Youngsters keep toiling away at a poultry processing facility, as reported by the Labor Department, despite the demise of a juvenile worker.
A few days ago, the Department of Labor (DOL) filed a lawsuit stating that investigators at their wage and hour division found young workers under age 18 employed in hazardous conditions at Mar-Jac's poultry processing facility. These children were found working on the kill floor, deboning poultry, and cutting carcasses. This situation went on for quite some time before being discovered.
Mar-Jac runs operations in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. Their recent accusation stems from an incident last year, wherein a teenager lost his life at a Mar-Jac facility in Mississippi.
Mar-Jac Poultry's website informs the public that "we do not sell directly to the general public, individual restaurants or convenience stores." Instead, they mainly work with wholesale distributors and national fast-food chains, but they did not list which specific companies they work with.
The DOL spokesperson said on Tuesday that the wage and hour division is running multiple investigations on Mar-Jac plants in Alabama and Mississippi.
As per federal labor law, it's prohibited for children to work in slaughterhouses and meat packaging plants in certain roles which involve machinery usage or cleaning.
The DOL complaint mentions that Mar-Jac had several minors under the age of 18 working on the kill floor, performing duties related to hanging poultry along fast-moving machine lines, deboning poultry, and cutting poultry carcasses.
At the end of the month, all products leaving the plant are deemed "tainted by child labor," turning them into "hot goods" under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
This implies that Mar-Jac has unjustly profited from these goods while violating child labor laws.
CNN couldn't get hold of Mar-Jac for comment, though the company told ABC News that the minors who worked there presented documents showing they were over 18 years old. Mar-Jac also added that they would keep fighting against these accusations and believe they will emerge victorious in the case. The company also stressed that they aim to adhere to all applicable laws.
In July 2022, a 16-year-old worker passed away at a Mar-Jac processing plant in Mississippi, marking the second employee fatality at the facility in less than two years.
In response, Mar-Jac Poultry told CNN that the teenager died after dealing with injuries that were sustained in the context of an "accident." They also mentioned that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was still looking into the case with the full cooperation of the company.
The DOL initially sought a $212,646 fine to be levied against Mar-Jac earlier this year. However, the DOL spokesperson stated on Tuesday that they can't comment further as their investigations are ongoing.
The DOL is now determined to crack down on cases of child labor, especially at meatpacking centers. In February 2023, the DOL and Health and Human Services announced their strategy to fight against child labor. They revealed that cases of child labor in companies have increased by 69% since the start of their monitoring.
A janitorial company named Fayette Janitorial Service was recently fined $649,000. An investigation by the DOL found they had employed at least 24 children, some as young as 13, for risky cleaning roles in two different slaughterhouses. These children also worked overnight shifts.
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Despite Mar-Jac's claim that they primarily work with wholesale distributors and national fast-food chains, they fail to disclose which specific companies they collaborate with in their business operations. The labor violations at Mar-Jac's poultry processing facilities, including the exploitation of young workers in Food processing tasks, have raised concerns about the ethical standards in their business dealings.
Source: edition.cnn.com
