JBS partner in the US fined for child labor – 03/13/2023 – Market

The American Packers Sanitation Services, the company responsible for cleaning factories in the US of the Brazilian JBS, the world’s largest meat processor, was fined US$ 1.5 million in February for the use of immigrant child labor in the country.

The case was reported by The New York Times, whose report followed in recent months more than one hundred child immigrant workers in 20 American states. The origin of the children is Latin America, mainly Guatemala. Most of the time they immigrated alone, to work in the US and send money to their family back home.

Among the contractors are large companies or third parties contracted by them. According to the newspaper, JBS, Pepsico, General Mills, Ford, General Motors, among others, would be involved, according to a report by journalist Hannah Dreier, from the Times.

questioned by Sheet, JBS responded that it “contractually requires its partners to adhere to the highest ethical principles, as described in its code of conduct for business associates”. It also claimed that, upon being informed of what had happened, “it canceled the contract with the outsourced company and hired an independent audit in all its facilities to thoroughly assess this situation”.

A Sheet questioned the company about the duration of the contract with Packers Sanitation Services and how many factories were served by the outsourced company in the United States. But, through its press office, JBS replied that it could not inform because it was a matter for JBS USA.

See the report in The New York Times:

Alone and exploited, immigrant children do brutal work in the US

The parallel workforce formed by immigrant children extends across sectors in all states, disregarding child labor laws that have been in effect for nearly a century in the US.

In much of Central America, children are driven by the economic desperation that has been compounded by the pandemic. That workforce has been growing slowly for nearly a decade, but has exploded since 2021 as systems meant to protect children have failed.

In Worthington, Minnesota, it has long been common knowledge that immigrant children cleared by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) were cleaning up at a JBS-run slaughterhouse.

The city has received more unaccompanied immigrant children per capita than almost anywhere else in the country.

Outside the JBS pork plant, the Times spoke to workers who had “baby faces”. Many crossed out their fake names from company badges to hide evidence that they were working under false identities. Some said they suffered chemical burns from the corrosive cleaners used.

Labor inspectors, responding to a tip, found 22 Spanish-speaking children working for the company contracted to clean the JBS plant in Worthington; dozens of others had the same jobs in meat processing plants across the United States.

The Department of Labor can usually only issue fines. The cleaning company paid a US$1.5 million penalty and had its contract with JBS terminated.

Many of the children who worked there found new jobs in other factories after federal intervention.

“I still have to pay off my debt, so I still have to work,” said Mauricio Ramirez, 17, who found a job processing meat in the nearby town.

The number of unaccompanied minors entering the United States rose to 130,000 last year – three times what it was five years earlier – and the coming months are expected to bring another wave.

These are not children who sneaked into the country undetected. The federal government knows they are in the United States, and HHS is responsible for ensuring that these children’s sponsors support them and protect them from trafficking or exploitation.

But as more and more children arrive, Joe Biden’s White House is increasing demands on officials to quickly remove children from shelters and release them to adults. Social workers say they rush to check on sponsors.

While HHS checks all minors by calling them within a month of starting to live with their godparents, data obtained by the Times showed that over the past two years, the agency has failed to reach more than 85,000 children. Overall, the agency lost immediate contact with a third of immigrant children.

An HHS spokeswoman said the agency wanted to release the children quickly, for the sake of their well-being, but had not compromised safety. “There are several places throughout the process to continually ensure that placement is in the best interests of the child,” said spokeswoman Kamara Jones.

Far from home, many of these children are under intense pressure to earn money. They send money back to their families, though they are often indebted to their sponsors for smuggling fees, rent, and living expenses.

“It’s the new child labor. You’re taking children from another country and putting them in almost mandatory servitude.”

In the last two years alone, more than 250,000 children entered the United States alone.

Federal law prohibits minors from a long list of hazardous jobs, including roofing repair or installation, meat processing and commercial baking. Except on farms, children under 16 must not work for more than three hours or after 7 pm on school days.