O.S.H.A. Investigating Mar-Jac Plant After 16-Year-Old Dies
Federal labor laws prohibit people under the age of 18 from operating and cleaning meat processing and packing equipment, which the U.S. Labor Department defines as “particularly hazardous.” Mississippi’s state labor laws ban minors from working in packing industries or positions that involve processing meat and poultry.
In a statement, the Mar-Jac plant called the death a “tragedy” and acknowledged that the boy “should not have been hired,” but claimed that it had been unaware of Duvan’s age. It added that it had relied on staffing companies to fill open positions because of an “unprecedentedly tight labor market” and to verify that every job applicant was legally qualified to work, though it did not specify which companies.
“It appears, at this point in the investigation, that this individual’s age and identity were misrepresented on the paperwork,” Mar-Jac Poultry said, adding that it would be auditing its staffing companies to ensure that the “error never happens again.”
In the past year, several states have introduced legislation making it easier for companies to put children to work. The states — including Iowa, Ohio and Arkansas — have proposed or passed bills expanding work hours and the types of jobs that minors can do, in part, to offset labor shortages.
These rollbacks, pushed primarily by Republican-dominated legislatures, come amid an influx of migrant workers to the United States that has been exacerbated by economic plight in their home countries. Many of the young workers come from Central America and are part of a shadowy work force toiling in grueling environments including slaughterhouses and sawmills, often in violation of child labor laws. From 2015 to 2022, cases involving child labor violations have increased by over 50 percent, according to Labor Department statistics.
Source: The New York Times
