FBI agents again find child labor at Iowa pork plant, leading to new fine

For the second time this year, the federal government has fined people for using child labor to clean a pork processing plant in the Midwest.

The U.S. Department of Labor announced Friday that Oklahoma-based Qvest LLC must pay nearly $172,000 in civil penalties after the government accused the plumbing company of violating the law by employing 11 children at the Seaboard Triumph Foods pork plant in Sioux City of violating the Fair Labor Standards Act, Iowa.

The minors were tasked with using “corrosive cleaning products to clean head splitters, jaw pullers, band saws, neck cutters and other equipment” from at least September 2019 through September 2023, the Labor Department said.

Back in May, another cleaning company was fined more than $649,000 for employing underage workers at the same plant in Sioux City and at a separate meat processing plant in Virginia.

“These findings illustrate Seaboard Triumph Foods’ history of working children illegally at its Sioux City facility since at least September 2019,” Michael Lazzeri, Midwest regional administrator for the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division, said in Friday’s announcement . “Although sanitation companies changed, children in this facility continued to work in dangerous jobs.”

In addition to the penalty, Qvest must engage an outside consultant or compliance specialist to ensure enforcement of the child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. All managers must receive child labor compliance training and employees must be provided access to a toll-free number where they can anonymously request advice or report compliance issues.

Representatives from Qvest and Seaboard Triumph Foods told HuffPost that the Sioux City plant did not knowingly employ minors and that the problem likely stemmed from a nationwide problem with people using fake identification documents to find employment.

“We have absolutely no interest in employing employees who are under the age of 18, and the company has worked diligently to ensure that our hiring process is structured to meet this standard,” said Adam Greer, vice president of Operations at Qvest a statement.

Greer added that Qvest could not confirm any of the Labor Department’s allegations and said federal officials “did not share any names or specific information related to the alleged violations.” Nevertheless, he stated that the company agreed with the government’s efforts to combat child labor and that Qvest had expanded its human resources staff and training for hiring personnel to confirm work ability.

“While there is always the possibility that future candidates will attempt to use fraudulent documents, we are encouraged by how our enhanced detection measures are working now,” Greer said.

A spokesman for Seaboard Triumph Foods also said there is “no evidence that underage persons had access to the factory” and emphasized that the Labor Department complaint does not accuse the company of wrongdoing.

In a separate statement from Seaboard Triumph Foods, Paul DeCamp, who previously headed the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division and now serves as legal counsel for the food company, also criticized individuals’ ability to use forged documents to “even defraud the federal government.” “-Verify System”, a database for confirming employment eligibility.

“Companies are falling victim to this fraud,” he said.

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