OMAHA, Neb. — The issue of underage labor in hazardous slaughterhouses remains unresolved as the Labor Department revealed its third settlement in one week with a company in the sector. The latest agreement involves QSI, a cleaning company for slaughterhouses, which has agreed to pay a penalty and implement reforms to prevent the hiring of minors in the future.
On Thursday, the Department disclosed that QSI had employed 54 minors across 13 meatpacking facilities in eight states between 2021 and 2024, utilizing them for late-night shifts to clean industrial slicing and carving machinery used for processing beef and chicken. This marks at least the fourth occurrence within two-and-a-half years where a cleaning contractor has been caught violating child labor laws, resulting in a $400,000 penalty for QSI.
In response, QSI contends that the Department’s portrayal of the situation is misleading. They note that investigators did not uncover any current underage workers employed by their company and did not demand a formal court agreement for ongoing oversight unlike previous settlements, such as one with PSSI, who paid over $1.5 million due to severe violations.
This week also saw Perdue Farms reach a $4 million settlement after underage workers were discovered at a chicken processing facility in Virginia. Similarly, the meatpacking leader JBS Foods agreed to pay $4 million and implement changes aimed at preventing minors from being employed at its locations.
These announcements coincide with the impending inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, yet they highlight a series of investigations into child labor practices within the meatpacking sector over recent years. According to Debbie Berkowitz, a former official with OSHA during the Obama administration, this week’s actions underline the Biden administration’s commitment to tackling child labor in the perilous meat and poultry industries, setting a precedent for the incoming administration.
Berkowitz cautioned, “It will be important to monitor whether this administration chooses to reverse course and permit the exploitation of children in these dangerous sectors, where they face serious risks to their health and future.”
Federal law prohibits individuals under 18 from working in hazardous environments such as meatpacking plants. Yet, following the PSSI investigation initiated in late 2022, numerous violations have come to light. Over the last fiscal year, the Labor Department identified over 4,000 minors working unlawfully across all industries.
The PSSI case was spurred by a serious chemical burn suffered by a 13-year-old who was employed to clean the JBS facility in Grand Island, Nebraska. This incident led to further investigations that uncovered extensive child labor violations within the company. Various major meat producers, including JBS, Tyson Foods, Cargill, and Smithfield Foods, have pointed toward contractors as responsible for these violations, although authorities assert that the primary companies must ensure their subcontractors adhere to appropriate hiring practices.
Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda emphasized the Department’s commitment to safeguarding children from hazardous employment and leveraging enforcement to make substantial impacts across industries. Some recent settlements include a $165,000 penalty for Mar-Jac Poultry in Mississippi after a tragic incident involving a 16-year-old, as well as nearly $650,000 in civil penalties against Fayette Janitorial Service LLC for illegally employing underage workers in dangerous cleaning roles in various meat processing sites.
Legal actions have unfolded even at the state level, with Smithfield Foods agreeing to pay $2 million to settle child labor violation claims at a Minnesota facility last fall.
As for QSI, which operates out of Chattanooga, Tennessee, the Labor Department reported that the company had hired minors for overnight shifts at numerous processing plants across various states, including facilities in Alabama, California, Delaware, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, Tennessee, and Virginia. However, the companies owning these plants remain unnamed in the report.
According to QSI spokesperson Dan Scorpio, the Department’s assertions are not precise since the investigators did not provide tangible evidence of any violations. He reiterated the company’s strict policy against employing minors and highlighted the measures taken over the past two-and-a-half years to enhance their hiring compliance protocols.
Perdue Farms faced allegations of employing minors at a Virginia facility where they were engaged in using dangerous tools for chicken slaughtering. While the findings against JBS did not establish direct employment of minors, related cases at their plants have surfaced.
The Department stated, “Labor officials have made it clear that companies often overlook their responsibility and incorrectly attribute it to staffing agencies or subcontractors. However, protecting our children — the most vulnerable of workers — must be a collective responsibility.”
To address these ongoing issues, the Labor Department is actively pursuing more than 1,000 child labor investigations. Each settlement reached includes guidelines for hiring practices intended to prevent minors from being employed, which encompass training for managers to identify underage applicants, implementing systems to report potential child labor violations, and maintaining accurate employee records that include birth dates and job assignments.
Furthermore, companies are urged to enforce disciplinary measures against anyone who violates labor laws by hiring underage workers.
