“For too long this industry has been given carte blanche to disregard laws,” an advocate told Truthout.


Gerber’s Poultry, a poultry plant in Kidron, Ohio, which produces Amish Farm Chicken, is under investigation after federal agents found more than two dozen minors illegally employed in meat processing and sanitation.

“The discovery of yet another meat processing facility in the U.S. relying on child labor is the latest reminder of the harms that industrial animal agriculture inflicts at every turn, with the most vulnerable — children, people of color, immigrants, and nonhuman animals — paying the highest price,” Delcianna J. Winders, associate professor of Law at Vermont Law and Graduate School told Truthout.

The plant was raided on the evening of October 4 by Homeland Security Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigation agents following reports about the plant illegally employing children. A local resident told NBC News that the children, mainly from Guatemala, work the plant’s second shift after attending school during the day.

“For too long this industry has been given carte blanche to disregard laws,” Winders said. “Let’s hope this federal investigation is an indication that the government will begin to demand greater accountability across the industry.”

It is illegal under the Federal Code of Regulations and the Fair Labor Standards Act for anyone under the age of 18 to work in hazardous occupations, such as in meatpacking plants. Despite these labor protections for children, there has been a 69 percent rise in child labor in the United States since 2018 and recent data released by the Department of Labor (DOL) has found that child labor violations have risen to their highest level in nearly two decades. In fact, the DOL currently has more than 800 child labor investigations underway and has uncovered 5,792 minors working in violation of child labor laws in the past year.

“Finding just one child in harm’s way is one too many,” the DOL said in a statement. “This is an issue that affects all of us and as parents, caregivers, teachers, employers and community members, we cannot tolerate the exploitation of children.”

read more: https://truthout.org/articles/a-poultry-plant-in-ohio-is-under-federal-investigation-for-hiring-24-children/

archive link: https://archive.ph/ObQdO

    • @Treczoks
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      341 year ago

      The kids work in the fields (and only get Sunday school), the wife slaves away in the kitchen, and the husband owns them all, as well as owning guns and pickups. A flyover country idyllic family.

        • @Treczoks
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          61 year ago

          The problem is: They are happy with that concept, and they want to make everyone happy. Even those who don’t “appreciate” it.

  • @alienanimals
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    1 year ago

    The only way this shit will stop is if the people in charge at Gerber’s Poultry are thrown in jail. Hold them accountable.

    • @ohlaph
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      21 year ago

      Absolutely. Child labor should not be accepted as a society.

    • TwoGems
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      61 year ago

      Oh don’t perceive it. The Republicans made it into one already.

  • @randon31415
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    101 year ago

    The children yearn for the poultry mines!

  • @shalafi
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    81 year ago

    I was the IT manager for a small payroll company, but I was really tight with the payroll processors and got all the scoop on how things work.

    These kind of stories always stun me. We had 250 small clients, of various levels of weaselly, and none of them would fuck around with the rules. And the majority of them were places you would expect fuckery from; Churches, restaurants and the like.

    Underage workers? Hell no. You’re not setting foot onsite without a verified ID.

    Unpaid overtime? LOL no.

    Worker’s comp? You bet it was covered.

    How exactly were they getting away with this? One person making one call to the state labor board would/should ignite a shitstorm.

      • @shalafi
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        01 year ago

        No lawyers! Just make a call to the state labor board and the shit is on!

        I see young people on social media getting fucked all the time. Often the law is on their side, and they haven’t a clue. No fight, just a phone call.

    • @ohlaph
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      11 year ago

      Probably some bribing going on.

  • ASeriesOfPoorChoices
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    81 year ago

    Two dozen Guatamalan high school kids working in an Ohio chicken factory after school.

    Yeah, that doesn’t seem right to me.

  • Froyn
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    31 year ago

    I bet I can guess which way their parents voted.

    • Chetzemoka
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      91 year ago

      What makes you think these children’s parents are able to vote? Most of these are immigrant children. These people did not ask to be abused

  • aeternum
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    -151 year ago

    Sounds like a good reason to stop eating chickens (and all animals).

    • mrbubblesort
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      191 year ago

      Is this an argument we should be having? Sure all right. Is this where we should be having it? Probably not. It’s a huge non sequitur to bring that up within the context of child labor, and at best, makes you look “out of touch”

      • TigrisMorte
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        71 year ago

        Child labor pales in comparison to the importance of their moral superiority. /s

    • ThunderingJerboa
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      151 year ago

      Swing and a miss. Like its a noble goal but you probably should shoot for a different reason. Its no secret that a portion of migrants workers in the agricultural sector are also children. While the exact number is unknown, an estimated 30,000 to 79,325 children between the ages of ten and seventeen are exploited for their work on U.S. farms each year.

      • @[email protected]
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        51 year ago

        Are they exploited on farms that grow feed for chickens and cattle? Because if so, I could imagine someone making an argument for “lessening” child labor with their economic choices by simply eating the grains directly.

          • @[email protected]
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            1 year ago

            Excellent response. Thank you.

            So the most ethical diet choice is then “buy your meat local and make sure you know your butcher is not 13” ?

        • ThunderingJerboa
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          21 year ago

          Except you are just offloading the child labor for native born citizens but still not caring about the migrant workers since they will still just be working those grain farms.

            • @[email protected]
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              11 year ago

              you still vastly reduce the suffering of humans by reducing the amount of animals you eat.

              no, you don’t.

                • @[email protected]
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                  11 year ago

                  first, how do you quantify suffering? it’s a subjective experience.

                  second, if we assume that a certain amount of suffering results from every animal killed, reducing the amount of animals you eat doesn’t actually reduce the number of animals killed.

            • TigrisMorte
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              -41 year ago

              And leaving those workers to starve. But at least you’ve got your moral superiority to comfort you.

        • @Treczoks
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          21 year ago

          Only if they harvest the grains themselves (and not including their own kids in the process).