Investigators: Minors cleaned meat plants

OMAHA, Neb. — A Wisconsin company that cleans hundreds of meatpacking plants nationwide is defending itself against allegations that it employed more than two dozen minors working overnight shifts cleaning massive saws, grinding machines and other dangerous processing equipment at three slaughterhouses.

Labor Department officials said in court documents that they believe Packers Sanitation Services Inc. might be employing underage workers at other plants but investigators have only just starting reviewing thousands of pages of employee records at plants besides the ones in Nebraska and Minnesota where they confirmed teenagers were working through the middle of the night sanitizing slaughterhouses before heading back to high school in the morning.

A federal judge in Lincoln, Nebraska, already issued a temporary order prohibiting the company from employing minors and interfering in the Labor Department’s investigation. The company will argue at a court hearing in December that there’s no reason for a judge to make that order permanent because PSSI officials say they are cooperating with the investigation and they already prohibit hiring anyone younger than 18.

On Monday, a judge ordered the government to give the company a few more details about its investigation ahead of next month’s hearing. The company says it employs some 17,000 people working at more than 700 U.S. locations, making it one of the largest firms that cleans food processing plants.

PSSI Vice President of Marketing Gina Swenson said the company “has an absolute company-wide prohibition against the employment of anyone under the age of 18 and zero tolerance for any violation of that policy — period.” She also said corporate officials are cooperating with investigators.

Investigators say they have confirmed that at least 31 children as young as 13 have been working for PSSI by talking to them and comparing time-clock photos and employment data with pictures and information in local school records.