The company, Tuff Torq, was fined nearly $300,000 for hiring 10 children. It must also set aside $1.5 million to help the immigrant minors who were illegally employed.

The company, Tuff Torq, was fined nearly $300,000 for hiring 10 children. It must also set aside $1.5 million to help the immigrant minors who were illegally employed.

Immigrant children as young as 14 were found working illegally amid dangerous heavy equipment at a Tennessee firm that makes parts for lawn mowers sold by John Deere and other companies, according to Labor Department officials.

The company, Tuff Torq, was fined nearly $300,000 for hiring 10 children. As part of a consent agreement with the federal government, the company is also required to set aside $1.5 million to help the children who were illegally employed. Ryan Pott, general counsel for Tuff Torq’s majority owner, the Japanese firm Yanmar, acknowledged the violations to NBC News.

  • mechoman444@lemmy.world
    0·
    8 months ago

    So I was a teenager in the early 2000s and many, many of my teenage classmates including myself had jobs. Some full time some part time.

    Personally I worked at a paper mill from the age of 15 until I moved out of state.

    But the minimum age was 14 to be able to work at that time.

    I’ve just been seeing a lot of posts like this indicating young teenage children working and I don’t see why this is all of the sudden an issue?

    • Leviathan@lemmy.world
      0·
      8 months ago

      You ever seen a kid get killed in heavy machinery? Have you ever seen a kid get permanently maimed on heavy machinery? That shit changes you. As a society we’re all supposed to learn from those horrors but instead we stay real myopic and say I’ve never been hurt, I’ve never seen anything bad happen and ignore that all regulations were written in blood and lifelong trauma. Then there’s the myriad situations where migrant children can be abused because they’re low risk victims.

          • CableMonster@lemmy.ml
            0·
            8 months ago

            Right now 14 year olds just look at phones and go on social media which is a direct harm. Working would be more healthy for their body and their mind.

            • ᗪᗩᗰᑎ@lemmy.ml
              0·
              8 months ago

              we’re exploited enough as is and corporate greed is only getting worse, there’s absolutely zero need to put children in a position to be exploited.

                • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
                  0·
                  8 months ago

                  What the fuck? You think employees should be exploited because they need money to survive? Force them to work 80-hour weeks for minimum wage? Scream racist epithets at them if they aren’t productive enough? How about beat them with a metal rod if they step out of line?

                  • CableMonster@lemmy.ml
                    01·
                    8 months ago

                    I disagree with the “exploited” phrasing. And if someone is willing to work 80 hrs per week then they can make money doing other things.

                    I actually think they should be beaten with a wood broom handle. Quicker swings.