Slaughterhouses are no place for children

Thirteen-year-olds are scrubbing blood off kill floors, handling dangerous chemicals, and working overnight shifts in meatpacking plants. It’s illegal. It’s exploitative. And it’s happening right now.

Between 2015 and 2022, child labor violations in the US rose by a staggering 283%. Yet the country’s biggest meat companies—JBS, Perdue, Cargill, and Tyson—continue to profit while children risk their lives on their factory floors.¹

Where does this meat end up? On your plate.

The meat processed in these exploitative facilities doesn’t just disappear—it ends up in products sold by some of the world’s biggest fast food chains.

Consumers are often left in the dark, but the connection is direct: major meat suppliers like JBS, Purdue, Cargill, and Tyson are key suppliers to fast food corporations. These companies profit while exploitative child labor remains hidden in their supply chains—and without transparency or accountability, they continue business as usual.

Why children are more vulnerable to exploitation than ever

Many of the exploited children working at these facilities are unaccompanied migrants who arrived in the US, escaping dangerous situations, only to be trafficked into grueling labor. Without legal protections, documentation, or access to support services, they are trapped in dangerous jobs working for companies that prioritize profit over the safety of children.

Despite mounting evidence, companies are rarely held accountable. Some, like Perdue Farms and JBS, have faced financial penalties for violating child labor laws, but these fines are small and seen as little more than “the cost of doing business.”

Trapped in hazardous work

Federal labor enforcement budget and personnel cuts drastically reduce the Department of Labor’s ability to investigate and prevent child labor violations. As Human Rights Watch warns, “enforcement does little to help when the laws are too weak to protect children from danger.”

These weak protections leave children vulnerable to some of the most exploitative and hazardous work, such as slaughterhouses.

At the same time, the US government’s draconian immigration policies, compounded with weakening laws protecting child labor, further exacerbate the risk of exploitation, particularly for migrant children.

When migrant children are under protected, they work in fear and see no realistic way to leave or advocate for themselves—leaving them trapped.

Despite bipartisan efforts to strengthen corporate accountability, the current administration’s labor policies appear more focused on shielding businesses than protecting vulnerable children. With labor law enforcement under threat, immigration raids silencing victims, and corporations continuing to defy the rules, the risks for exploited children in the US are only growing.

We cannot allow profit to come before child safety

These are not safe jobs: one mistake around industrial saws or high-powered hoses can cost a child their limb—or their life. Children have suffered chemical burns, deep lacerations, and near-fatal injuries just to keep these billion-dollar corporations running.

But the abuse hasn’t stopped. And until there is real accountability, children will continue to be exploited.

Tell JBS, Perdue, Cargill, and Tyson: Stop profiting from the exploitation of children!

Children belong in school—not in slaughterhouses.