US company allowed minors to clean meat factories at night

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JBS Foods, one of the meat companies that got kids cleaning at night

Photo: David Zalubowski/AP

A major US cleaning company has been fined $1.5 million for letting more than 100 minors clean meat factories at night.

The U.S. Department of Labor said Friday Packers Sanitation Services had employed at least 102 children ages 13 to 17 at 13 meat plants in eight states.

Some of the minors would have had to clean razor-sharp saws with caustic chemicals.

At least three are said to have sustained injuries during the work.

The minors were used, among other things, in factories of large meat companies such as Tyson, JBS Foods and Cargill.

The Department of Labor launched an investigation last August.

Among other things, US law stipulates that minors are not allowed to work in jobs that are classified as dangerous.

Working under the age of 14 is prohibited, with a number of exceptions.

kfr/AFP