Minor who died in poultry plant accident got the job with the identity of a 32-year-old

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Child Labor in the Poultry Industry

Introduction

A 16-year-old employee who died after getting sucked into equipment at a Mississippi poultry plant got the job using the identity of a 32-year-old man, a new revelation that highlights the ease with which migrant children are finding work in a dangerous industry, and the challenges companies face in trying to evaluate their true ages.

Background

Duvan Pérez, who was hired to clean up at Mar-Jac Poultry in Hattiesburg, which supplies chicken to companies like Chick-fil-A, died on July 14. Within hours of his death, questions about his true age were raised by a local Facebook news site, and he was soon determined to be 16.

It’s illegal for minors to work in slaughterhouses, which the Occupational Safety and Health Administration considers among the most perilous workplaces in the country.

Child Labor in the Poultry Industry

The number of children working illegally has skyrocketed across all industries, according to the Labor Department, nearly doubling since 2019. More than 800 child labor investigations in 47 states are ongoing across industries, according to the agency.

NBC News is capping a yearlong investigation into child labor in America with a new documentary called “Slaughterhouse Children,” based on reporting in two countries and six states, dozens of interviews and the review of thousands of pages of public records, accident reports and internal corporate documents.

Identity Theft and Hiring Practices

During research for the documentary, Mar-Jac confirmed to NBC News that Perez had used the identity of a man in his 30s.

Shown a picture of the 16-year-old, Mar-Jac attorney Larry Stine said Perez did not look like a 32-year-old man. “But he might have looked 18,” said Stine, who has represented the Georgia-based company since the 1990s.

Mar-Jac blamed the hiring of the teenager on a staffing company that supplies workers to the plant.

Investigations and Government Involvement

After Pérez’s death, the Labor Department launched an investigation into how Mar-Jac hired a teenager and a separate OSHA investigation into the accident itself. Both investigations remain ongoing.

In September, OSHA appealed to Mar-Jac employees in a press release to reach out to the agency to discuss the circumstances around Pérez’s death, noting that federal law protects the rights of workers to participate in a Labor Department investigation.

The Department of Homeland Security is supporting the OSHA investigation, according to a DHS spokesperson. Stine said, “Mar-Jac is unaware of any involvement by DHS.”

Companies’ Response and Penalties

In an email, Stine said, “Mar-Jac thoroughly investigated the accident and has not found any errors committed by its safety or human resources employees. It has learned many lessons from the accident and has taken aggressive steps to prevent the occurrence of another accident or hiring underage workers.”

If a company is found to have violated child labor laws, the maximum fine is $15,138 per instance.

Asked if the potential fines affect how a company does business, Stine said, “I think the publicity of having something like that is far worse than the penalty. Nobody wants to be seen to have been hiring a child.”

Impact on Children and Migration

Pérez’s uncle Gildardo Pérez told Telemundo he was unaware of the risks of the job and might have spoken up if he had known. “Perhaps we would have prevented it, but we never knew if it was a dangerous job.”

A representative for Chick-fil-A, which buys chicken from Mar-Jac, said in a statement, “We are reviewing our own procedures for investigation and response as we pursue the steps necessary to effectively hold all our suppliers to our high safety standards.”

Plant employees also receive a coupon for a free Chick-fil-A sandwich once a year, the worker said.

Child Labor and Education in Guatemala

In a year of reporting, almost all of the examples of child workers found at meat-processing plants across the country have come from Guatemala.

During the past two years, more than 250,000 unaccompanied children have come to the U.S. Almost half of those minors are from Guatemala.

Many of these children come from rural, Indigenous towns where the human smuggler, known as a “coyote,” is often a community member, experts say, and families commit to paying back thousands of dollars in order to get to the U.S.

Some of those children have found job openings at slaughterhouses across the country. Some look young but are over 18. Other workers, seen in pictures taken by Labor Department investigators, clearly appear to be children.

Government Crackdown on Child Labor

Child labor in the U.S. first emerged as a fresh concern in late fall 2022 when the Labor Department announced it had found more than 30 kids illegally working the graveyard shift for a company that cleans the biggest slaughterhouses in America, Packers Sanitation Services Inc.

Ultimately the Labor Department found 102 children working for PSSI at 13 locations in eight states.

PSSI paid a $1.5 million civil penalty and agreed to third-party monitoring. The company maintains it did not knowingly hire children. It said the only way minors could have been hired is if they used stolen or fake identities to get the jobs.

Since the settlement with the federal government, PSSI has also installed a new CEO and hired its first-ever compliance officer.

Since the allegations against PSSI came to light, other companies have also come under scrutiny.

Tyson Foods, Perdue Farms, Hearthside Food Solutions, and Gerber’s Poultry in Ohio are also now under investigation by the Labor Department after it was alleged that children were working inside their facilities. The companies have said in separate statements that they are cooperating with Labor Department and have strict policies against hiring anyone under 18.

Conclusion

What federal investigators can’t do is recover the months and years that migrant minors have spent on the job. Pastor Joel Tuchez of Dodge City, Kansas, said the kids he’s met through his ministry who’ve worked in the meatpacking plants of Kansas were robbed of their childhoods. “You have to act like an adult. You have to behave like an adult. You have to perform like an

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

• Target 8.7: Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labor, end modern slavery and human trafficking, and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labor.
• Indicator 8.7.1: Proportion and number of children aged 5-17 years engaged in child labor, by sex and age group.
• Indicator 8.7.2: Number of victims of human trafficking per 100,000 population, by sex, age group, and form of exploitation.

SDG 4: Quality Education

• Target 4.1: By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable, and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes.
• Indicator 4.1.1: Proportion of children and young people (a) in grades 2/3; (b) at the end of primary; and (c) at the end of lower secondary achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in (i) reading and (ii) mathematics, by sex.

Analysis

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

The issues highlighted in the article are connected to SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth and SDG 4: Quality Education.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

Based on the article’s content, the specific targets that can be identified are:

• Target 8.7: Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labor, end modern slavery and human trafficking, and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labor.
• Target 4.1: By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable, and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

Yes, there are indicators mentioned in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets:

• Indicator 8.7.1: Proportion and number of children aged 5-17 years engaged in child labor, by sex and age group.
• Indicator 8.7.2: Number of victims of human trafficking per 100,000 population, by sex, age group, and form of exploitation.
• Indicator 4.1.1: Proportion of children and young people (a) in grades 2/3; (b) at the end of primary; and (c) at the end of lower secondary achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in (i) reading and (ii) mathematics, by sex.

Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

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Source: nbcnews.com

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