There is a nasty secret lurking behind those neatly packaged meat products at your favorite grocery store, child labor. Not in the handling of the meat itself, kids have been working the night shift on clean up crews. It’s not any one particular meat company, though several have been implicated. They all used the same cleaning contractor, Packer Sanitation Services.
Child labor outrage
This explosive new child labor scandal involves practically all the meat on the market. Tyson Foods isn’t happy to find themselves in headlines again but at least they have company, this time. George’s Inc and JBS were also among a total of 13 implicated meat packers.
They all made the same mistake of using Packer Sanitation Services, “who hired minority workers ages 13-17 working overnight shifts in plants around the country.” That’s dangerous and distasteful work.
“The child labor violations in this case were systemic and reached across eight states, and clearly indicate a corporate-wide failure by Packers Sanitation Services at all levels,” said Principal Deputy Administrator of the Wage and Hour Division Jessica Looman. The child laborers were barely paid for “working with hazardous chemicals and cleaning meat processing equipment including back saws, brisket saws and head splitters.”
The U.S. Department of Labor has fined Packers Sanitation Services $1.5 million for employing 102 children as young as 13.
Their revenue in 2021 was $2.7 billion.
Here is a picture of one of the kids cleaning a slaughterhouse: pic.twitter.com/4OznkbXgTk
— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) February 23, 2023
Investigators were quick to discover that “at least three minors suffered injuries while working for the sanitation service provider.” The Labor Department “found 102 children between the ages 13 and 17 working in hazardous occupations.”
The packing companies will not be paying the fines. That falls on the contractor they hired, so that particular cost will not be passed on to consumers in the form of higher meat prices.
On the other hand, they’ll now have to pay full price for a cleaning service. One which doesn’t use child labor. That cost will pass along. “These children should never have been employed in meat packing plants and this can only happen when employers do not take responsibility to prevent child labor violations from occurring in the first place.”
On February 17, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that Packers Sanitation Services, Inc. paid over $1.5 million in fines for employing 102 children across the country. PSSI cleans slaughterhouses. ? ☹️
I can't even get my son to clean his room! ? pic.twitter.com/OnNZ4tA0NJ
— ????? ?????❤️? ? ? Libs/?DMs (@EllieFreedom4) February 21, 2023
Stiff fines for all involved
Reports on the investigation relate that six of the child workers were on the crew cleaning Tyson Foods’ Green Forest plant. That got Packers Sanitation a fine of $90,828. There was only one minor working at the Tyson plant in Goodlettsville, Tennessee but that was good for a $15,138 penalty.
Springdale-based George’s Inc. had four minors working its Batesville, Arkansas facility adding $60,552 to the fines.
JBS was found to have the most child workers. At their Grand Island, Nebraska unit, they had 27 on the payroll. The cleaning contractor will have to cough up $408,726 for them and another $333,036 for the 22 minors working in Worthington, Minnesota.
The Labor Department discovered 102 children as young as 13 working hazardous overnight jobs cleaning slaughterhouses in eight states. Packers Sanitation Services Inc, who employed these children, has paid a $1.5M fine for the violations. pic.twitter.com/bhGnQUX9Xy
— 1440 Daily Digest (@Join1440) February 20, 2023
Over in Dodge City, Kansas, Cargill had a crew of 26 minors “resulting in a fine of $393,588.” The grand total is $1.5 million.
The Labor Department issued a statement patting themselves on the back for freeing child laborers and generating revenue all at the same time.
“Our investigation found Packers Sanitation Services’ systems flagged some young workers as minors, but the company ignored the flags. When the Wage and Hour Division arrived with warrants, the adults – who had recruited, hired and supervised these children – tried to derail our efforts to investigate their employment practices.” It didn’t work.
