February 18, 2005
WAL-MART NOT OFF THE HOOK YET
Legislators Outline Proposal To Address The Retail Giant's Disregard For Child Labor Laws
Deputy Majority Leader Walter Pawelkiewicz (D-Windham); Rep. Kevin Ryan, the House Chair of the Labor Committee; and members of the House and Senate today outlined legislative initiatives targeted at Wal-Mart’s child labor practices.
It was recently revealed that approximately 80% of Wal-Mart stores in Connecticut had violated child labor laws by allowing juveniles to operate dangerous equipment.
Proposals include:
Increasing fines the state Department of Labor (DOL) can issue for violations;
Prorating fines based on the number of workers employed by a company;
Increasing the number of DOL investigators;
Use funding from fines for more investigators;
Expanding the state investigation into Wal-Mart to include all aspects of the Fair Labor Act.
“Wal-Mart’s disregard for children is hitting too close to home,” Rep. Pawelkiewicz said. “The biggest offender in this story is in my district, Windham, where at least nine violations were cited. If the feds won’t act to protect children from greedy companies, the Connecticut General Assembly will.”
Rep. Ryan said. “We have an obligation to pick up the considerable slack left by the federal settlement with Wal-Mart. The state needs to make sure that we employ enough investigators to ensure companies like Wal-Mart obey the law.”