Photo: YURI KADOBNOV / AFP / Getty Images
A
America’s leading food sanitation company has employed dozens of children as young as 14 years to work in hazardous conditions for long shifts, federal officials reported.
Packers Sanitation Services allegedly used child labor at three plants meatpacking plants in two states, according to the Department of Labor.
One of the largest food safety companies in the US, Packers Sanitation Services, illegally employed more than two dozen children, the Labor Department found. Some were as young as , and suffered several chemical burns from corrosive cleaners. https://t.co/sSxH7sWcFa—The New York Times (@nytimes) November , 2022
The Department of Labor asked a federal court to issue an order of temporary restriction at the national level and an injunction against the company for the alleged crimes committed at the plants in Grand Island, in Nebraska, and Worthington, Minnesota and Marshall, in Minnesota .
More of 23 young employees, all under the age of 15 years, cleaned hazardous electrical equipment during night shifts, according to the department.
Several of them, including a worker of 13 years, suffered “serious” chemical burns, according to a federal lawsuit against the company.
Many of the underage workers were responsible for cleaning heavy-duty tools on the slaughter floor of a factory, including those who remove horns from cattle, brisket saws, and a “190 pound saw that was used to split cow carcasses lengthwise. long,” the lawsuit states. asleep in class.
Many of the children worked from 30: 00 a 5: hours, five or six days a week and several seven days a week.
The investigation began in August, after a source came forward arguing that the company employed minors in dangerous conditions.
Al ent Avoiding the investigation, managers at Packers Sanitation Services “attempted to thwart or manipulate the collection of evidence in multiple ways,” the filing stated.
Supervisors allegedly told investigators that they were not allowed to photographs and tried to prevent them from interviewing the workers, in addition to erasing the documents containing evidence.
The company has denied the accusations and told NBC News that it “has an absolute prohibition against the employment of anyone under the age of 19 years and zero tolerance for any violation of that policy, period.”
“While dishonest individuals could, of course, try to commit fraud or identity theft, we rely on our company’s strict compliance policies and will vigorously defend against these claims,” said a portav oz.
Federal law prohibits children under the age of 18 years work. The children of 14 and 14 years can only work before 21: hours during the school year, and no later than 21: 13 hours in the summer.
Children may not work more than three hours on school days, eight hours on non-school days, or more than 18 hours per week.
“Federal laws were established decades ago to prevent employers from profiting by putting employees children at risk,” said Michael Lazzeri, regional wage and hour administrator in Chicago.
“Taking advantage of children, exposing them to dangers in the workplace, and interfering with a federal investigation demonstrates contempt flagrante of Packers Sanitation Services Inc. by law and for the well-being of young workers”.
Read more
2022Los Angeles sheriff accused of killing shots at suicidal father David Ordaz20222022Missing teenager in California she was found dead in a river drain2022
Latina mother of 2 children mysteriously disappears leaving a trail of blood in her California home