In today’s News and Commentary, Iowa joins a growing list of states that are relaxing back child labor laws, Los Angeles union workers join the Writers Guild of America strikers in a show of solidarity, and Alaska’s Supreme Court rules that an executive order requiring employees to opt in to union membership was illegal.
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed Senate File 542 in to law on Friday, allowing teen workers to work longer hours and in jobs that were once prohibited. Twenty states have rolled back their child labor laws comes in response to labor shortages. In April, Iowa reported an unemployment rate of 2.7%. S.F. 542 will allow 16- and 17-year-olds to serve alcohol, increases from four to six the number of hours children as young as 14 can work during the school year, and permits teenagers to work in formerly prohibited jobs as long as they participate in a work-based learning program. Governor Reynolds says that the law “instill[s] values in the next generation and provide[s] opportunities for young adults to earn and save.” Democrats in the Iowa House succeeded in ensuring that the bill would continue to prohibit teenagers from working in the most dangerous of industries, such as mining and meat packing.
As the Writers Guild of America closed out its fourth week of striking, the strikers were joined by Los Angeles-area unions from across several different industries. Teachers, tourism and hospitality workers, and public employees joined the picket line in a show...
Menu thewest.com.auLoginSubscribe Today's PaperPlace an AdSunday, 13 September 2026 Regional WACourts & JusticeKalgoorlie Miner Man guilty of attempting to pervert course of justice given six ...