JBS Inc. / Minn & Turkey Valley Farms

Title

Subject

Turkey Valley Farms, LLC operates as a poultry processing company. The Company produces chicken, bone-in breast, fresh and frozen turkey, tray-pack products and deboned breasts and thigh. Turkey Valley Farms serves its clients in the State of Minnesota. Similarly, JBS Inc. is an American food processing company who process, prepare, package and deliver fresh, further-processed and value-added premium meat and poultry products for sale to customers.

Description

The U.S. Department of Labor has asked a federal court to issue an injunction against a large sanitation service for illegally employing children to clean two southern Minnesota meat plants. A investigation revealed that the company has employed at least 31 children between the ages of 13 and 17 at three of its locations, including JBS in Worthington, Minn. and Turkey Valley Farms in Marshall, Minn.

Date

The investigation was launched Aug. 24, 2022 after the department received tips of minors working in dangerous conditions. The case is still undergoing and very little information has been made in public so far.

Migrant Voices

“The Department of Labor will use every available legal resource to protect workers — regardless of their age — and hold to account those employers who mistakenly believe they can violate the Fair Labor Standards Act, obstruct federal investigations, and retaliate against workers who assert their rights,”

– Christine Heri of the Chicago Regional Solicitor's Office.

Property Type

Meat packing plant

Company Title

Minn & Turkey Valley Farms / JBS

Owner/Sponsor

Packers Sanitation Services

Location

JBS in Worthington, Minn & Turkey Valley Farms in Marshall, Minn

Product

Meat Packing

Working Conditions/Violations

Both factories are being investigated after revealing that the company has employed at least 31 children between the ages of 13 and 17 at two of its locations. They were accused of hiring children to work in hazardous conditions, operating high-powered equipment during overnight shifts. For example, “at least one employee under the age of 16 to work overnight shifts and at least one employee under the age of 18 to work on the killing floor and clean power-driven machines, including meat and bone-cutting saws and a grinding machine during overnight shifts.”

Employer Citations

No charges or fines has been made as of yet as the case is still being investigated and very little information has been made public. However, Minnesota Department of Labor has made it clear that both companies have violated the The Fair Labor Standards Act -- passed in 1938 -- prohibits minors under the age of 14 from working and 14- and 15-year-old employees from working later than 9 p.m.