Tyson and Perdue Are Facing Child Labor Investigations
Tyson and Perdue Are Facing Child Labor Investigations The New York Times
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The Labor Department Investigates Child Labor in Poultry Slaughterhouses
Summary:
The Labor Department has opened inquiries into whether migrant children were working inside slaughterhouses owned by the poultry-processing giants.
Tyson Foods and Perdue Farms, which together produce a third of the poultry sold in the United States, are under federal investigation into whether they relied on migrant children to clean slaughterhouses, some of the most dangerous work in the country.
The Labor Department opened the inquiries after an article in The New York Times Magazine, published this past week, found migrant children working overnight shifts for contractors in the companies’ plants on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Children as young as 13 were using acid and pressure hoses to scour blood, grease and feathers from industrial machines.
Meat processing is among the nation’s most hazardous industries, and federal law bans minors from working in slaughterhouses because of the high risk of injury. The Times article focused on one child, Marcos Cux, whose arm was mangled in a conveyor belt last year as he sanitized a deboning area in the Perdue plant. He was in the eighth grade.
The investigations are a rare instance of two major consumer brands facing federal scrutiny over child labor. Many meat-processing companies outsource cleaning to sanitation firms, which technically employ the workers. After another Labor Department investigation recently found more than 100 children cleaning plants around the country, one firm, Packers Sanitation Services Inc., paid a $1.5 million fine. But the national corporations that benefited from the children’s work, including Tyson, did not come under investigation.
Seema Nanda, the Labor Department’s chief legal officer, said in an interview that the Biden administration is now examining whether large corporations can be considered employers even when children enter their factories through contractors.
“We are long past the day when brands can say that they don’t know that they have child labor in their supply chain,” Ms. Nanda said. “The intention is to make sure that those higher up in the supply chain are holding their subcontractors and staffing agencies accountable.”
Representatives for Perdue and Tyson declined to comment on the Labor Department investigations. The companies, which have policies prohibiting underage labor, said they had not known children were working in their Virginia plants.
Tyson said it was now directly employing cleaners at 40 percent of its slaughterhouses and aimed to bring more of this work in house. Perdue said it had hired an outside auditor to suggest new policies. “We recognize the systemic nature of this issue and embrace any role we can play in a solution,” a Perdue spokeswoman, Andrea Staub, said in a statement.
The Labor Department has also opened investigations into the companies that have been running the cleaning shifts for Perdue and Tyson in Virginia: Fayette Industrial, which works with Perdue, and QSI, which works with Tyson and is part of a conglomerate, the Vincit Group.
Fayette hired Marcos at age 13 after he arrived in Virginia from his village in Guatemala. In February last year, he was cleaning deep inside a conveyor belt at the Perdue plant when it suddenly came to life and pulled him across the floor, tearing open his arm. He underwent three surgeries, but his arm remained limp at his side, his hand frozen in a claw.
He is one of thousands of Mexican and Central American children who have come to the United States alone since 2021 and ended up in dangerous, grueling jobs, The Times has reported in a series of articles this year.
On Wednesday, the Labor Department took the additional step of sending out an alert to hundreds of investigators nationwide about a child labor “enforcement action” against QSI. The alert outlined a clearinghouse system for tips about the company that will be run through the department’s Tennessee office, where the sanitation company is based.
Fayette and QSI said they had policies against child labor and were not aware of the federal investigations
The issues highlighted in the article are connected to SDG 8 as they involve child labor in the poultry industry, which is a violation of decent work standards. SDG 10 is also relevant as it aims to reduce inequalities, including the exploitation of migrant children in dangerous work. Additionally, SDG 16 is connected as it focuses on promoting peace, justice, and strong institutions, which includes addressing child labor and holding corporations accountable.
Based on the article’s content, the specific targets under these SDGs can be identified. SDG 8.7 targets eradicating the worst forms of child labor, which includes preventing children from working in dangerous industries like slaughterhouses. SDG 10.7 targets ensuring safe and responsible migration, which includes protecting migrant children from exploitation and hazardous work. SDG 16.3 targets promoting the rule of law and equal access to justice, which includes holding corporations accountable for child labor violations.
The article mentions several indicators that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets. These indicators include the number of investigations opened by the Labor Department, the number of cases where migrant children were found working in slaughterhouses, the number of fines imposed on companies for employing underage workers, and the number of audits conducted to assess the presence of child labor in supply chains.
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Source: nytimes.com
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Examining Corporate Responsibility
Response from Companies
Investigations into Cleaning Companies
SDGs, Targets, and Indicators Analysis
1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?
2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?
3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?
SDGs, Targets, and Indicators Table
SDGs
Targets
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.
– Number of investigations opened by the Labor Department into child labor violations in the poultry industry.
– Number of fines imposed on companies for employing underage workers.
SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
Target 10.7: Facilitate orderly, safe, regular, and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies.
– Number of cases where migrant children were found working in slaughterhouses.
– Number of audits conducted to assess the presence of child labor in supply chains.
SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
Target 16.3: Promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all.
– Number of investigations opened by the Labor Department into child labor violations in the poultry industry.
– Number of audits conducted to assess the presence of child labor in supply chains.
