© Reuters. The brand of Tyson Foods is seen in Davos, Switzerland, May 22, 2022. Picture taken May 22, 2022. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo
(Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Labor has opened investigations into meat corporations Tyson Foods (NYSE:) and Perdue Farms to find out whether or not migrant youngsters had been used to wash slaughterhouses, the New York Times reported on Saturday.
The Labor Department opened the investigations after a New York Times Magazine article this week confirmed migrant youngsters working in a single day shifts for contractors within the corporations’ vegetation on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, the report stated.
Reuters was not capable of independently confirm the small print of the Times report. The Labor Department and Tyson Foods didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from Reuters.
A Perdue spokesperson stated the corporate had not been notified of the investigation however deliberate to cooperate totally with any authorities inquiry on the matter.
“We are conducting a comprehensive third-party audit of child labor prevention and protection procedures including a compliance audit of contractors,” Purdue’s spokesperson stated.
The Labor Department has additionally opened investigations into Fayette Industrial and QSI that run cleansing shifts for Perdue and Tyson respectively, the newspaper stated.
QSI didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. Fayette Industrial couldn’t instantly be reached for remark.
In April the Biden administration despatched a letter to meat corporations together with Tyson and Perdue asking the businesses to look at their provide chains for proof of child labor.
The letter was a part of an effort by a number of companies, led by the Labor Department, to curb using unlawful child labor throughout sectors.
