The Cruelest Cuts

A North Carolina poultry producer, one of the nation’s largest, has been caught again illegally putting minors to work in a hazardous job.

The U.S. Department of Labor reported Tuesday that it found two 17-year-old workers operating an electric knife on the chicken line at a House of Raeford plant north of Wilmington during an investigation by the department’s Wage and Hour Division.

Regulators fined the Raeford-based poultry giant $12,400 for violating child labor rules at the Teachey plant. The fine, while small, is at the higher range of sanctions levied in such cases.

“There is just no excuse for it,” said Carol Runyan, professor at the Colorado School of Public Health.

While saying more progress needs to be made to protect underage workers, Runyan and other safety advocates said they were encouraged by Tuesday’s action, noting the department has been thwarted by an underfunded enforcement system.

More than 80 percent of the nation’s poultry is processed in the South. North Carolina ranks among the nation’s leaders in poultry production, with plants processing more than 700 million chickens each year.

Second offense

It’s not the first time House of Raeford has been caught employing underage workers.

During a 2008 immigration raid of the company’s Greenville, S.C., plant, federal officials found six juveniles, including a 15-year-old, working on the chicken line.

One of those underage workers, Lucero Gayton, said in 2008 that she started working the night shift four months after she turned 15.

While most of her former classmates were playing sports and attending dances, Lucero said she was working 10-hour shifts, wielding a sharp knife, cutting muscles from thousands of freshly killed chickens.

Poultry processing is considered one of the most dangerous jobs for teenagers, according to child safety advocates.

Workers are surrounded by dangerous machines and chemicals. They’re often required to make thousands of cutting motions a day with sharp knives, conditions that can leave them vulnerable to cuts and debilitating nerve and muscle problems. Because of the hazards, federal and state labor laws prohibit anyone under 18 from working on a poultry processing line.

The federal agency did not release the names of the two underage workers discovered at the Teachey plant, but Richard Blaylock, director of the Raleigh District Office, said that it’s critical for employers to comply with all federal and state regulations “intended to keep our youth safe on the job.”

“This situation is particularly disappointing because the company previously was cited for the same type of violation,” he said.

House of Raeford officials acknowledged hiring two 17-year-old workers, but said it was due to “an unfortunate administrative error in 2011.” They said the company is committed to complying with state and federal laws. A corporate compliance officer will regularly review active employee lists to verify employment requirements, they said.

“The company was very cooperative with the Department of Labor in this matter and has put new policies and procedures in place to avoid this oversight in the future,” the company said in a statement.

In a 2008 series on working conditions in the poultry industry, The Charlotte Observer reported that House of Raeford had in recent years been cited for more workplace safety violations than any other U.S. poultry company.

More than 20 former and current workers at House of Raeford plants in Greenville, S.C.; West Columbia, S.C.; and Raeford told the Observer in 2008 that the poultry company frequently hired underage workers. Six supervisors said that top managers allowed the hiring to secure cheap, compliant labor.

Prompted by the Observer series, North Carolina lawmakers doubled state penalties for child-labor law violations. First-time violators would be fined $500 instead of $250, and subsequent violations would draw a $1,000 fine instead of $500. If an underage worker is injured at a business with serious workplace safety violations, state officials can fine the company $14,000, up from $7,000.

Underage reports rise in N.C.

In North Carolina, complaints alleging youth employment violations have risen in recent years, along with enforcement activity. The state labor department conducted nearly 390 youth employment investigations in fiscal 2012, an increase of about 15 percent over the previous year.

Nationally, the number of young workers who die on the job has declined in recent years. Still, advocates say, far too many youths get hurt or killed in dangerous jobs.

In 2009, 359 workers under age 24 died from work-related injuries, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Twenty-seven of those workers were under 18.

Watchdog groups point to signs that federal enforcement of child-labor laws has declined.

Child labor violations in agriculture decreased from 36 cases in 2009 to 31 cases in 2010, while penalties for child labor violations dropped by almost half, according to Human Rights Watch.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Labor Department withdrew proposed rules aimed at protecting young workers from dangerous agricultural jobs. The withdrawal was supported by the agriculture industry, which contended that the rules would have hurt family farms.

Several years ago, advocates such as Reid Maki, coordinator of the Child Labor Coalition, asked federal officials to take a closer look at whether poultry plants were complying with child labor laws.

“I’m actually encouraged they found these young workers in the plant,” said Maki, also a director with the National Consumers League. “Because it indicates they are looking there.”

A federal jury on Monday convicted North Carolina poultry processor House of Raeford Farms of 10 counts of violating the Clean Water Act.

But the company was found not guilty on four other counts, and the plant manager was cleared of wrong-doing.

The Department of Justice said that the poultry producer allowed employees for 16 months to send untreated wastewater – contaminated with blood, grease and body parts from slaughtered turkeys – directly to the city of Raeford’s wastewater treatment plant.

“Publicly owned wastewater treatment plants must be protected from companies that cut corners by discharging wastewater illegally,” said Maureen O’Mara, a special agent in charge with the Environmental Protection Agency.

Plant manager Gregory Steenblock was acquitted of the 14 charges against him during the trial in U.S. District Court in Winston-Salem.

House of Raeford officials said they were pleased that Steenblock was found not guilty. The company also maintained that any wastewater that went into the sewer was effectively treated by the city’s sewage treatment plant.

“The government repeatedly admitted during the trial that none of the materials it claimed went into the City of Raeford’s sewer system ever reached the environment,” the company said in a statement.

“House of Raeford completed a $1.4 million upgrade to its wastewater pre-treatment system in September 2006 that solved the issues that led to the trial.”

The bypasses and failure to report them violated House of Raeford’s pretreatment permit as well as the city’s sewer use ordinance, the Department of Justice said.

“Many of the bypasses took place while House of Raeford was subject to a consent order with the city that required it to construct a new pretreatment system and comply with all requirements of its pretreatment permit,” a justice department statement said.

“A number of the bypasses were recorded in log books kept by House of Raeford Inc. wastewater operators, and were never revealed to the city.”

The city plant was responsible for treating industrial, commercial and residential wastewater before it was discharged to Rockfish Creek in Hoke County, according to the statement.

House of Raeford faces a maximum fine of $500,000. Sentencing has been scheduled for Nov. 28.

A federal judge had previously dismissed the case because prosecutors failed to expeditiously bring it to trial. But the judge later allowed prosecutors to revive the case.

The new indictment, filed June 26, charged the company with sending contaminated wastewater to a municipal treatment plant in Raeford on 14 occasions from 2005 to August 2006.

A 2008 Observer investigation found the company had masked the extent of workplace injuries. Employees said the company had ignored, intimidated and fired workers who were hurt on the job.

House of Raeford officials said they followed the law.