JBS removes US company fined for child labor – 04/24/2023 – Market

JBS USA reported this Monday (24) that it is terminating a contract with an American company that was fined for hiring teenagers to clean refrigerators, adding that in some facilities the service will be carried out internally.

The changes are a sign that the US government’s investigation into food safety sanitation company Packers Sanitation Services (PSSI) is prompting adjustments by major meat companies.

JBS said it does not condone child labor and is moving PSSI away from all alleged crime sites, spokeswoman Nikki Richardson said.

The meat company is employing different third-party suppliers at some plants and hiring its own workers at others, including at a beef facility in Cactus, Texas, which was not the site of the alleged labor violations, Richardson said.

PSSI, which has previously said it has a zero-tolerance policy for hiring minors, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The US Department of Labor said in February that PSSI paid $1.5 million in fines for employing more than 100 teenagers in hazardous work at meat plants in eight US states.

The agency did not accuse meat companies of wrongdoing, although the Biden administration has encouraged meat companies to review their supply chains for evidence of child labor.

Reuters reported that the illegal use of child labor — particularly by migrants — is widespread, including at chicken factories in Alabama and by contractors who employ workers at Hyundai and Kia plants. The automakers said they do not tolerate labor law violations.