Children illegally worked dangerous overnight shifts at pork processing plant, feds find [View all]
Source: CBS News
Updated on: December 2, 2024 / 4:11 PM EST
Federal investigators found nearly a dozen children to be working dangerous, overnight shifts at Seaboard Triumph Foods' pork processing plant in Sioux Falls, Iowa, the Department of Labor announced.
Employed by Guymon, Oklahoma-based sanitation contractor Qvest, 11 kids allegedly used corrosive cleaners to sanitize head splitters, jaw pullers, bandsaws, neck clippers and other equipment at the Seaboard Triumph Foods facility from at least September 2019 through September 2023, the DOL stated in a news release on Friday. Federal law prohibits minors from working in meat processing due to an increased risk of injury.
Seaboard Foods is among the nation's biggest pork producers. In addition to Iowa, Seaboard Foods, a division of Seaboard Corporation, has operations in Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah, and in Mexico, according to the company's website. "These findings illustrate Seaboard Triumph Foods' history of children working illegally in their Sioux City facility since at least September 2019.
Despite changing sanitation contractors, children continued to work in dangerous occupations at this facility," Michael Lazzeri, the Midwest regional administrator with the DOL's Wage and Hour division, stated in the release. Qvest must pay $171,919 in child labor civil monetary penalties and take steps to prevent it from illegally hiring minors again. Qvest and Seaboard did not return requests for comment.
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iowa-sioux-falls-child-labor/
Link to DOL NEWS RELEASE - Qvest LLC must pay $171K after federal investigators find sanitation contractor employed 11 children at Sioux City pork processing plant
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