“For too long this industry has been given carte blanche to disregard laws,” an advocate told Truthout.
Gerber’s Poultry, a poultry plant in Kidron, Ohio, which produces Amish Farm Chicken, is under investigation after federal agents found more than two dozen minors illegally employed in meat processing and sanitation.
“The discovery of yet another meat processing facility in the U.S. relying on child labor is the latest reminder of the harms that industrial animal agriculture inflicts at every turn, with the most vulnerable — children, people of color, immigrants, and nonhuman animals — paying the highest price,” Delcianna J. Winders, associate professor of Law at Vermont Law and Graduate School told Truthout.
The plant was raided on the evening of October 4 by Homeland Security Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation agents following reports about the plant illegally employing children. A local resident told NBC News that the children, mainly from Guatemala, work the plant’s second shift after attending school during the day.
“For too long this industry has been given carte blanche to disregard laws,” Winders said. “Let’s hope this federal investigation is an indication that the government will begin to demand greater accountability across the industry.”
It is illegal under the Federal Code of Regulations and the Fair Labor Standards Act for anyone under the age of 18 to work in hazardous occupations, such as in meatpacking plants. Despite these labor protections for children, there has been a 69 percent rise in child labor in the United States since 2018 and recent data released by the Department of Labor (DOL) has found that child labor violations have risen to their highest level in nearly two decades. In fact, the DOL currently has more than 800 child labor investigations underway and has uncovered 5,792 minors working in violation of child labor laws in the past year.
“Finding just one child in harm’s way is one too many,” the DOL said in a statement. “This is an issue that affects all of us and as parents, caregivers, teachers, employers and community members, we cannot tolerate the exploitation of children.”
archive link: https://archive.ph/ObQdO
I was the IT manager for a small payroll company, but I was really tight with the payroll processors and got all the scoop on how things work.
These kind of stories always stun me. We had 250 small clients, of various levels of weaselly, and none of them would fuck around with the rules. And the majority of them were places you would expect fuckery from; Churches, restaurants and the like.
Underage workers? Hell no. You're not setting foot onsite without a verified ID.
Unpaid overtime? LOL no.
Worker's comp? You bet it was covered.
How exactly were they getting away with this? One person making one call to the state labor board would/should ignite a shitstorm.
Well, small clients like that can't exactly hire an army of lawyers...
No lawyers! Just make a call to the state labor board and the shit is on!
I see young people on social media getting fucked all the time. Often the law is on their side, and they haven't a clue. No fight, just a phone call.
Probably some bribing going on.