SENATE APPROVES KOHL'S BILL TO PROTECT TRAVELING SALES CREWS

Fatal 1999 van crash in Wisconsin prompted legislation to regulate magazine sales by children

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate last night unanimously approved legislation sponsored by U.S. Senator Herb Kohl to protect children from traveling sales industry negligence. In 1999, seven young people recruited to sell magazines door-to-door were killed in a tragic van crash near Janesville, prompting Kohl to make the traveling sales industry more safe, accountable and responsible. Kohl's legislation, the Traveling Sales Crew Protection Act, prohibits children under the age of 18 from selling door-to-door as part of a traveling sales crew that takes employees away from their residence for more than 24 hours.

"The horrible van crash that claimed those young lives shed light on an industry that too often tolerated the exploitation of children. We have heard cases of industry recruiters preying on kids with false and misleading promises. We have seen instances of verbal and physical abuse of these young workers. And we have found working conditions that should be illegal, and will be soon. I'm pleased that we have made progress in going after the bad actors in the traveling sales industry," Kohl said.

Kohl said that, in a given year, approximately 30,000 people are employed in traveling sales crews, and they do not receive even the most basic protections of federal or state labor law. Investigations into the traveling sales industry found widespread abuse of workers, ranging from supervisors assaulting their employees to kids being abandoned at the side of the road if they weren't selling enough. Kids as young as 15 are often whisked away just hours after being offered a job, and workers are often verbally and physically threatened if they want to quit.

Since the van crash in Wisconsin, other workers have died in crashes elsewhere involving young people from all over the country. In all of these cases, reckless driving, speeding or sleep deprivation were factors.

Similar legislation to Kohl's bill is pending in the House of Representatives.