 COMPANY FOUND TO HAVE EMPLOYED UNDERAGE IMMIGRANTS
A former personnel director at Cagle’s Keystone Foods chicken processing plant in Clinton County, Kentucky has revealed that the plant employed at least one child under 16, the minimum age at which the law allows a person to be employed in such a job. She said that there was no willful violation of the law, and that when they discovered that some employees were using false identification to secure employment, they were fired.
The admission comes shortly after the Department of Labor announced that it had made surprise inspections of 51 chicken processing plants across the nation. They discovered a dozen children working in two plants, which have not been identified to the public. While a Labor Department official involved in the investigation said the small number was “pretty good,” he admitted that they probably did not discover all incidents of underage employment.
Cagle’s has received substantial tax incentives to open the plant in Clinton County, one of the most impoverished areas of Kentucky. They receive 00 for each area resident that they employ. Many US citizens who have worked there have quit, complaining about the cold working conditions and the tedious and repetitive work. This created a huge demand for immigrant workers. About half of the workers at the plant are immigrants now.
Federal officials are currently debating whether to raise the minimum age for employment in chicken processing plants from 16 to 18. Officials from the Labor Department say one of the reasons for the possible change is the discovery of underage immigrant workers discovered working in such plants. The Labor Department will not make a final decision on the issue until later this year. The new nominee for the head of the Department is Elaine Chao, who is married to Mitch McConnell, a Republican Senator from Kentucky.
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