A Call From Mr. Shapiro & 3rd DOL Hearing Set Hearings: Monday, January 10th from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. 75 Varick Street, Conference Room G, New York, New York 10013 Monday, January 31st from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. 75 Varick Street, Conference Room G, New York, New York 10013 The New York State Department of Labor has scheduled a third public commentary hearing set for Monday, January 31st in New York City.  This hearing has been scheduled to replace the December 27th hearing that was hampered by the winter blizzard.   Please plan to attend the hearing this Monday, January 10th, as well as the January 31st hearing, to show the DOL our strong opposition to their rule. Child Performers Coalition was made aware of this development this morning by a phone call placed to the Department of Labor Commissioner to follow up on a recent email we sent to her Agency.  Mr. Shapiro, Attorney for the Department of Labor called a short time later.  He explained that he was calling at the request of the Commissioner's Office to appraise me of the third hearing scheduled.  I told him that I had been given the information from a secretary at the Commissioner's Office.  I asked Mr. Shapiro if we could engage in a dialogue as child performers had been excluded as an affected group from any of the previous conversations with industry organizations.  I also expressed my concern that he had not spoken with Anne Henry, BizParentz Foundation, when she had made the same request. He said ~ I can't engage in private conversations during the public commentary period.  I have explained this to a number of others ~ I said, no problem, we can make the conversation public and video tape it for public consumption ~ a real dialogue.  He said "no" and said "I had no further comment".  The hearing information appears on the DOL Child Performer web site.  We continue to encourage that the rule be tabled until a substitute rule can be drafted and with input from ALL affected groups ~ one that promotes New York productions and protects child performers. The time for public commentary has also been extended to February 7, 2011.  Please send your comments to Mr. Shapiro via email at bcejjs@labor.ny.gov.  You may also forward them to us or leave them at the hearing with a Department representative.  Child Performers Coalition encourages you to get involved.  Please visit our web site for more information www.childperformerscoalition.org and sign our petition by clicking here. Thank you for your continued support.