Inside Khloe Kardashian's VERY organized pantry: TV star shows off perfectly arranged snacks, custom shelving and labeled bins Packers has some 17,000 staff at more than 700 sites nationwide.Īnother awkward This Morning reunion: Phil compliments Holly for looking 'gorgeous' at Prince's Trust Awards as feuding pair return to sofa for third day 'We have also conducted multiple additional trainings for hiring managers, including on spotting identity theft.' 'As soon as we became aware of the DOL's allegations, we conducted multiple additional audits of our employee base, and hired a third-party law firm to review and help further strengthen our policies in this area,' said a statement. Packers said following the fine that the company had a 'zero-tolerance policy' for hiring minors and that none of those identified in the investigation worked for the firm today. The probe quickly expanded to other plants serviced by Packers, as investigators fanned out across Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Tennessee, and Texas.Īt a Cargill's plant in Dodge City, Kansas, they found 26 youngsters employed, in one of the largest recorded violations. JBS is behind such supermarket brands as Certified Angus Beef, Pilgrim's, Swift, 1855, Country Pride, Clear River Farms, Moyer and Savoro and many others Investigators initially found 31 children working night shifts for Packers at Turkey Valley Farms in Marshall, Minnesota, and plants owned by multi-billion dollar food giant JBS in Grand Island, Nebraska, and Worthington, Minnesota. 'These children should never have been employed in meat-packing plants and this can only happen when employers do not take responsibility to prevent child labor violations from occurring in the first place,' added Looman. '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,' said DOL administrator Jessica Looman. The fine amounts to $15,138 for each child hired illegally - the maximum civil penalty that could be imposed. The Labor Department (DOL) said in February that Packers had been fined at the end of an investigation that began last August. The $1.5 million fine amounted to less than half of a percent of Packers' $460 million annual revenue. She said the true number of child workers was 'likely much higher'. 'We were able to identify and confirm 102 minors at 13 different plants in eight different states.' This was the standard operating procedure. 'There is no way this was just a mistake, a clerical error, a handful of rouge individuals getting through. She said: 'That there were minors employed across the country between the ages of 13 and 17 working the overnight shift.'Ī Packers employee cleaning with limited visibility at the JBS plant in Worthington, Minnesota The children's tasks included washing bloody floors and hazardous machinery with razor-sharp blades. They were concerned that they weren't able to stay awake and do their job, which is learning in school.' They were concerned for the safety of the kids. 'They told us about children that were falling asleep in class, um, that had burns, chemical burns. She told 60 Minutes: 'It seemed to be known within the community that minors either are or were working overnight shifts. Labor Department investigator Shannon Rebolledo said some of the children working at the Grand Island plant were also students at the Walnut Middle School. Some endured chemical burns from powerful detergents and had to clean dangerous carcass-cleaving machines in overnight shifts. The sanitation company illegally worked youths aged 13-17 in abattoirs across the US. Reid Maki, coordinator of the Child Labor Coalition at the National Consumers League, said the penalty imposed on Wisconsin-based Packers Sanitation Services was too small to deter future abusers. Workers from PSSI go into the Grand Island plant between 11pm and 7am to carry out deep cleaning. Some of the children worked in plants owned by JBS, the world's largest meat-processing company. Pictured: A Packers employee using a hose to clean processing equipment at the JBS plant in Grand Island, NebraskaĪ child labor watchdog previously slammed as paltry the $1.5 million fine against the slaughterhouse cleaning firm that was found to have illegally worked 102 minors at 13 hazardous plants from Minnesota to Texas. Government investigators found children working in dangerous conditions.
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