Biden demands action from slaughterhouses against child labor – 04/12/2023 – Market

Meat companies should scrutinize their supply chains for evidence of child labor, the Joe Biden administration said in a letter sent to major U.S. meatpacking companies this Wednesday (12).

The letter is part of a multi-agency initiative, led by the Department of Labor, to curb the use of illegal child labor in all industries. Since 2018, illegal child employment has increased by 69% in the US, according to the agency.

In February, the Department of Labor discovered that more than 100 children had been illegally employed by Packers Sanitation Services Inc, a company that hires meat packers to clean slaughterhouses. The company was fined $1.5 million.

US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack in the letter urged meat and poultry companies to determine whether illegal child labor is being used in their supply chains and to adopt stricter child labor standards for subcontractors.

“Food manufacturing companies – particularly those with significant market power – need to be vigilant about their suppliers’ standards to help reduce systemic violations and abuse,” Vilsack said in the letter.

The letter was sent to 18 companies representing about 70% of meat and poultry production by volume, including Tyson Foods Inc, Smithfield Foods Inc, JBS USA Llc and Perdue Farms Inc.

The Department of Agriculture is exploring enforcement mechanisms that would allow for tighter oversight of the use of child labor in food supply chains, and plans to take further action on the matter, an agency spokesperson said.