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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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 Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2005 3:57 pm Post subject: Loosened child labour laws: 12 year olds working? In Canada |
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Having trouble finding workers for low-paying tourist industry jobs? No problem. Just change the laws and hire pre-teens.
It's symptomatic of the mindset in that Canadian province.
Alberta is something different:
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/06/24/child-labour-050624.html
| Quote: |
New rules mean 12-year-olds can work in Alberta
Last Updated Fri, 24 Jun 2005 19:27:41 EDT
CBC News
Restaurants in Alberta will now find it easier to hire children as young as 12 as waitresses, dishwashers and other staff, after the province loosened its child-labour rules.
Critics are warning that the new regulation will make it easier to exploit adolescents, who are already considered more vulnerable than older workers.
Under the revised rule put in place June 3, employers in the restaurant and food services industry no longer need to get a government permit to hire employees who are aged 12 to 14.
Kim Alessio, 14, welcomed the change, which led to her landing a job on Thursday at Earls, an upscale chain restaurant in Edmonton.
"I don't think it matters about your age," Alessio said. "I think maturity is the biggest point and that's what they are looking for when they hire you."
Alessio said her boss asked about her extra-curricular activities and made sure she had good grades before hiring her.
Megan Smith, the shift manager at Earls, said employees like Alessio are valuable.
"I think a lot of time, if kids are willing to be getting a job at that age, they are a lot keener, have a lot more energy and they [often] work harder than ... people who are a lot older."
'They don't know their rights'
Labour groups have condemned the change, saying it strips away another level of protection for adolescent workers.
"They're children: they don't know their rights in the workplace," said Gil McGowan, a spokesman for the Alberta Federation of Labour.
"They are much less likely to stand up for themselves against a bullying employer."
McGowan said the change was made without any public consultation.
He said it was little more than a concession to the generally low-paying food service industry, which is struggling to attract workers in Alberta's booming economy. |
Last edited by VanIslander on Sun Jun 26, 2005 7:40 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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funplanet
Joined: 20 Jun 2003
Location: The new Bucheon!
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| Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2005 5:07 pm Post subject: |
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| Good, it'll keep the punks off the streets...put 'em to work, I say! |
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Pyongshin Sangja
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Location: I love baby!
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| Posted: Fri Jun 24, 2005 8:40 pm Post subject: |
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| I started working at 10. By 14 I had three jobs. |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2005 6:12 pm Post subject: |
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It's symptomatic of the mindset in that Canadian province.
Alberta is something different:
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Uhh, VanIslander:
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| The specifics regarding the deregulation of child labour in British Columbia are absolutely breathtaking in their nefariousness and regressive gall; as I've said before elsewhere, it's law-making (or dismantling) that puts the "Dicks in Victoria" back in "Dickensian labour legislation of a Victorian bent." Children as young as twelve are now permitted to work 20 hours every school-week (35 hours in weeks without school, or in the growing number of districts using a four-day week); they require the permission of only one parent to do so; they may work at any time during the day, including graveyard shifts; the only restrictions on what jobs they may work are set by federal legislation governing certain heavy resource extraction like mining and lumber, and by special rules in the film industry. |
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=6198 |
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TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired
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| Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2005 6:34 pm Post subject: |
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I think we are all missing the point here. No one is forcing these children to work. And presumably the parent who allows the child to work there, is going to be casting a critical eye on the safety standards at said place.
Plus can you imagine the PR disaster (and lawsuits) for these places if a child was injured working there? I would imagine most managers would be very careful to see that this child was out of harm's way as much as possible.
If the kid wants to work, that should be his/her choice along with the parents. |
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plokiju
Joined: 15 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Sat Jun 25, 2005 7:34 pm Post subject: |
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| 12 seems a bit too young to be working but as long as they aren't working in factories or are being forced by their parents to help support the family, I think it's ok...maybe. I'd still prefer the permits, just so the government could better monitor the situation. |
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The Great Wall of Whiner
Joined: 24 Jan 2003
Location: Middle Land
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| Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2005 4:39 pm Post subject: |
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| plokiju wrote: |
| 12 seems a bit too young to be working but as long as they aren't working in factories or are being forced by their parents to help support the family, I think it's ok...maybe. I'd still prefer the permits, just so the government could better monitor the situation. |
I worked in restaurants as far back as when I was 14 (Wendy's). To not call a burger joint a factory is misleading, doubly so during lunch rush hour.
Basically, I worked in a hamburger factory. And, I was paid peanuts. |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2005 7:39 pm Post subject: |
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| On the other hand wrote: |
| Quote: |
It's symptomatic of the mindset in that Canadian province.
Alberta is something different:
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Uhh, VanIslander:
| Quote: |
| The specifics regarding the deregulation of child labour in British Columbia are absolutely breathtaking in their nefariousness and regressive gall; as I've said before elsewhere, it's law-making (or dismantling) that puts the "*beep* in Victoria" back in "*beep* labour legislation of a Victorian bent." Children as young as twelve are now permitted to work 20 hours every school-week (35 hours in weeks without school, or in the growing number of districts using a four-day week); they require the permission of only one parent to do so; they may work at any time during the day, including graveyard shifts; the only restrictions on what jobs they may work are set by federal legislation governing certain heavy resource extraction like mining and lumber, and by special rules in the film industry. |
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=6198 |
FRIGGIN' Gordon Campbell. His so-called "B.C. Liberals" is so far to the right that they call Ralf Klein a red.
12 year olds working graveyards? That should be illegal.
And it will be illegal once the NDP return to power in B.C. after the next election. Not that I'm a fan of that party either. B.C. politics has always been about extremes. Those of us in the middle are just caught in the whirlwind.
Here's hoping the rest of Canada doesn't pick up such insane legislation. |
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mithridates
Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
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| Posted: Sun Jun 26, 2005 7:49 pm Post subject: |
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| 12 year-olds have already been able to work at places like the library with their parents permission, up to 4 hours a day and (I thik) 20 hours a week. They make a bit below minimum wage but it's a gold mine for them. I kicked myself when I was 15 and found out that I could have been working three years earlier; instead I worked at Dairy Queen. |
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paperbag princess
Joined: 07 Mar 2004
Location: veggie hell
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| Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2005 12:56 am Post subject: |
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as long as kids are maintaining their previous GPA, working is fine with me. 20 hours of work plus school is alot of work. i think that kids should work during the summer and a little bit during the school year, if their marks are ok. otherwise, they should be working on their grades, school is the future.
on the note that the kids are working in earl's, isn't earl's a drinking bar and grill? if i remember correctly i went to an earl's in van and got smashed. i don't know if i'd want a 12 year old in a bar type setting. |
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Nowhere Man
Joined: 08 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2005 2:24 am Post subject: ... |
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For the record, it's legal to work in America at farm jobs at the age of 13.
I did, at $3.35 an hour, detassling corn. Almost everyone I know did. However, that was during summer vacation.
I know of kids picking blueberries at the age of 9 or 10.
Far from child labor in the 1800s.
And I think it is about the minimum wage. |
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plokiju
Joined: 15 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2005 7:16 am Post subject: |
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| The Great Wall of Whiner wrote: |
I worked in restaurants as far back as when I was 14 (Wendy's). To not call a burger joint a factory is misleading, doubly so during lunch rush hour.
Basically, I worked in a hamburger factory. And, I was paid peanuts. |
I was mostly just thinking about why those laws exist in the first place. I really don't think kids would be losing limbs or slaving away for 14 hours a day, though. I think there's a pretty big difference between 12 and 14 year olds, too. Maybe it should just be whenever your pituatary gland kicks in that you should be able to get a job. Alberta's minimum wage really is peanuts, too. $5.90 Cdn or maybe $4.50 US, I don't feel like checking the conversion.
Earl's is basically just a restaurant. They have a lounge but minors aren't allowed. |
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thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
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| Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2005 7:51 pm Post subject: |
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It wasn't legislation in Europe or North America that laid exploitative child labour to rest but a massive increase in productivity that allowed families to become wealthy enough that they could now afford to loose the productivity of their children without starving.
Allowing (allowing is different than mandating or encouraging) kids to do menial tasks (as long as they aren't unreasonably dangerous) for cash isn't that big of a deal. I used to deliver papers in the morning around that age and cut the grass of my neighbours for some small pocket money. Until now I didn't know that I was breaking the law.
Then again, I am from Alberta and may suffer from the aforementioned mindset. I suspect that within 10 years Canada will be without Alberta and you can cease having to worry about Albertan labour laws (along with Albertan money, oil, transfer payments and King Ralph). |
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The Bobster
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2005 2:04 am Post subject: |
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Isn't one reason for child labor laws that notion that it takes jobs away from healthy and able adults who need a job to support themselves and possibly other children? Just wondering ...
I've been told that some of the Canadian teachers I meet here in Korea could not find joibs back home doing what they love, so maybe I'm wondering about some guy or gal with B.Ed who is trying to pay off a student loan but doesn't want to come to Korea and might be willing to work at Earl's for a while until a classroom opened up?
There might be parts of this question I'm not looking at, so someone feel free to fill me in. |
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plokiju
Joined: 15 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2005 5:22 am Post subject: |
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| BJWD wrote: |
| I suspect that within 10 years Canada will be without Alberta and you can cease having to worry about Albertan labour laws (along with Albertan money, oil, transfer payments and King Ralph). |
What do you suspect will happen to Alberta? Will the province be sucked into the earth, Rockies, hoodoos, mall and all? |
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