportion and number of children aged 5-17 years engaged in child labor, by sex and age group.
   • Indicator 10.7.1: Recruitment cost borne by employee as a proportion of yearly income earned in country of destination.
   • Indicator 16.2.2: Number of victims of human trafficking per 100,000 population, by sex, age group and form of exploitation.

   Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

   SDGs	Targets	Indicators
   SDG 4: Quality Education	Target 4.1: By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes.	Indicator 4.1.1: Proportion of children and young people (a) in grades 2/3; (b) at the end of primary; and (c) at the end of lower secondary achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in (i) reading and (ii) mathematics, by sex.
   SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth	Target 8.7: Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labor, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labor, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labor in all its forms.	Indicator 8.7.1: Proportion and number of children aged 5-17 years engaged in child labor, by sex and age group.
   SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities	Target 10.7: Facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies.	Indicator 10.7.1: Recruitment cost borne by employee as a proportion of yearly income earned in country of destination.
   SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions	Target 16.2: End abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against and torture of children.	Indicator 16.2.2: Number of victims of human trafficking per 100,000 population, by sex, age group and form of exploitation.

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   Source: commercialobserver.com

    

   

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