Meatpacking companies pay for “turning a blind eye” to child exploitation

The U.S. Department of Labor found two of the biggest meatpacking companies in the U.S. illegally relied on child labor for years. The New York Times reports they have now been ordered to pay a combined $8 million in fines.  

By any means necessary, including child labor 

Perdue Farms and JBS are two of the United States biggest meatpackers. Notably, the two companies were investigated after The Times exposed migrant children had been working overnight around extremely dangerous machinery. It is rare for major brands like these to be scrutinized at a federal level. Further, it is even rarer for them to face a payout of this size for labor violations. Indeed, Perdue Farms and JBS will pay a combined $8 million. 

Seema Nanda, the department’s chief legal officer said: 

“We have seen far too many businesses and employers too often getting labor by any means necessary.” 

The Federal investigation uncovered that as far back as 2020 children had been working at a Perdue plant in Virginia. Shockingly investigators found children were working extremely late hours and were using electric knives and hot sealing tools to do highly dangerous jobs. Perdue is slated to pay $4 million to the children and to organizations that provide support for unaccompanied child migrants who arrive in the U.S. alone.  

Children as young as 13 were found working overnight cleaning shifts at JBS slaughterhouses in multiple states. Additionally, investigators shared that the children were found working with potent chemicals. Some reported having to show up to school with burns. They were also responsible for washing hazardous tools, including things like head splitters. Thus JBS is also paying $4 million. 

Outsourcing the hiring and the blame 

Commonly, food-processing and manufacturing companies outsource a variety of jobs to third-party staffing firms. Thus those employees work for the hiring firm, not the company itself. It is a convenient way to employ workers with the added benefit of shielding companies from any violations. However, the heavy fines just handed down may help change that. It’s hoped by rights groups and the Department of Labor that the large settlements will send a lasting message to companies using staffing agencies. 

Nanda stated:  

“Our work has focused on the fact that you can’t turn a blind eye to exploitation to get the job done.”  

Importantly, most of the children involved were hired through an outside company. It’s already against Federal law for minors to work in slaughterhouses. The work is extremely dangerous with a high risk of injury. But in a series of articles, the New York Times reported that Mexican and Central American children who have been arriving in the U.S. alone are ending up in exploitative jobs like slaughterhouses.  

As a result, there’s been an increased focus on rooting out violations and holding companies accountable. Notwithstanding whether outside contractors were used for hiring. Tellingly, last year, federal investigators found more than 4,000 children working in violation of child labor law. The settlement money from this recent case will be used to help children with scholarships, stipends, English classes and job training. 

The numbers speak for themselves 

It’s cases like these that underline how important regulation and enforcement of federal labor standards are. And with 4,000 violations just last year, the numbers speak for themselves. Subsequently Freedom United is calling on the U.S. states that are in the process of passing legislation that weakens child labor protections to stop! It’s clear that legislation protecting child workers’ rights and enforcing child labor laws and regulations is imperative to end child labor exploitation. If you haven’t already, sign our petition and add your voice to those saying “NO” to child labor law rollbacks.