In the United States today, there are growing concerns about the treatment of children, what children are being exposed to, and how this impacts their futures and the fate of the nation.
This has led to major debates over education, with legislation enacted to stop kids from being exposed to content that is not age appropriate or conducive to their development at a young age.
Also on the books to protect kids in this country are various laws that pertain to child labor. According to Conservative Review, one meat packing plant is now facing some consequences for violating these laws.
Illegal Use of Child Labor
Following a probe from the US Labor Department, Packers Sanitation Services has been found to have unlawfully put over 100 kids to work in dangerous facilities. These kids were exposed to harmful equipment, noxious chemicals, and other tools that could hurt them.
The hours they worked far surpassed labor laws and caused them to struggle with remaining awake during the daytime.
Unfortunately, this flagrant breach of child labor laws took place in multiple states, such as Nebraska, Texas, Colorado, Arkansas, Indiana, Tennessee, Kansas, and Minnesota.
The U.S. Department of Labor has fined Packers Sanitation Services $1.5 million for employing 102 children as young as 13.
Their revenue in 2021 was $2.7 billion.
Here is a picture of one of the kids cleaning a slaughterhouse: pic.twitter.com/4OznkbXgTk
— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) February 23, 2023
As a result of this, Packers Sanitation Services has been hit with a fine of $1.5 million. Labor Department investigators also learned that while this meat packing plant illegally employed children, several of them suffered injuries while working.
Officials have described what these kids were forced to endure as a “systemic” disregard for laws on the books that are meant to keep children safe.
More From the General Public
As most folks might imagine, the general public has reacted with outrage over how Packers Sanitation Services treated children. Forcing them to work overnight and even sustain injuries in some cases is inexcusable.
On social media, one common view is that simply fining the meat packing plant is not enough. Due to the extent of what over 100 kids were forced to endure while being made to work at Packers Sanitation Services, many Americans believe the adults who allowed this to happen should spend time behind bars.
A sanitation company paid over $1.5M in penalties for having 102 children from the ages of 13 to 17 work overnight shifts at 13 hazardous slaughterhouses across America.
Packers Sanitation Services is owned by the private equity firm Blackstone.
Nobody will go to jail for this.
— Fifty Shades of Whey (@davenewworld_2) February 17, 2023
The Labor Department has said its hefty fine against the plant shows that it won’t stand for child labor laws being violated. Though many concerned citizens feel this does not go far enough.
With the right profit margins and bottom lines, Packers Sanitation Services can recover from the loss of a fine in a decent amount of time. Meanwhile, the children involved will still live with the scars of this illegal labor.
Are you concerned to learn about the blatant violation of child labor laws that happened in eight separate states? Do you believe fining Packers Sanitation Services is enough? You can let us know in the comments area.
This article appeared in NewsHouse and has been published here with permission.
