Investigations
The U.S. Labor Department investigations discovered that at least three minors had sustained injuries while working for the PSSI. According to the Labor Department, the minors PSSI employed had worked at facilities run by significant meat producers, including Tyson Foods. According to Jessica Looman, the principal deputy administrator of the department's wage and hour division, "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."[1]
According to the lawsuit, most of the children who worked at the three companies could not speak English fluently and had to be interviewed in Spanish, but it was unclear if they were immigrants. According to a Labor Department official, the department did not check the children's immigration status.[3]
A child aged 14 who worked at a Nebraska facility from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. five to six days a week from December 2021 to April 2022 cleaned machinery "used to cut meat," according to court filings.[2] Based on the department, school records revealed that the child missed or fell asleep in class due to working at the company.[1]
According to the PSSI website, the company has more than 16,500 employees and contracts with hundreds of slaughter and meatpacking facilities countrywide.[1] The contracts Packers had with JBS USA operations in Nebraska and Minnesota, with 27 children, as well as a Cargill Inc. factory in Kansas, with 26 children, were the cause of the largest fines imposed on the company.[3][1] Tyson Food, George's Inc, Buckhead Meat of Minnesota, Gibbon Packing Co, Greater Omaha Packing Co Inc, Maple Leaf Farms, and Turkey Valley Farms are among the other processors that hired children.[2] The Labor Department made no accusations of wrongdoing against JBS (JBSS3.SA), Cargill, or any other meatpackers.[3]