Wisconsin teen dies in sawmill accident in one of 14 states looking to roll back child labour laws

Federal officials investigating accident

A Wisconsin teen’s recent death while working at a logging company is bringing new attention to the state’s efforts to roll back child labour protections.

On 29 June, a 16-year-old male working near the Michigan border in the town of Florence was injured while working at Florence Hardwoods, according to the Florence County Sheriff’s Office.

The boy was taken to Marshfield Medical Center-Dickinson, then Milwaukee Children’s Hospital, before succumbing to unspecified injuries and being pronounced dead on 1 July.

A GoFundMe page identifies the teen as Michael “Mikey” Schuls.

“Our small community is in absolute shock,” the page reads. “Even if you cannot donate, please lift Mikey, his family, friends, and medical team up in prayer.”

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends, students and co-workers," Florence the County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement following the tragedy.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigated the incident and made a referral to the US Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour division.

Under Wisconsin state law, minors are prevented from holding a number of occupations related to logging, including working in sawmills, felling timber, and using chainsaws.

Between 2018 and 2022, child labour complaints in Wisconsin quadrupled, according to Wisconsin Public Radio, while federal complaints increased by 69 per cent during that same period.

In the past two years, 14 states have introduced bills seeking to roll back anti-child labour laws, including Wisconsin.

"The trend reflects a coordinated multi-industry push to expand employer access to low-wage labor and weaken state child labor laws in ways that contradict federal protections," according to an article by the Economic Policy Institute, which recently released a report on the trend. "And the recent uptick in state legislative activity is linked to longer-term industry-backed goals to rewrite federal child labor laws and other worker protections for the whole country."

In Wisconsin, lawmakers have proposed allowing 14-year-olds to serve alcohol in bars and restaurants, making them the state with the lowest threshold in the nation.

In May, Iowa governor Kim Reynolds signed a bill that loosened child labour laws and extended the hours in which teens can work and allowed teens as young as 16 to serve alcohol in restaurants with the permission of a parent or guardian.