An August 2 report on NBC's KNTV [1] sheds light on child labor conditions in California and across the US.
NBC Bay Area's Stephen Stock, a reporter in the affiliate's Investigation Unit [2], reveals in a series of tweets [3] some of the unsavory realities of youth workers - sometimes as young as twelve- who are hired to harvest California fruits and vegetables. "They keep to shadows but feed a nation," he said in one of several tweets.
His tweets suggest a "close knit & secret world that puts food on your table."
"They're too young to work in airconditioned [sic] office," he said, "so why r they putting food on your table?"
In the story, Stock interview's a California grower who opposed the Department of Labor's proposed changes to child labor laws that would have limited tasks that hired children under the age of 16 could perform on farms. The grower said he thought it was "okay" that kids as young as 12 work in the fields and harvest vegetables, facing the same or increased risk of injury as adults more than twice their age.
The report aired during the station's 6 pm broadcast.
You can view Stock's report here: