No Berry Picking For Kids Anymore

[jesuslover]

I remember when I was a child here in Oregon we were able to make a few dollars picking berries on local farms. Now they can't. Farmers are now being fined by the gov't for allowing kids to pick berries.

tdn.com/news/local/article_31aa961c-befd-11e0-9e0b-001cc4c002e0.html

Owners of a Woodland berry farm were fined $16,000 for employing two children under the age of eleven by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Columbia Fruit LLC was caught using child labor during a weekend investigation June 25, according to agency officials. This is the company's first violation discovered by the Department of Labor.

"Agricultural employment is particularly dangerous for children, and the rules of their employment must be followed," said Jeff Genkos, director of the federal Wage and Hour Division's Portland District Office.

Representatives from Columbia Fruit did not return phone calls for comment.

Under Washington law, restrictions are placed on employees aged 12 to 15. Genkos said child labor violations are not a common occurrence in Southwest Washington. However, two berry farms in Ridgefield were also cited for using underage workers. One of the children at the farms was 6 years old.

The agency is expected to ramp up weekend investigations and prohibit farms from shipping berries that were picked using child labor to curb future violations.

Repeat offenders can face larger monetary penalties, Genkos said.

Read more: tdn.com/news/local/article_31aa961c-befd-11e0-9e0b-001cc4c002e0.html#ixzz1UBX8FifI

[baydoll]

Don't these people have anything better to do than to harass us to death over stupid totally ridiculous things?

[emortimer]

how else will they cause the price to raise...in other countries they have no regulation so go work for a $1 a day there or let some kids earn money....there is the issue of to much child labor but we do not get all the facts so we can not judge

[jesuslover]

There has been a big story on the radio here in Oregon. Some farmers got charged over 70000 dollars in fines because they let kids come and pick berries on their property. They don't tell you that the kids parents are right there next to the children. Obviously they didn't drive themselves.

It isn't like these kids are slave labor or something. Picking berries as a kid for a few bucks a basket or whatever teaches kids the value of work. I wish government would just butt out. This isn't 6 year old factory workers working 20 hrs a day. Its kids picking strawberries.

Come Lord Jesus.

[PrisonerOfHope]

This is quickly becoming a nation I wouldn't want to live in. I have to keep reminding myself I'm just passing through - this isn't the main event.

[shann0]

I have fond memories of berry picking as a kid. Why would anyone want to deprive a kid of that?

I remember this one time, me and my stepbrothers were picking blueberries. We were pretty little, I was probably about 7 or 8, my stepbrothers were 2 and 4 years younger. My youngest brother decided to save his berries for later, so he put them in his pants pocket. ;D