11 Children Found Working ‘Dangerous’ Overnight Shift In Iowa Pork Factory

An Iowa sanitation company is facing a hefty fine.

According to NBC News, Qvest LLC (which provides cleaning services for Seaboard Triumph Foods pork factory in Sioux City) was found to have 11 children working for them at the factory for over 7 years.

Mind you, it isn't the factory that employed the kids, it's the cleaning contractor they used. The U.S. Department of Labor found that the kids had to "use corrosive cleaners to clean head splitters, jaw pullers, bandsaws, neck clippers and other equipment at the Seaboard Triumph Foods facility from at least September 2019 through September 2023".

Qvest (which is based in Oklahoma) is now saddled with a fine of $171,000 as it is illegal for anyone under 18 to work in meat processing.

This Is The 2nd Time It's Happened At The Factory

Seaboard's contractors have a track record of being fined for employing children. Back in May, Fayette Janitorial Services LLC had to pay nearly $650,000 for using almost 2 dozen kids at the same Sioux City plant, also at a Perdue Farms plant in Virginia. Seaboard terminated it's contract with Fayette after it was discovered (as did Perdue).

As for Qvest, they must pay the fine and, per the district court filing in the Northern District of Iowa, not engage in "oppressive child labor". They also have to hire a third-party company to "review its policies on underage employment within 90 days and establish a process for whistleblowers to report illegal employment of children, including a toll-free hotline", according to NBC News.