A 16-year-old employee who died after getting sucked into equipment at a Mississippi poultry plant got the job using the identity of a 32-year-old man, a new revelation that highlights the ease with which migrant children are finding work in a dangerous industry, and the challenges companies face in trying to evaluate their true ages.
Duvan Pérez, who was hired to clean up at Mar-Jac Poultry in Hattiesburg, which supplies chicken to companies like Chick-fil-A, died on July 14. Within hours of his death, questions about his true age were raised by a local Facebook news site, and he was soon determined to be 16.
It’s illegal for minors to work in slaughterhouses, which the Occupational Safety and Health Administration considers among the most perilous workplaces in the country.
The number of children working illegally has skyrocketed across all industries, according to the Labor Department, nearly doubling since 2019. More than 800 child labor investigations in 47 states are ongoing across industries, according to the agency.
Alternatively, we can look to the past and see how the labor movement pressured the government to ban child labor in the first place.
More than 800 child labor investigations in 47 states are ongoing across industries, according to the agency.
So when do the feds say enough is enough and implement severe penalties for all involved; ie: all profits the companies made x number of children working, charges/jail time for those who approved the kids to work? Cause whatever they are doing now obviously isn’t enough.
Never. Things are getting worse out there and this is what families are going to do to survive.
All we have to do to fix these problems is pass national universal healthcare, raise the minimum wage, and start building housing as fast as possible. Given that we are not going to do any of those things more and more families are going to send their children into the labor force.
That would require an act of Congress to implement nationwide.
And Congress hasn’t accomplished anything since 2010.
It’s more likely that they’ll pass a law rescinding child labor laws and legalizing these practices.
I saw it in the evening news show of a main TV channel (Das Erste) here in germany that Gov. Huckabee of Arkansas introduced a law to roll back child labour laws, which seems a few other of the GOP reigned, god fearing states also like.
Where several parts of Iowas new law are violating federal child labour laws (e.g. Hazardous Occupations Orders) and that’s why those states are under federal investigation.
From Europe, I hope your gov keeps the promise of cracking down on migrant child labour in hazardous environment and other trends to return to pre-industrial times (e.g. caregivers who exploit the child labour) and offers those kids better possibilities. Those voters in Iowa, Nebraska and the likes are lost anyway.
When are they going to make sure that all families have enough money to live on so that the children do not need to work?
Right?!? Let’s solve the actual problem not criminalize the symptoms further when already criminalizing the symptoms doesn’t work
But, and hear me out here, I’d like to see every employee of ALL the companies involved pay a price for employing children in the first place.
That’s not saying that a UBI shouldn’t be enacted as well. I want both done.
Now why do I doubt that anyone of the bosses responsible for this hiring will be held personally accountable? I have a sneaking suspicion some measly fines (compared to company profits) will be the result of the vast majority of these ‘investigations.’
I hope I’m wrong.
Very obviously not 32, doesn’t even look 18, but sure I suppose it could be. But is this 32 year old man he supposedly is even real? Is there a social he gave for a 32 year old? Or he just say “yeah I’m 32.” And they’re like “cool deniable enough for me!”
Sounds like these are all real stolen identities
One person told police in 2021 that they tried to apply for unemployment in Florida but were told their identity was being used by an employee at Mar-Jac. A police report quotes the complainant’s email saying, “I called Mar-Jac poultry to notify them and was told by [redacted], the HR supervisor that I couldn’t do anything without a police report and he couldn’t help me in any way.”
Another person called local police in 2022 saying she was unable to get child care assistance in Texas because her identity was being used by a Mar-Jac worker. “[Redacted] stated she’s never lived outside of the state of Texas,” the police report said. “She contacted HR at Mar-Jac and was informed that they couldn’t give her any information and to contact the police department.”
Adam Conover has a nice short video on the rise in child labor:
https://youtu.be/_ve6BqXzbjw?si=w17wg9G2xN5Z2oKQ
It’s because we don’t turn away unaccompanied minors like we do adults at the border. So more parents send their kids alone or separately. If we were not as harsh with adults at the border, it would likely be a lot better.
this is very common throughout southeast asia. the company uses a staffing agency who is always looking the other way and nobody involved gives a fuck except the foreigner they hired from germany to run the plant.
being vegan isn’t just about your health, the climate, or the protection of animals; it’s about disassembling this horrific industry from the ground up. animal agriculture is inherently exploitative and stories like these are just another reason among many to make the connection and get on the right side of these issues.
Didn’t Republican controlled Save The Children states make this type of Child Labor LEGAL?
so… HR was corrupt or the hiring manager had a quota to fill or… ?
So what made him not get a job somewhere a high schooler can work? Why use someone’s stolen identity to get a job?
Because he was legally underage to work in the plant. And he may not have had ID in the first place.
Probably because these jobs pay better than a high schoolers job
