#Mar-Jac Poultry

[iww-gnv]

A Mississippi chicken slaughterhouse put a child into a 'preventable, dangerous situation', the Labor Department has concluded - after the death of a 16-year-old sucked into a chicken deboning plant. Duvan Perez had been cleaning equipment at the Hattiesburg plant of Mar-Jac Poultry on July 14, 2023, when he was pulled into the rotating shaft of a machine and sustained fatal injuries. Perez, originally from Guatemala, had been hired to work at the slaughterhouse by a recruitment firm - despite it being illegal for under 18s to work at a meat processing plant. His death caused widespread outrage, and on Wednesday the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) - a division of the Department of Labor - issued their report, finding a litany of errors and recommending $212,646 in penalties. They also highlighted two previous deaths at the company's facilities since 2020, and accused the company of complacency and recklessness.

#news #us news #us pol #uspol #mississippi #mississippi news #hattiesburg #hattiesburg mississippi #child labor #teen labor #OSHA #mar-jac poultry

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

For the third time in five weeks, a 16-year-old boy has died after sustaining on-the-job injuries at an industrial site, as lawmakers in several states advocate loosening child labor laws that protect minors from hazardous work.

The latest teen death was Friday night at the Mar-Jac Poultry plant in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, authorities said. It’s the third worker death at the plant since December 2020.

Duvan Tomas Perez, who NBC News reported moved to the U.S. from Guatemala six years ago, was cleaning machinery as part of a sanitation crew when he became trapped in equipment on a conveyor belt. He died at the scene, police and the poultry company said.

The company said that it appears that the child “should not have been hired” and that his age and identity were misrepresented on his hiring paperwork with an outside staffing company.

“We are devastated at the loss of life and deeply regret that an underage individual was hired without our knowledge. The company is undertaking a thorough audit with the staffing companies to ensure that this kind of error never happens again,” it said in a statement Thursday to HuffPost.

His death follows two other teens’ deaths in Wisconsin and Missouri.

Michael Schuls, 16, died on June 29 after sustaining injuries at the Florence Hardwoods logging company in Florence, Wisconsin. Michael was attempting to unjam a wood-stacking machine when he became pinned under machinery on a conveyor belt, resulting in what the coroner identified as traumatic asphyxiation, The Associated Press reported.

Will Hampton, 16, died on June 8 in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, after becoming injured while working at the Lee’s Summit Resource Recovery Park landfill. The high school sophomore became pinned between a tractor-trailer rig and its trailer, resulting in his death, police said in a statement.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is investigating all three deaths, a Labor Department spokesperson confirmed to HuffPost.

OSHA has also made a referral to the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division for possible child labor violations concerning hazardous occupations in the Wisconsin case and a separate referral in the Missouri case to determine if the child was legally employed.

Federal labor laws allow children 16 and older to be employed in all occupations as long as the jobs are not declared hazardous by the Secretary of Labor. The Labor Department’s website features a list of such hazardous occupations and specifies that “most jobs” in meat and poultry plants ― including equipment cleaning ― are banned.

Minors are also prohibited from being employed “inside and outside of places of businesses that use machinery to process wood products,” with a few exceptions, including if an adult relative supervises the child.

The Wisconsin teen’s father also worked at the sawmill and was at the site that day, Green Bay station WBAY reported, though the child was alone in the building when the incident happened, and he wasn’t found until 17 minutes later, The AP reported.

In the case of the Mississippi teen killed, the child wasn’t working directly for Mar-Jac Poultry as he had been hired by an outside agency. “These hiring companies often aren’t the most reliable when it comes to finding qualified, legal workers,” said Jordan Barab, former deputy assistant secretary of labor at OSHA from 2009 to 2017.

“These temp agencies don’t have any scruples at all. They don’t have any national reputation to uphold. They’re just trying to sell workers, basically,” he told HuffPost. “And then the main company claims they had no idea, the temp agency [says it] was ‘fooled by false certifications.’ Well, obviously this kid did not look 18.”

OSHA has been going after this “to a certain extent,” he said, with the administration citing both the place of employment and the hiring company when a regulation is broken.

Barab partially blamed the nation’s ongoing shortage of labor for the hiring of children because employers are trying to avoid paying more for qualified workers.

“You have some employers who are basically going after the most vulnerable workers, the workers with the least ability to fight back or question anything. Who could be more vulnerable than (A) children and (B) immigrant children?” Barab said.

The COVID-19 pandemic, affordable child care, a rise in remote work and retiring workers are among the reasons cited for the labor shortage.

Regardless of the risks, lawmakers in several states have proposed weakening child labor protections in a bid to expand the workforce with low-paying labor.

In Wisconsin, where one of the three children died, lawmakers are advocating for lowering the age to serve alcohol in bars and restaurants to 14. It would be a nationwide first if approved, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Another bill introduced in Minnesota proposes allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to work in or around construction sites.

In Iowa, the state Senate in April passed a bill that would allow children to work more days and longer hours, but in conflict with the current limits set by federal law, as Iowa State Daily reported.

The Biden administration back in April urged U.S. meat companies to ensure they are not unknowingly or knowingly hiring children illegally. This followed revelations that more than 100 children were working for a company that cleans slaughterhouses. The children’s work included handling hazardous equipment, like razor-sharp bone saws.

An estimated 160,000 children are injured annually in the U.S. while working. Of these injuries, 54,800 warrant emergency room treatment, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

The number of minors employed in violation of child labor laws has increased by 37% within the last year, according to a March report by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute in Washington. The report identified 10 states that have introduced or passed bills within the last two years that would weaken child labor standards.

#us politics #news #huffington post #2023 #child labor #child labor laws #workplace deaths #working class #workers #worker's rights #workplace injuries #Duvan Tomas Perez #Mississippi #Mar-Jac Poultry #Michael Schuls #Florence Hardwoods #Wisconsin #Will Hampton #Missouri #Lee’s Summit Resource Recovery Park landfill #Occupational Safety and Health Administration #department of labor #biden administration #Jordan Barab #child labour #unfair labor practices #labor shortage #National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health #Economic Policy Institute

[princelysome]

[follow-up-news]

A 16-year-old boy from Guatemala died as a result of an on-the-job accident at a poultry plant in Mississippi, authorities said Tuesday. It happened at about 8 p.m. on July 14 at the Mar-Jac Poultry plant in Hattiesburg, Forrest County deputy coroner Lisa Klem said. Workers under the age of 18 are not allowed to work in poultry plants because it’s deemed to be too dangerous and therefore a violation of child labor laws.  The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division have launched investigations into the incident, a spokesperson said. 

#child labor #mississippi

[animeraider]

Strike.

Every regulation you've ever heard of, including those that affect child labor, is written in the blood of victims. In the blood of workers. They all exist because something unspeakable happened.

Every. Single. Motherfucking. One.

#regulation #child labor #labor rights #unions #strike!

[antonio-velardo]

Antonio Velardo shares: U.S. Faults Mississippi Poultry Plant in Death of 16-Year-Old by Jesus Jiménez

By Jesus Jiménez The Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Mar-Jac Poultry with 17 violations in the death of a teenager who was caught in a machine. It faces more than $200,00 in fines. Published: January 16, 2024 at 05:31PM from NYT Business https://ift.tt/dFMUPZ2 via IFTTT

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#antonio velardo #IFTTT #NYT

[whitesinhistory]

A teenager died while working underage at a Mississippi poultry plant last week, the third accidental death at the facility in less than three years.

Sixteen-year-old Duvan Robert Tomas Perez died while on the job at the Mar-Jac Poultry plant in Hattiesburg, Miss., last Friday. Forrest County Deputy Coroner Lisa Klem confirmed the where and when of Perez's death, but said she couldn't release specific details at the request of the family.

@myundocumentedass #greenscreen #undocumented #immigration #amerikkka #breakingnews #latinxcreatives

#white history #history #republicans #child labor

[theyoungturks]

Duvan Pérez, a 16-year-old immigrant from Guatamala, died in an accident at at the Mar-Jac Poultry MS LLC’s Hattiesburg poultry processing plant. Ana Kasparian discusses was killed in a position on The Young Turks. https://shoptyt.com/collections/justice-is-coming Watch TYT LIVE on weekdays 6-8 pm ET. http://youtube.com/theyoungturks/live Read more HERE: https://www.wdam.com/2023/07/17/16-year-old-dies-accident-mar-jac-poultry-plant/ "The accident occurred around 8 p.m. on July 14 at the Mar-Jac Poultry MS LLC’s Hattiesburg poultry processing plant on James Street. According to a press release from the company, an employee conducting sanitation operations died of injuries sustained in the accident. Forrest County Deputy Coroner Lisa Klem identified the employee as a 16-year-old Hispanic male from Hattiesburg and said he died on the scene." *** The largest online progressive news show in the world. Hosted by Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian. LIVE weekdays 6-8 pm ET. Help support our mission and get perks. Membership protects TYT's independence from corporate ownership and allows us to provide free live shows that speak truth to power for people around the world. See Perks: ▶ https://www.youtube.com/TheYoungTurks/join SUBSCRIBE on YOUTUBE: ☞ http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=theyoungturks FACEBOOK: ☞ http://www.facebook.com/TheYoungTurks TWITTER: ☞ http://www.twitter.com/TheYoungTurks INSTAGRAM: ☞ http://www.instagram.com/TheYoungTurks TWITCH: ☞ http://www.twitch.com/tyt 👕 Merch: http://shoptyt.com ❤ Donate: http://www.tyt.com/go 🔗 Website: https://www.tyt.com 📱App: http://www.tyt.com/app 📬 Newsletters: https://www.tyt.com/newsletters/ If you want to watch more videos from TYT, consider subscribing to other channels in our network: The Watchlist https://www.youtube.com/watchlisttyt Indisputable with Dr. Rashad Richey https://www.youtube.com/indisputabletyt Unbossed with Nina Turner https://www.youtube.com/unbossedtyt The Damage Report ▶ https://www.youtube.com/thedamagereport TYT Sports ▶ https://www.youtube.com/tytsports The Conversation ▶ https://www.youtube.com/tytconversation Rebel HQ ▶ https://www.youtube.com/rebelhq TYT Investigates ▶ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwNJt9PYyN1uyw2XhNIQMMA #TYT #TheYoungTurks #BreakingNews 230719__TA05_Sixteen_Year_Old by The Young Turks

#IFTTT #YouTube

[why5x5]

#child labor #accident #death of a 16 year old

[qudachuk]

Duvan Perez, 16, dies at Mar-Jac factory in Hattiesburg amid rollback of child labor laws across several US statesA 16-year old from Guatemala died on Friday after sustaining a workplace injury at a poultry plant in Mississippi, authorities confirm.The...

[mongowheelie]

16-year-old boy dies in accident at a Mississippi poultry plant

[nedsecondline]

16-year-old boy dies in accident at a Mississippi poultry plant

A 16-year-old boy from Guatemala died as a result of an on-the-job accident at a poultry plant in Mississippi, authorities said Tuesday. It happened at about 8 p.m. on July 14 at the Mar-Jac Poultry plant in Hattiesburg, Forrest County deputy coroner Lisa Klem said. Workers under the age of 18 are not allowed to work in poultry plants because it’s deemed to be too dangerous and therefore a…

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[sanjosenewshq]

Tyson to settle poultry price-fixing lawsuit

SEATTLE — Tyson Meals Inc. agreed to pay $10.5 million to settle a poultry price-fixing lawsuit filed by Washington Legal professional Common Bob Ferguson a 12 months in the past. In Mr. Ferguson’s lawsuit towards 19 whole poultry processors, Tyson is the third to settle and pays the most important decision up to now. As a part of the court docket order, Tyson will present documentation related to the case in cooperation with Mr. Ferguson towards the opposite alleged co-conspirators. In keeping with Mr. Ferguson’s claims within the lawsuit, round 90% of Washingtonians — 7 million people — had been affected by a conspiracy of rooster producers to drive up rooster costs since 2008. “These company executives earn more money than most Washingtonians can think about, but they determined to cheat these hardworking Washington households with a view to fulfill their greed,” Mr. Ferguson mentioned. “We are going to do every thing in our energy to make Washingtonians entire for the hurt accomplished to them by this price-rigging conspiracy.” In Might 2022, Mar-Jac Poultry settled the legal professional normal’s claims with $725,000. Fieldale Farms Corp. is the third firm to have reached an settlement with Mr. Ferguson, deciding on $475,000 in August 2022. The remaining 16 corporations named within the lawsuit embody Pilgrim’s Delight Corp., Perdue Farms Inc., Koch Meals Inc., Sanderson Farms Inc., Foster Farms LLC, Mountaire Farms Inc., Wayne Farms LLC, Amick Farms LLC, George’s Inc., Peco Meals Inc., Home of Raeford Farms Inc., Case Meals Inc., Norman W. Fries Inc., d/b/a Claxton Poultry Farms Inc., Simmons Meals Inc., O.Okay. Meals Inc. and Harrison Poultry Inc. Originally published at San Jose News HQ

#San Jose News HQ

[emotionologist]

Alabama Boycott

Let’s boycott everything Alabamian until this anti-abortion legislation is reversed. National and college teams should not be playing there and entertainers shouldn’t be performing there. (You can get a list if all the Alabama college sports teams and their schedules to see whom they’ll be playing.) 

And let’s refuse to buy goods and services produced there, starting with automobiles. Here’s a list:

Hyundai.

Honda.

Toyota.

Mercedes-Benz.

Autocar.

New Flyer.

Dupont and 3 M also have large operations there as do Georgia Pacific, International Paper and Weyerhaeuser. And then there’s : Sunshine Mills Tyson Foods Red Diamond Tea & Coffee Pilgrim’s Pride Golden State Foods Mar-Jac Poultry

#alabama abortion ban

[adecablog]

Grant helped create jobs in Franklin County

ADECA administered a $300,000 Community Development Block Grant that helped provide railroad crossing improvements at a Mar-Jac Poultry feedmill facility in Spruce Pine, AL. The company created 30 jobs in the area.

#alabama #spruce pine #mar-jac #cdbg #community development block grant #adeca #adecaced #jobs #franklin county

[stogutrosenberry]

Government auditors validate safety complaints from meat and poultry workers

An investigation by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) of the U.S. meatpacking and poultry industry validates long-standing concerns raised by workers. GAO investigators said workers expressed fear of being punished or losing their jobs if they report safety or health problems; reported being denied access to the bathroom; and experienced problems receiving proper medical care for work-related injuries.

GAO’s investigation included interviews with individuals in Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia who work in the industry or are government officials. More than 480,000 workers in the U.S are employed in the meat and poultry slaughtering industry. Many are minorities, immigrants, and refugees, and a significant number are women. The industry is dominated by several firms, including Tyson Foods, JBS USA, Cargill Meat Solutions, Smithfield Foods, and Hormel.

Workers and their allies say GAO’s report could not come at a better time. The Trump Administration is considering two proposals that would exempt poultry and meat processors from current regulations that limit production line speeds. One stems from a petition submitted to USDA in September from the National Chicken Council. The trade group wants the Food Safety Inspection Service to grant waivers to poultry plants that want to run processing line speeds in excess of 140 birds per minute.

The other is a draft proposed rule to “modernize” swine slaughter by relinquishing key inspection responsibilities from USDA inspectors to company employees. In exchange, pork processing companies can increase slaughtering line speeds to 1,300 hogs per hour.

“A startling number of meatpacking and poultry workers develop permanent and crippling repetitive-motion injuries because of the relentless speed of the production lines,” said Omaid Zabih, Staff Attorney for Nebraska Appleseed’s Immigrants & Communities Program.  Zabih added:

“The Administration must abandon its reckless plan to increase line speeds and privatize swine inspections, and should instead work to lower line speeds to a safe level.”

In 2009, Nebraska Appleseed issued a report entitled “The Speed Kills You” which surveyed 455 Nebraska meatpacking workers who pointed to the dangerous speed of the processing line as the main cause of injuries. As follow up surveys have revealed, meat and poultry workers make 15,000 to 20,000 motions per shift on the low end, and up to 40,000 to 100,000 or more motions per shift on the high end.

The GAO investigation identified other worker safety problems in the meat and poultry slaughtering industry, including the use of chemical agents to reduce salmonella and other pathogens. The anti-microbial agents are considered safe for consumers to eat, but the chemicals are sprayed widely in the plants and workers experience respiratory symptoms from the airborne exposure. GAO said there are serious information gaps on how the chemicals affect workers health and a lack of coordination among relevant agencies including USDA, NIOSH, and OSHA.

Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA) noted another important part of GAO’s report:

“…during 2016, 15 meat and poultry plants –all in the southeast—have refused OSHA access to expand complaint inspections to cover additional recognized hazards; this development has impaired OSHA’s ability to protect workers, and should compel the Department of Labor to vigorously defend its statutory authority to enter plants ‘without delay’.”

Six of the denials took place in Georgia, five in Alabama, and two each in Florida and Mississippi. The companies’ move to demand warrants occurred after OSHA initially commenced an inspection in response to a complaint and then moved to expand the scope of the inspection based on evidence of additional health or safety problems. The poultry industry’s strategy to obstruct OSHA inspections began following a serious injury incident at Mar-Jac poultry in Gainesville, GA.

Data released last month by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that beef and pork slaughtering has the highest incidence rate of occupational illnesses than any other industry. Poultry processing was not far behind (ranked 12th) with an illness rate that is worse than the rates for firefighting and coal mining. (Illness cases include musculoskeletal disorders, skin diseases, and respiratory illnesses.) The illness incidence rate in animal slaughtering (excluding poultry) is 251.4 cases per 10,000 workers and in poultry processing the rate is 88.3. This compares to the rate of 14.1 per 10,000 for all private sector industries.

As I’ve written before, the data from BLS’s Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) is just the tip of the iceberg. The SOII relies on employers to self report their injury data which understates the magnitude of work-related injuries. It’s a problem examined by numerous public health researchers (e.g., here, here, here) and acknowledged by both BLS and OSHA.

A delegation of poultry and meatpacking workers, along with faith and labor allies are holding a press event and demonstration on December 12 in front of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The groups include the Northwest Arkansas Workers Justice Center, the Labor Rights Center (Bryan, TX), Western North Carolina Worker Center, and the Retail Wholesale Department Store Union.

    Article source:Science Blogs