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Traveling sales crew restrictions could prevent similar accidents Hoping to avoid the kind of tragedy that struck along Interstate 90 in 1999, the Wisconsin State Senate approved a bill on Wednesday that puts restrictions on traveling sales crews spending time in the state.
Bill 251, co-authored by State Sen. Judy Robson, D-Beloit, requires traveling sales crews to secure a certificate of registration with the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) in order to conduct business in Wisconsin. The bill also prohibits minors from working on sales crews, requires all sales crew members be employees and not independent contractors, and limits the time of day crew members can work.
The bill was authored in order to restrict the chances of a similar accident that took place in 1999. In that accident, the crew chief of a traveling sales crew, Jeremy Holmes of Clinton, Iowa, was driving without a valid driver's license on I-90 near Janesville when he lost control of the van and the vehicle rolled over several times. Seven crew members were killed and five more were injured. The majority of the crew members were under the age of 20.
Holmes, who was 19 at the time of the accident, pleaded guilty to causing the accident and was sentenced to seven years in the Wisconsin State Prison system. He was also sentenced to four years probation and ordered to pay $492,000 in restitution to the families of the dead and injured. Holmes has since been released from prison.
“Traveling magazine sales crews are the child sweat shops of our times,” Robson said. “Young people are lured into these jobs with promises of exciting cross-country travel only to realize that adventure involves sleeping on floors in seedy hotel rooms, long hours for little pay, and difficulty getting out of the job.”
Robson pointed out Wisconsin was one of the first states to pass child labor laws, and if approved, Bill 251 would be one of the toughest in the nation in dealing with the exploitation of young workers.
In addition to making the company register with the DWD and limiting the hours crew members can work, the bill also requires semi-monthly payment of all wages earned, and allows local enforcement to write tickets to any crew members found in violation of the bill.
“This bill targets the traveling sales crews who operate outside the law by moving their young workers from state to state. Traveling sales crews take young employees for from home and make them dependent on the crew chief for their lodging and food. This bill would crack down on exploitative and dangerous practices.”
The bill must now pass the Assembly before heading for Gov. Jim Doyle's desk. Doyle has the final say if the bill will become law.
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