Florida's Manufactured Labor Shortage: Exploiting the Vulnerable and Pushing Kids into Poverty Wages

Florida's Manufactured Labor Shortage: Exploiting the Vulnerable and Pushing Kids into Poverty Wages

Hold on to your hats, folks. What’s happening in Florida right now isn't just a "labor shortage"—it’s a manufactured crisis designed to keep the rich even richer while pushing the working class into further desperation. Here’s the breakdown:

Step 1: Create a Problem

Last legislative session, Florida’s legislators, hand-in-hand with corporations, deliberately created a crisis by making it harder for undocumented Floridians to work. They intentionally reduced the labor pool.

Step 2: Exploit Kids to Fill the Gap

Enter SB 918—a bill that allows kids to work full-time, all night long, even if they’ve got school the next day. Yes, you heard that right. Children, under the guise of “filling the gap,” are being coerced into full-time work, jeopardizing their education and well-being. And the cherry on top? SB 676, supported by groups like Americans for Prosperity, lets employers exploit these kids with poverty wages.

Step 3: Make It Harder for Workers to Survive

While kids are being pushed into the workforce, SB 1238 is working to make unemployment benefits harder to access. The result? People are stuck taking jobs they don't want, at wages they can’t survive on.

Step 4: Legalize Modern-Day Slavery

Oh, and don’t forget about the Labor Pool Act—an essential protection for over 1 million temp and day laborers. The bill that could repeal it would essentially open the door to modern indentured servitude. And who stands to benefit from this? Companies like Pacesetter Personnel Services, who are notorious for exploiting formerly incarcerated individuals with low-wage, unstable jobs.

Step 5: Weaken the Workforce Even More

At the same time, the government is quietly pushing to dissolve the Department of Education and gut funding for public schools. Why? Because a less educated and more desperate workforce is easier to control and exploit.

Bottom Line:

This isn’t just about labor or wages. It’s about power. It's about keeping the ultra-wealthy at the top, while the rest of the population scrambles just to stay afloat.

Want to fight back?

It’s time to stand up for workers, kids, and the future of Florida’s workforce. Click the link in the bio to tell your legislators to vote NO on repealing the Labor Pool Act.