Stop Underage Exploitation: Meat Companies Must Follow Child Labor Laws

Biden wants meat processors to stop illegal child labor. Kids should not do dangerous jobs at plants.

A group is asking for action. They found kids working overnight. Over 100 kids were working. They were cleaning slaughterhouses. It's a dangerous job. The kids handle equipment like skull splitters and bone saws.

Tom Vilsack sent a letter to big meat and poultry companies in April. He wanted them to check how they hire workers and suppliers. The government wants to stop children from working. In the last few years, there has been a 69% increase in kids working illegally.

Vilsack said using illegal child labor is bad. Companies must follow the rules and be good. They can't let suppliers or subcontractors use child labor either. It's important to be legal and moral.

Last year, the Labor Department discovered that over 3,800 kids were working illegally at 835 companies. Packers Sanitation Services Inc. had at least 102 kids working for them at 13 meat processing plants across the country. They agreed to pay a $1.5 million fine and change their hiring practices.

PSSI is a big cleaning company in Wisconsin. They have 17,000 workers in 700 places. They clean food-processing-plants. PSSI broke the law by hiring underage people. The plants were in eight states.

The Labor Department is worried about the exploitation of kids. They're especially concerned about migrant children without parents. Over 600 child labor investigations are currently underway.

The government is working to stop child labor. Some agencies are helping out. They want Congress to make the punishment for breaking the law harder. The current fine of $15,138 for each child is not enough. Big companies need to do better.

Smithfield Foods, a big meat producer, said they didn't know about any rule-breaking in their facilities in April. They follow both federal and state child labor laws, as do their contractors.