  |
| |
Training focuses on exploited teen workers
Sept. 22, 2005 Rose Truglio of the TA of Lindenhurst, center, and Cathy Khalifa of Uniondale TA work with a trainer at a spring training session on occupational safety for teen workers. Restaurant hostess is not a job one associates with child labor abuse. But typical of what can go wrong, a Smithtown High student last year was expected to work 40 hours a week and stay weeknights until 11, both breaches of state laws governing work conditions of minors. The pressure was daunting for a student studying for college entrance exams and starting school by 7 a.m. She and her parents complained to the restaurant and eventually brought Mary Pat Grafstein, the work experience coordinator for the Long Island district, into the picture. "I went into the restaurant myself, gave them a copy of the work rules and did it in a way that did not put her job in jeopardy," said Grafstein, a business teacher and member of the Smithtown Teachers Association. "Eventually, they backed down. Kids have to bring in their parents or whoever it takes so that they are not taken advantage of." Grafstein is a strong believer in educating teenagers about safety precautions and their on-the-job rights before they get working papers. New York State United Teachers and the New York Committee on Safety and Health want the training to be part of the school curriculum. Wendy Hord, NYSUT Health and Safety specialist, said the curriculum could probably be completed in less than a week's class time and without additional funding or staff. The effort is the result of a NYSUT Representative Assembly resolution that called on the union to take the proposal to the State Education Department. According to NYCOSH, more than 4 million people under age 18 have jobs. About 200,000 a year suffer work-related injuries, double the overall rate. The youths are hard-pressed to ask for training or seek relief from an unfair practice. "Part of the goal is to educate teens so they are better-educated adult workers, too," said Hord. "How they deal with the conditions that are dished out to them can affect them for the rest of their lives." In the meantime, Hord has teamed with NYCOSH's Susan McQuade to train teachers in instructing students to avoid hazards and mistreatment on the job. The training involves group activities that invite participants to think about what could go wrong. At her session on Long Island , Grafstein said her group evaluated possible hazards of working in a grocery store, ranging from back injury to store robbery. When she used the exercise with her students, they were surprised by the potential hazards posed in such a benign setting. Also, she said they were surprised to learn that teenagers in other parts of the state work around dangerous farm equipment and industrial chemicals. After NYSUT and NYCOSH trained work experience coordinators at Western Suffolk BOCES, the district was so impressed they asked the trainers to repeat the program for the district's technology teachers. "The presentation was very interactive and engaging," said Karen Craig, the work experience coordinator at L.A. Wilson Technological Center , part of the BOCES. "It's presented the way teachers would present it to their students. It's a model we can really use." Those interested may call their district's work experience coordinators or Susan McQuade at NYCOSH at (212) 627-3900, ext. 12, or Hord at (800) 342-9810, ext. 6302. — Jane Gottlieb |
| |
| | ||
