Iowa Meatpacking Plant Allegedly Used Illegal Child Labor

Officials from the U.S. Department of Labor are claiming that some less than legal things were taking place at a Sioux City slaughterhouse and meatpacking plant.

From the looks of things in the report, most things were up to snuff at Seaboard Triumph Foods.

However, when they took a closer look at the janitorial company this business employed, a few red flags were raised.

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According to a report, Fayette Janitorial Service is the contracted cleaning company for these slaughterhouses and meatpacking plants. The U.S. Department of Labor has a lawsuit out against the two companies.

Last September, the DOL began an investigation looking into the labor practices of the janitorial business.

Some of the takeaways from the investigation...

Officials from the Department of Labor are claiming that they have found evidence that Fayette was employing minors at this time. They also are alleging that these minors worked more than three hours per day and more than 18 hours per week while school was in session.

This is against the Fair Labors and Statistics Act.

During the investigation, officials claimed to see minors entering the building “who appeared to be minors based on their stature and appearance." Most of the younger workers apparently hid their faces while entering the plant.

Also, there were some reports claiming that some of these minors were sported with "pink and purple sparkly backpacks."

In November of 2023, DOL officials toured the facility during the overnight shift and interviewed some of the workers.

One of them was reportedly wearing a “Class of 2025 South Sioux City High School”  shirt, according to the report.

How many minors were working this overnight shift?

Officials were able to determine that Fayette had employed nine minors to perform sanitation duties at the plant since they took over in 2023.

These employees included two 14-year-olds, one 15-year-old, one 16-year-old, and five 17-year-olds.

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