Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (HELP) Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Ranking Member Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.) today requested answers from Packers Sanitation Services, Inc. (PSSI) following reports that the company had employed more than 102 children between 13 to 17 years of age in hazardous conditions. This comes after the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) fined PSSI $1.5 million for employing children to work with “hazardous chemicals and cleaning meat processing equipment,” which reportedly led to the injuries of at least three minors. The violations took place at facilities located in Nebraska and Minnesota.
In 2022, WHD began an investigation into PSSI’s hiring practices and found that the company ignored warnings that some of their workers may be minors. They also found that adults who recruited and supervised these children were attempting to subvert WHD’s investigations into the claims. In December of 2022, the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska entered into a consent order and judgment where PSSI must “agree to immediately comply with child labor laws at all facilities nationwide and to take significant steps to ensure future compliance.” In response, the company has stated that it uses E-Verify to authenticate workers’ ages and has implemented training measures on how to better recognize identity theft among its workforce.
“We write following alarming reports that your company, Packers Sanitation Services (PSSI) – one of the nation’s largest providers of food safety and sanitation services – employed more than 102 children… [who] work[ed] with ‘hazardous chemicals and cleaning meat processing equipment including back saws, brisket saws and head splitters,’” wrote the senators.
“The U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee has direct jurisdiction over DOL as well as matters relating to child labor and occupational safety and health,” continued the senators. “In order to better understand the steps PSSI has taken to prevent the hiring of child labor since the December 6, 2022 consent order and judgment, we ask that your company answer the following questions on a question-by-question basis by April 12, 2023.”
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