Kids as young as 14 were found working at a Tennessee factory that makes lawn mower parts

Laura Strickler
Tue, March 26, 2024 

Immigrant children as young as 14 were found working illegally amid dangerous heavy equipment at a Tennessee firm that makes parts for lawn mowers sold by John Deere and other companies, according to Labor Department officials.

The company, Tuff Torq, was fined nearly $300,000 for hiring 10 children. As part of a consent agreement with the federal government, the company is also required to set aside $1.5 million to help the children who were illegally employed. Ryan Pott, general counsel for Tuff Torq’s majority owner, the Japanese firm Yanmar, acknowledged the violations to NBC News.

“The department will not tolerate companies profiting on the backs of children employed unlawfully in dangerous occupations,” said Seema Nanda, the department’s chief legal officer, whose office obtained the consent judgment against Tuff Torq. “Tuff Torq has agreed to disgorge profits, which will go to the benefit of the children. This sends a clear message: putting children in harm’s way in the workplace is not only illegal, but also comes with significant financial consequences.”

Tuff Torq Corporation (Google)

The Labor Department did not specify what work the children were doing. But Labor official Juan Coria said what his investigative team found in Tuff Torq’s “very busy” Morristown manufacturing plant was “astonishing.”

Coria, southeast regional administrator for the Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division, described an environment that he says caused anxiety among his investigators who witnessed children as young as 14 working late at night at the 24-hour manufacturing facility amid power-driven equipment that was being moved around the plant.

Pott, the general counsel for Tuff Torq’s majority owner, said the child workers were temporary and were not hired directly by Tuff Torq. He said they used fake names and false credentials to obtain jobs through a temporary staffing agency, and said Tuff Torq is “transitioning” away from doing business with the staffing company.

“Tuff Torq is dedicated to ensuring that their products and services are produced under ethical conditions, with a strong emphasis on fair labor practices, and Tuff Torq is further strengthening our relevant training and compliance programs,” said Pott. “We are also actively engaging with our suppliers to reinforce our expectations regarding ethical labor practices and collaborate with them on implementing our updated policies.”

According to the Labor Department, within 30 days Tuff Torq must also hang signs at every entrance to the plant that say, “Stop! You must be at least 18 years of age to enter and work in this building.”

Nanda said through such agreements the agency is sending a message to the company and its whole community of suppliers and contractors. “They will look at their supply chain meaning their contractors, their staffing agencies, and make sure that they are doing these things as well.”

John Deere did not respond to a request for comment.

Labor officials say their investigation into the company began almost a year ago, in spring 2023, and investigators visited the facility multiple times. Officials declined to say what sparked the investigation.

The Labor Department has prioritized child labor enforcement since last spring amid a 152% increase in children found to be illegally employed since 2018, according to department figures.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com

Tennessee parts supplier for John Deere, Yamaha fined for illegally employing children. What to know

Keenan Thomas, Knoxville News Sentinel

Updated Tue, March 26, 2024

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of the Solicitor is cracking down on Morristown manufacturer Tuff Torq Corporation for illegally employing children as young as 14-years-old.

Tuff Torq will pay a $296,951 penalty after the department's Wage and Hour Division confirmed several children worked for the outdoor power equipment parts manufacturer. Additionally, Tuff Torq will set aside $1.5 million from profits made during the kids' employment, which will go to the kids illegally employed.

The department received the federal consent judgement to hold Tuff Torq Corporation accountable and make sure the company complies with federal child labor laws.

“Even one child working in a dangerous environment is too many,” Wage and Hour Division administrator Jessica Looman said in a press release. “Over the past year, we have seen an alarming increase in child labor violations, and these violations put children in harm’s way. With this agreement, we are ensuring Tuff Torq takes immediate and significant steps to stop the illegal employment of children. When employers fail to meet their obligations, we will act swiftly to hold them accountable and protect children.”

U.S. Department of Labor headquarters
How many kids did Tuff Torq Corporation employ illegally?

The department determined that 10 kids illegally worked for Tuff Torq under opressive child labor conditions.

The Wage and Hour Division began probing in 2023, but received proof of the unlawful work Jan. 23, 2024. On that day, investigators witnessed a child operating a "power-driven hoisting apparatus" like a forklift. Workers under 18 are prohibited from operating this type of machinery.

The department filed the action against Tuff Torq Corporation March 22, 2024, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Greeneville.
What does Tuff Torq Corporation say about the Department of Labor findings?

Yanmar Group, who owns Tuff Torq Corporation, emailed a statement to Knox News.

Yanmar states that "Tuff Torq did not directly hire and employ the individuals" and that the minors were provided through a "temporary workforce staffing agency."

Yanmar adds the employees used fake idenentification and names during the hiring process through the agency.

"Tuff Torq is dedicated to ensuring that their products and services are produced under ethical conditions, with a strong emphasis on fair labor practices, and Tuff Torq is further strengthening our relevant training and compliance programs," Yanmar spokesperson Ryan Pott said in the email. "We are also actively engaging with our suppliers to reinforce our expectations regarding ethical labor practices and collaborate with them on implementing our updated policies."
What else will Tuff Torq Corporation have to do under the judgement?

Tuff Torq Corporation will stop employing children and comply with federal child labor laws moving forward. In addition to the penalty and payments, Tuff Torq Corporation agrees to do the following:

Work with community organizations to regularly train staff, managers and contractors


Create a tip line for anonymous reporting of child labor and other Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) violations


Allow unplanned and warrantless searches of the Tuff Torq Corporation facility for three years


Abstain from creating new contracts with staffing agencies or contractors with FLSA violations


Require contractors to disclose violations and hiring protocols before entering into contracts
What does Tuff Torq Corporation work in?

The manufacturer supplies power equipment parts for companies like John Deere, Toro and Yamaha. Tuff Torq Corporation invests in new technology, tests products and provides electric alternatives.

Tuff Torq Corporation operates at 5943 Commerce Blvd. in Morristown.
What are Tennessee's child labor laws?

Tennessee's Child Labor Act protects minors between the ages of 14 and 17 as they enter into the workforce. Protections under this act include hours working, types of jobs and exceptions for Work Based Learning Programs.

A few off-limits jobs and hazardous environments for workers under 18 include manufacturing establishments, meat packing, demolition and operation of power-driven hoisting apparatuses.

The Child Labor Act includes rules for hours minors can work throughout the week. Kids 14 and 15 can only work three hours a day during school days after 7 a.m. but before 7 p.m. for a total of 18 hours a week. When school isn't in session, minors can work up to eight hours a day between 6 a.m.-9 p.m. for up to 40 hours a week.

For kids 16 and 17, the rules are a little more flexibile as long as minors aren't working during classes and only between 6 a.m.-10 p.m. They can get a parental slip signed to work up until midnight, but only for a three days a week between Sunday and Thursday.

Minors also get a mandatory 30 minute break for every six hours of work in a day.
How many child labor violations has the U.S. Department of Labor investigated?

The department investigated 955 cases with child labor violations in 2023. This included 5,792 children nationwide with 502 of those kids employed in either violation or hazardous conditions.

As a result, the department assessed employers for more than $8 million in civil money penalties.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee parts supplier for John Deere fined for employing children


Manufacturing company ordered to turn over $1.5M in profits for child labor violations

LAURA ROMERO
Mon, March 25, 2024 

Manufacturing company ordered to turn over $1.5M in profits for child labor violations

A Tennessee parts manufacturer for major companies including John Deere and Yamaha has been ordered to turn over $1.5 million in profits after the Department of Labor found children employed in dangerous jobs.

"The U.S. Department of Labor's Office of the Solicitor has obtained a federal consent judgment that requires a Morristown manufacturer of outdoor power equipment components for major companies including John Deere, Toro and Yamaha to stop employing children illegally and to follow federal child labor laws in the future," the Labor Department said in a statement Monday.

The $1.5 million that the company, Tuff Torq, will have to turn over will be used to compensate victims, department officials said.

MORE: Labor Department cites meatpacking cleaning company for 'oppressive child labor' practices

The company was also fined $296,951 for subjecting "10 children to oppressive child labor," according to the department.

During their probe, investigators said they obtained clear evidence when they "observed a child operating a power-driven hoisting apparatus, an occupation prohibited for workers under the age of 18."

"The DOL did identify temporary workforce employees at the Tuff Torq facility that were subject to child labor violations," an attorney for Tuff Torq said in a statement. "The temporary workforce employees were provided to and placed at Tuff Torq by a temporary workforce staffing agency. Tuff Torq did not directly hire and employ the individuals. The violations investigation revealed that the temporary employees identified as child labor violations had utilized fake names and credentials in the staffing agency hiring process."

PHOTO: Tuff Torq Corporation in Morristown, Tenn. (Google Maps Street View)

"Tuff Torq is dedicated to ensuring that their products and services are produced under ethical conditions, with a strong emphasis on fair labor practices, and Tuff Torq is further strengthening our relevant training and compliance programs," the attorney said.

"Even one child working in a dangerous environment is too many," said Jessica Looman of the Labor Department's Wage and Hour Division. "Over the past year, we have seen an alarming increase in child labor violations, and these violations put children in harm's way."

Last year, the Labor Department investigated 955 cases of child labor violations, involving 5,792 children nationwide, including 502 children employed in violation of hazardous occupation standards.

Manufacturing company ordered to turn over $1.5M in profits for child labor violations originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

 

Tribunal orders Flair to pay up for spoiled seafood caused by baggage delay

The Canadian Press

A tribunal has ordered Flair Airlines to fork over hundreds of dollars in compensation to a man whose crab meat and fish cakes went bad in his luggage when it was delayed for several days.

The discount carrier must pay Brian Vu $780 for the spoiled items as well as baggage fees, interest and legal costs, according to a ruling Thursday from the B.C. Civil Resolution Tribunal.

Vu flew from British Columbia to Ontario on Nov. 6, 2022, paying $72 to check a pair of bags, one of which did not arrive until Nov. 10.

The tardy luggage contained sea cucumbers — leathery marine animals — and dandelion root as well as the crab and fish, all of which went bad, amounting to a loss of $522, the traveller said.

Flair argued it was not liable because its actions did not cause the spoilage; "rather, the items spoiled on their own," wrote tribunal member Peter Mennie, paraphrasing the airline. Flair also said its contract with passengers bars them from packing perishable items in checked bags.

However, the tribunal said carriers are responsible for suitcases once they are checked, regardless of whether they contain items they shouldn't.

"The Canadian Transportation Agency has repeatedly held that if an airline accepts checked baggage then the airline assumes liability for the baggage even if the airline has not agreed to transport certain items," Mennie wrote.

"An airline is liable if damage occurs during any period where the checked bag was in the airline’s care," he said, citing the Montreal Convention, a multilateral treaty on liability and compensation for air travellers.

The Canada Transportation Act does "not permit an airline to contract out of its liability," which is laid out in the passenger rights charter and the Montreal Convention, Mennie added.

The ruling confirms that "fancy contractual language" does not override federal rules, said Gabor Lukacs, president of the Air Passenger Rights advocacy group.

"Airlines love to contract out liability, even though the law says they have to pay compensation," Lukacs said.

"The importance of this case is that it reaffirms the well-established principle that that is not doable, that's not permissible under the law in Canada."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 15, 2024.

'Product of USA' meat labels draw Canadian concern

The Canadian Press

Rows of fresh cut beef in the coolers of the retail section at the Wight's Meat Packing facility in Fombell, Pa. is shown on June 16, 2022. Canada's federal government as well as organizations representing some the nation's beef producers warn a decision south of the border about "Product of USA" labels on meat, poultry and eggs could disrupt supply chains. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Keith Srakocic

Canada's federal government as well as organizations representing some the nation's beef producers warn a decision south of the border about "Product of USA" labels on meat, poultry and eggs could disrupt supply chains.

The United States Department of Agriculture announced Monday a final rule on conditions for when voluntary "Product of USA" or "Made in the USA" labels may be used, stating they will be allowed for meat, poultry and egg products only when they are derived from animals born, raised, slaughtered and processed in the United States.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says in a news release the rule, which takes effect in 2026, will ensure that when consumers see the label, they can know that every step involved, from birth to processing, was done in America.

But Canada's Agriculture Minister, Lawrence MacAulay, and International Trade Minister Mary Ng say in a joint statement they're disappointed the rule does not appear to take into account concerns they've raised related to the "unique and important trading relationship" between the two countries.

They say the "meat and livestock sectors in Canada and the United States work closely together" and that Canada intends to raise the issue during the agriculture ministers trilateral meeting with United States and Mexico scheduled to take place in Colorado later this month.

The rule is a sharp change from current policy, which allows voluntary use of such labels on products from animals that have been imported from a foreign country and slaughtered in the U.S., as well also on meat that's been imported and repackaged or further processed.

“Today’s announcement is a vital step toward consumer protection and builds on the Biden-Harris Administration’s work to bolster trust and fairness in the marketplace where smaller processors can compete,” Vilsack said in the news release after announcing the final rule Monday at the National Farmers Union Annual Convention in Phoenix, Ariz.

The USDA release said the final “Product of USA” rule is supported by petitions, as well as thousands of comments from stakeholders, and data from a nationwide consumer survey. It also said the “Product of USA” or “Made in the USA” label claim will continue to be voluntary. 

The joint statement from MacAulay and Ng said Canada is "reviewing the final rule carefully."

"Our indispensable relationship allows producers, processors and consumers on both sides of the border to benefit from efficient, stable and competitive markets, while ensuring a reliable supply of high-quality products," the statement said.

“Canada remains concerned about any measures that may cause disruptions to the highly integrated North American meat and livestock supply chains."

A statement from the Canadian Cattle Association, which represents beef farms and feedlots, called the rule "the most onerous standard in the world."

“It is crucial to address any issues that threaten or diminish cattle and beef trade between Canada and the U.S.,” CCA president Nathan Phinney said in the statement. 

“We are very concerned that the rule will lead to discrimination against live cattle imports and undermine the beneficial integration of the North American supply chain.” 

The voluntary labeling rules are different from country-of-origin labels, known as COOL, which required companies to disclose where animals supplying beef and pork are born, raised and slaughtered. That requirement was rolled back in 2015, after international trade disputes and a ruling from the World Trade Organization.

With files from The Associated Press

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2024.

U$A
An $80 Billion Industry Looks for Child Workers. It Keeps Missing Them.

Hannah Dreier

The New York Times
Updated Thu, December 28, 2023 

Miguel Sanchez, 17, came alone to the United States and has been working at an industrial dairy for about two years. (The New York Times)

One morning in 2019, an auditor arrived at a meatpacking plant in rural Minnesota. He was there on behalf of the national drugstore chain Walgreens to ensure that the factory, which made the company’s house brand of beef jerky, was safe and free of labor abuses.

He ran through a checklist of hundreds of possible problems, like locked emergency exits, sexual harassment and child labor. By the afternoon, he had concluded that the factory had no major violations. It could keep making jerky, and Walgreens customers could shop with a clear conscience.

When night fell, another 150 workers showed up at the plant. Among them were migrant children who had come to the United States by themselves looking for work. Children as young as 15 were operating heavy machinery capable of amputating fingers and crushing bones.

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Migrant children would work at the Monogram Meat Snacks plant in Chandler, Minnesota, for almost four more years, until the Department of Labor visited this spring and found such severe child labor violations that it temporarily banned the shipment of any more jerky.

In the past two decades, private audits have become the solution to a host of public relations headaches for corporations. When scandal erupts over labor practices, or shareholders worry about legal risks, or advocacy groups demand a boycott, companies point to these inspections as evidence that they have eliminated abuses in their supply chains. Known as social compliance audits, they have grown into an $80 billion global industry, with firms performing hundreds of thousands of inspections each year.

But a New York Times review of confidential audits conducted by several large firms shows that they have consistently missed child labor.

Children were overlooked by auditors who were moving quickly, leaving early or simply not sent to the part of the supply chain where minors were working, the Times found in audits performed at 20 production facilities used by some of the nation’s most recognizable brands.

Auditors did not catch instances in which children were working on Skittles and Starburst candies, Hefty brand party cups, the pork in McDonald’s sandwiches, Gerber baby snacks, Oreos, Cheez-Its or the milk that comes with Happy Meals.

In a series of articles this year, the Times has revealed that migrant children, who have been coming to America in record numbers, are working dangerous jobs in every state, in violation of labor laws. Children often use forged documents that slip by auditors who check paperwork but do not speak with most workers face-to-face. Corporations suggest that supply chains are reviewed from start to finish, but sub-suppliers such as industrial farms remain almost entirely unscrutinized.

The expansion of social compliance audits comes as the Labor Department has shrunk, with staffing levels now so low that it would take more than 100 years for inspectors to visit every workplace in the department’s jurisdiction once. For many factories, a private inspection is the only one they will ever get.

Auditors for several firms said they are encouraged to deliver findings in the mildest way possible as they navigate pressure from three different sources: the independent auditing firms that pay their salaries; corporations, such as Walgreens, that require inspections at their suppliers; and the suppliers themselves, which usually must arrange and pay for the audits.

The auditor who looked at the Minnesota jerky factory for Walgreens was Joshua Callington. He has conducted more than 1,000 audits in the past decade.

“If audits are done correctly, the world could be a better place,” he said. “Bettering the lives of workers is what these audits are supposed to be about.”

But more and more, he said, each audit had begun to feel like a struggle between wanting the truth and trying to avoid conflict.

He had not seen any child labor in the Minnesota factory. To keep to his work schedule, he had to leave for his next audit at 4 p.m., long before the late shift arrived. Spotting problems had also led to tension between Callington and his employer, UL Solutions, which began as a safety testing business and expanded more than two decades ago into social compliance audits. The company took in $2.5 billion in revenue last year and is on the cusp of an initial public offering.

What Callington saw as a commitment to his job, his firm seemed to see as overzealousness.

“The assessment is not meant to be a policing effort,” the UL Solutions employee handbook says.

After Callington failed three Walgreens suppliers in 2017 and 2018 for abusive working conditions, the chain complained about his communication style and asked for him to be taken off its account. UL put him on a remediation plan for about a year. (Walgreens declined to comment on the incident, but said it only rarely asks for auditors to be removed. In response to questions about the Monogram factory, the company said it had cut ties with the supplier. Monogram said it is now using stronger age-verification procedures.)

This spring, Callington flagged labor issues involving adult migrant workers at a warehouse that supplies Costco’s potatoes. The plant’s management complained that he was demanding and argumentative, and his supervisor barred him from returning. Callington believed that the supplier objected to his finding 21 violations when the previous audit had found none. UL Solutions, which still employs Callington, declined to comment on either incident.

The supervisor said Callington would have to complete a series of customer service trainings, and concluded with an inspirational quote that he attributed to the poet Maya Angelou.

“‘People will forget what you said. They will forget what you did. But they will never forget how you made them feel,’” he wrote in an email. “Keep this in mind as you are interacting with our clients during your audits.”

Night Shifts, Daytime Audits

In dozens of interviews, auditors said that sometimes their firms provide little more than a veneer of compliance for global corporations, which overstate how rigorously they review sprawling supply chains.

Auditors typically start their inspections in the morning and stay for about seven hours, even at 3,000-person factories that operate around the clock. In practice, this means that late afternoon and night shifts, where child labor violations most often occur, are almost never seen.

This year, the Department of Labor imposed a $1.5 million fine against Packers Sanitation Services, which provides cleaning crews to slaughterhouses. Investigators found that the company was employing more than 100 children, including 13-year-olds, to clean back saws and head splitters overnight.

These plants had been supplying McDonald’s and Costco for years, and the corporations required regular audits. Some of those auditors noted that there was a large night shift run by the sanitation company, but said they had not been able to observe any of the workers. One auditor who was checking a Nebraska plant for Costco’s Kirkland brand beef spoke with 20 out of 3,500 workers — as is standard in much of the industry — and left at noon, an inspection showed. In another audit at the same plant, the inspector left at 1:30 p.m.

Costco and McDonald’s said in statements that they were strengthening their auditing standards. Packers said it had improved age verification of its workers.

Even if auditors had stayed later at the plants, they might not have been able to talk privately with the migrant child workers, who largely speak Spanish or Indigenous languages of Central America. Auditing firms rarely provide interpreters.

“You’re supposed to ask another worker to translate. But you’re trying to unearth something that people aren’t trying to yell from the rooftops,” said Juanita Sanchez-Sevilla, a Spanish speaker who has been conducting audits since the 1990s, including for the leading firms Intertek and Bureau Veritas. “If you look at the upper echelons of the industry, they’re all white.”

In the absence of in-person interviews, auditors rely on paperwork. But children use forged documents. This summer, for instance, a 16-year-old from Guatemala was killed while cleaning a Mississippi slaughterhouse that supplies Chick-fil-A. His documents said he was in his 30s. In a statement, Chick-fil-A said it was reviewing how it investigates violations at plants.

Research has shown that outside audits are less conclusive than companies suggest. A 2021 analysis of 40,000 audits by a Cornell professor found that nearly half had relied on forged or dubious documents. An earlier study that explored the industry’s financial conflicts of interest found that auditors report fewer violations when factories are paying the bill.

In a statement, UL Solutions said that audits provide a snapshot for companies, which are ultimately responsible for enforcing their standards. An audit, the statement said, “cannot and does not guarantee that an audited facility is in full compliance with requirements against which it was audited, and does not confirm or certify compliance with laws.”

In the absence of thorough inspections, child workers can stay hidden for years.

In 2020, an auditor visited a snack food factory in Geneva, Illinois, to do an inspection required by the baby food giant Gerber. As it always had, Gerber’s report came back clear of child labor. The factory was also being regularly audited for the makers of Starburst and Skittles candies, Oreos and Cheez-Its. The companies behind those products said in statements that they had not seen indications of child labor in any inspections.

However, some migrant children were working on these products at the time. Among them was Efren Baldemar, who described getting the job with false identification at 14 years old. He was working from 10 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. to help support his family in Guatemala, renting space in a house of strangers.

In the mornings, he went from the factory to ninth grade and often fell asleep at his desk. The pace on the assembly lines was grueling. “If you didn’t keep up, the product would back up, and the machines would smoke,” he said.

The manufacturer, Hearthside Food Solutions, has been under federal and state investigations since the Times revealed child labor at other facilities in February. In a statement last week, the company said it “has never knowingly employed underage labor in our facilities.” It said it could not find a record of Efren working at its plant.

Plant inspections are typically scheduled weeks in advance, and auditors say they risk upsetting factories by arriving even a few minutes early.

“If you tell them when you’re showing up, they can game it,” said Doug Cahn, who created the audit system for Reebok International and now advises other corporations. “They know auditors don’t come back to see if the lights are on at the meatpacking plant at 3 a.m.”

In some cases, the Times review of audits showed, auditors certified plants as free of child labor but acknowledged in their reports that they didn’t really know if that was true.

An auditor representing Walgreens reported that there was no way to verify the ages of workers at a Chicago-area factory distributing disposable plates and cups. At the time, the factory was also supplying products for Sysco, Hefty and Walmart’s Great Value brand, according to the audit. The plant was using a staffing agency that refused to share paperwork, the auditor noted.

Hefty and Walgreens said that they have stopped using the supplier. Sysco said it did not generally audit U.S. suppliers, while Walmart declined to comment.

The staffing agency is now under a state investigation for possible child labor violations.

Nagging Questions

In his career, Callington had never found a case of migrant child labor, which would trigger an automatic failing grade. But now looking back, he suspected he had often audited plants where children were working.

Earlier this year, Callington asked managers at UL Solutions if Costco or other corporations might be willing to start requiring unannounced nighttime inspections. He pointed out news coverage that mentioned child labor raids at slaughterhouses.

“I have audited these locations and was never able to detect these issues given that we are only present for the first shift,” he wrote.

A manager said she would raise the question with higher-ups. He never heard anything more about it.

Callington sometimes squeezes in five audits a week, staying on the road for six-week stretches. He flies between coasts so regularly that he has stopped thinking of himself as having a home-base time zone, and during long drives occasionally turns to his phone to ask, “Hey, Siri, where am I?”

This fall, he found himself in Oregon looking over the supply chain for the store-brand milk sold at Costco.

A company called Darigold, which processes milk for an association of 300 Northwest dairy farms, was paying for Callington to review its Portland plant. A manager toured him around the gleaming factory, which was suffused with the sweet smell of milk.

He looked over the spinning bottling machines, but he did not ask about the dairies that supplied the milk. He had once tried to look at a sub-supplier for Costco when he wandered into a hen house at a different facility that was packing eggs. The factory complained that he had gone beyond the scope of his audit, he said.

By late afternoon, he was thanking the Portland team for their hospitality and leaving to prepare for his next inspection. He had given the milk plant a perfect score on Costco’s child labor standards: free of illegal child labor (requirement No. 140), free of children working excessive hours (No. 144) and free of instances of child labor in the past (No. 142).

But a few hours away, 17-year-old Miguel Sanchez was in the middle of his shift at a Darigold milk supplier, where he had been working 12-hour days for nearly two years.

‘No Option Except to Keep Going’

Miguel came to Washington’s Yakima Valley from Mexico to live with an older brother, and he immediately began working at an industrial dairy with fake identification that said he was an adult. It was a violation of child labor laws for him to work instead of going to school, but he had to contribute to the rent and felt pressure to support his parents back home.

“I was tired a lot when I started because you have to work really fast, but my family was proud of me,” he said.

In May, Miguel was trying to corral several dozen cows in a milking pen when a co-worker accidentally shut the gate and trapped him inside. Two cows, each weighing about half a ton, pushed him up against the metal bars.

Miguel felt the air leave his lungs and his spine start to buckle. He tried to shout, but his co-worker did not hear him over the thrum of machinery, and he began to pass out. A supervisor took him to the hospital.

Six months later, pain still radiated from his back into his legs as he ran up and down the floor of a warehouse hooking and unhooking cows from milking machines. He regularly downed an over-the-counter drug called Backaid to get through the workday, but it seemed to do less and less. Even standing had become excruciating.

“It feels like electric shocks all through my body,” he said last month. “But I have no option except to keep going. I have to make money.”

It is unclear if the milk Miguel collected ended up in the facility that Callington audited. Darigold’s milk is processed in 11 plants around the Northwest. Workers said they often saw minors in the dairies, and the Times spoke with a half-dozen children who came to the United States alone and worked full time for Darigold suppliers in Washington, Idaho and Oregon.

In separate statements, Costco and Darigold said they had not been aware of any child labor issues and would investigate.

Years before Callington audited the Portland factory, Costco was warned about working conditions on Darigold supplier dairies. One adult worker in the Yakima Valley drowned in a manure lagoon. Another had her face crushed by a cow. A third lost both her legs in a feed grinding machine.

In 2018, Costco began meeting with farmworker advocates as well as representatives from Darigold and UL Solutions to draw up a framework for auditing industrial dairies. But a year later, the initiative fell apart, with Costco telling the others that the extra monitoring was not feasible. In its statement to the Times, Costco said it remains interested in “collaborative partnerships” to improve conditions on dairy farms.

A major producer, Darigold also supplies McDonald’s and Nestlé and processes Safeway’s house brand Lucerne. None of those corporations inspect the dairies where the milk originates. McDonald’s, Nestlé and Safeway said in statements that they expect suppliers to comply with their responsible sourcing standards.

Miguel tries to keep his mind blank during the workday, but he worries that he will get hurt again. When he returned home after another shift last month, he nodded at his brother and lay down on an air mattress on the floor. The sole table in the apartment was covered with boxes of Backaid and receipts for wire transfers the brothers had sent home.

“Maybe they’ll let me take some sick days next week,” Miguel said.

“I hope so,” his brother said. “I don’t know if you’re going to be able to keep going.”

Also scattered on the table were letters from the state explaining how Miguel could put in a workers’ compensation claim and collect benefits. Neither brother could read, though, and in any case, the letters were written in English. The last one said that the deadline to apply had passed.

Miguel said that when he got hurt, his supervisor told him not to give his real age at the hospital. In the milking warehouse, though, most everyone knew he was a minor.

There was no need to hide on the night shift. No one was coming to look for him.

c.2023 The New York Times Company

Recent rain may not be enough to halt the shrinking of Canada's cattle herd

Amanda Stephenson, The Canadian Press

Anxious Alberta ranchers praying for rain got their wish this week, but it may not be enough to stop the ongoing decline in Canadian cattle production.

The moisture that fell on parts of drought-parched Alberta came as a welcome reprieve to the hundreds of cattle farmers who have seen their pastures wither and their water supplies dry up this June.

But a few inches of rain won't be enough to cut it in much of Canadian cattle country, which is still trying to dig its way out of a significant moisture deficit.

"I think this is the driest I’ve ever seen it," said Bob Lowe, a rancher and feedlot operator from the Nanton area of southern Alberta.

"The grass started this spring, and came up a little bit, and then it just turned around and died. It’s supposed to be green this time of year, but it's just grey-brown."

According to Agriculture Canada's Drought Monitor, 82 per cent of the agricultural regions of the three prairie provinces were either "abnormally dry" or in "moderate to extreme drought" as of the end of May.

Some ranchers have been spending hours every day this spring hauling water by truck or trailer to their cattle after their watering holes completely dried up, said Ryder Lee, general manager of the Canadian Cattle Association.

"Or they're filling dugouts from other places with pipelines and pumps," Lee said.

"There's lots of creativity and ingenuity in the industry, but all of that takes a toll on people."

It also takes a toll on an industry that has already been steadily shrinking for years. Last year, the size of the Canadian cattle herd fell to 12.3 million animals — the lowest level recorded since July 1, 1988.

The 2.8 per cent year-over-year reduction was in large part due to the after-effects of an extremely harsh drought on the prairies in 2021. As crops withered and feed prices skyrocketed, many ranchers sold their cattle for slaughter rather than holding onto them for breeding.

That could happen again this year, and at an even larger scale, said Rob Somerville, who has a cattle farm in east-central Alberta, near the town of Innisfail.

"There is a train of thought that people who may have hung on last time, this time, will sell," Somerville said.

He added that some producers might have hesitated to sell in 2021 because cattle prices at the time were low. But as cattle numbers in North America have continued to shrink, prices have increased, hitting all-time records this spring.

"Just about everybody I've spoken to has already prepared a list of the cows they're going to sell. These people won't be leaving the industry, but they're certainly planning a herd reduction."

South of the border, U.S. cattle inventory is also down four per cent year-over-year due to increased heifer slaughter. According to a report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, roughly 69 per cent of the U.S. cattle herd as of December 2022 was located in drought-stricken areas, leading to the largest contraction of the North American cattle herd in a decade.

Other catastrophes in the last two decades — including the BSE (mad cow) crisis and the 2009 financial crisis — also led ranchers to downsize their herds or exit the industry entirely.

As a result, according to Statistics Canada, there are 25 per cent fewer beef cows in Canada now than there were in 2005.

 "After a while it's not just an individual farm-by-farm thing, it's an industry issue. And that has far wider implications," Somerville said, adding that fewer cows could cause ripple effects all the way down the value chain — potentially leading to lost jobs at feedlots, at meat-packing plants and more.

"This is a big contributor to the economy that we're talking about."

Winnipeg-based cattle markets analyst Jerry Klassen said he believes one or two good rains could save the industry from wide-spread liquidation of herds this year.

"You can still get one good hay crop in Alberta if you get timely rains from now moving forward," Klassen said.

"And you've got these high prices. If the farmer can maintain or increase his herd, he's going to reap the rewards over the next two or three years."

But Somerville said multiple years of dry conditions have left some ranchers feeling that they're "running out of tricks they can pull out of the hat."

"There's a lot of producers who have been hanging on as long as they can and they may decide now is the time to get out of the industry," he said.

"It's just been too many struggles, for too long."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 16, 2023.

Big Data research points out Omicron outbreak had lower mortality rates compared to previous strains of Covid-19

Brazilian study analyzed data from over 40,000 patients admitted to ICUs in the country

Peer-Reviewed Publication

D'OR INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH AND EDUCATION

During the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, a constant public fear was the rise of a new variant of the disease. Among the countless possibilities of a SARS-CoV-2 viral mutation, some were really alarming, such as Omicron, Delta, and Gamma. The strains with greater virulence and ability to invade the immune system are defined as variants of concern (VOCs), since they also have the potential to overwhelm the health system, increasing the number of admissions to intensive care units (UTIs). Recently published in the Intensive Care Medicine journal, a new study led by the D'Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR) used Big Data analysis techniques to compare the profile of patients admitted to Brazilian ICUs during the dominance of different VOCs.

As a research object, the authors evaluated a multicenter cohort of patients with Covid-19 confirmed by RT-PCR diagnosis. These patients were admitted to one of the 231 Brazilian ICUs evaluated in the study, totalizing 47,465 admissions between February 27th, 2020, and March 29th, 2022. The admission data were all provided by Rede D'Or, the largest private hospital network in Latin America.

The scientists divided the information into three time periods: epoch 1 (when there was no dominant VOC; total: 21,996 admissions), epoch 2 (Gamma/Delta dominance; total: 21,183 admissions), and epoch 3 (Omicron dominance; total: 4,286 admissions). After that, they studied the hospital mortality within 60 days after admission, also considering the need for mechanical ventilation (intubation) in the three periods. These complex calculations were executed by a biostatistics software, which employed mathematical models that considered the multiple variables able to interfere with the patient's chance of mortality, such as age, sex, comorbidities, among others, resulting in what the authors described as the adjusted mortality rate.

The researchers noted that during epoch 3 (Omicron dominance), patients were older, averaging 68 years old, whereas this number was 52 years old at epoch 2 and 55 years old at epoch 1. Omicron patients also had a larger number of dysfunctional strokes caused by Covid-19 and required less mechanical ventilation. In the same group, adjusted mortality was lower compared to the previous two epochs. However, for patients who required mechanical ventilation, mortality rates were very similar between all VOCs dominances.

“Patients who need mechanical ventilation at Ômicron are the most fragile, such as the elderly and immunosuppressed patients, and they are at greater risk of developing severe forms of the disease. One of the things our study reveals is that, for these patients, there is still a need to be cautious about the risk of hospitalization and death. Even in epoch 3, the most recent in the study, when there was already vaccination coverage, it wasn't noticed a relevant downturn in mortality rates for patients with Covid-19 who needed mechanical ventilation”, informs the first author and researcher at IDOR, Dr. Pedro Kurtz.

The researcher points out that, according to vaccination data for the Brazilian population, by the end of 2021 more than 60% of adults received the first dose of vaccination, 30% a second dose, and more than 90% of those aged over 60 years old had a full vaccination. Vaccination coverage, therefore, must have contributed to the lower mortality observed in the Omicron period. However, the authors show that even with complete vaccination, the dissemination of variants with high infectivity puts vulnerable patients at risk, especially those who are older, with comorbidities, and who may need hospitalization in more severe cases.

---

JOURNAL

Intensive Care Medicine

DOI

10.1164/rccm.202202-0411LE 

ARTICLE TITLE

Variants of concern and clinical outcomes in critically ill COVID-19 patients

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

24-Apr-2023

Characterizing the contaminated couriers of omicron SARS-CoV-2 variants

Peer-Reviewed Publication

AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR MICROBIOLOGY

HIGHLIGHTS

• SARS-CoV-2 may spread through contaminated shipping containers
• How long Omicron variants persist on shipping materials may be influenced by temperature, humidity and material
• Researchers measured the viability of BA.1 and BA.5 Omicron variants on 4 shipping materials
• The virus was most stable, and most likely to spread, at the lowest temperature.

Washington, DC – The virus that causes COVID-19 spreads through droplets and small particles, but contaminated surfaces of shipping materials may also contribute to outbreaks. Environmental persistence was thoroughly studied at first, but less research has been focused on how long newer, highly transmissible variants remain viable on surfaces. 

This week in Microbiology Spectrum, an open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, a team of researchers in China reported their findings on how environmental factors affect the persistence of 2 different, highly transmissible Omicron variants on shipping materials. They found that viability depends on the type of surface, the temperature and the original viral concentration. 

The study could provide guidance for safety practices in the shipping industry. “Our findings provide initial information to determine the likelihood of objects serving as sources of transmission,” said study leader Bei Wang, Ph.D., from the Institute of Pathogen Biology at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, in Beijing. “For instance, viruses may survive for extended periods at lower temperatures, making it essential to reinforce personal protection and disinfection procedures to control viral transmission during transportation.”

During the pandemic, as information emerged about routes of transmission and sources of outbreaks, researchers began to investigate whether materials used in transportation might pose a risk. “It was necessary to confirm the stability of viruses on those surfaces to improve a safe delivery process,” said Wang. 

Concern and new question arose as the virus mutated and infectious variants emerged. Many, like Omicron, are highly transmissible, in part because they can evade a person’s immune response. Omicron subvariants can even infect people who have been infected before by other variants. Previous studies of SARS-CoV-2 variants have also shown that not every variant remains viable for the same duration on shipping materials, suggesting a link between genetic mutations and viral stability. “We wanted to consider exploring the mechanisms of the stability of mutations under different environmental factors.” 

In the new work, the researchers tested sterilized samples of 4 different materials to measure how long Omicron variants BA.1 and BA.5 would survive at different temperatures. The materials included paper cartons, polyethylene packing film, iron and nonwoven fabric, which is used in shipping for breathable bags, insulated pads for meat packaging trays, fruit liners and other containers. For seven days, 180 samples of each material, treated with viral titers for the two sub variants, were kept at 4 degrees Celsius (39 degrees Fahrenheit), 25 Celsius (77 Fahrenheit), or 37 degrees (99 Fahrenheit). 

At the end of the week, the researchers found that temperature had the most impact on survival, and the virus was most stable, and thus was most likely to persist on the packing material, at the lowest temperature. At the highest temperature, only four BA.1 samples and five BA.5 samples still tested positive. In general, the BA.5 subvariant persisted on more samples and temperatures than the BA.1 subvariant, suggesting that BA.5 might be more environmentally stable. They also found that the persistence varied by material. On the paper carton, for example, neither subvariant survived for more than 1 day at any temperature. Nonwoven fabric inoculated with BA.5 were most likely to test positive at all temperatures. 

The study outlines protocols for safely shipping goods without starting an outbreak. “The survival time is not as long as we expected at room temperature, so it is generally safe to transport materials at room temperature,” said Wang. In the future, he said, his group hopes to publish similar protocols. “We plan to extend this methodology to include additional organic materials and a range of temperatures.” 
 

### 

The American Society for Microbiology is one of the largest professional societies dedicated to the life sciences and is composed of 30,000 scientists and health practitioners. ASM's mission is to promote and advance the microbial sciences.

ASM advances the microbial sciences through conferences, publications, certifications, educational opportunities and advocacy efforts. It enhances laboratory capacity around the globe through training and resources. It provides a network for scientists in academia, industry and clinical settings. Additionally, ASM promotes a deeper understanding of the microbial sciences to diverse audiences.

---

JOURNAL

Microbiology Spectrum

It's Clear the GOP Is a Party of Death, Not Life

Here's a very long list that proves it.

Is there any area where Republicans will put the interests of life above making a buck or pandering to their base?
(Photo: Franz Aberham/iStock via Getty Images)

THOM HARTMANN
Common Dreams

Because they oppose a woman having the right to terminate a pregnancy, Republicans claim to be the Party of Life. In fact, they’re the Party of Death.

Seriously. Unless you’re white, straight, male, Christian, and morbidly rich, Republicans appear to want you and your children dead. In every instance, they will put a corporation or a rich white man’s making a buck over the life of anybody else.

— Toxic waste kills people, but Republicans have worked for decades to cripple the EPA and other agencies’ ability to regulate it. Trump alone rolled back over 100 environmental regulations that protected families and children.

— Being homeless kills people, but Republicans fight any sort of housing support, rent control, or laws that might inhibit foreign or Wall Street investors from buying up housing stock and jacking up housing costs.

— Guns kill more children in America than any other single cause, and Republicans want more of them, including weapons designed exclusively for use on the battlefield.

— Hunger kills children through weakening their immune systems and diminishing their ability to learn, but Republicans are so opposed to feeding children at school that one rightwing talk host recently argued that hungry kids should be sent to orphanages.

— Pregnancy kills women far more often than abortion (20.1 deaths per 100,000 pregnancies versus .4 deaths per 100,000 abortions), but Republicans are passing laws to force women and girls to endure childbirth whether they want to or not.

— Suicide kills more gay men than AIDS, and queer youth are four times more likely to kill themselves than their cis counterparts, but Republicans continue to stigmatize and attempt to criminalize homosexuality, being transgender, and even dressing in drag.

— Cancer kills people, but Republicans defend carcinogenic pesticides and other chemicals in our food supply.

— Civil wars kill people, but Republicans are openly advocating one today.

— Coups kill people, too; over 140 police officers were injured, three were killed, along with four civilians on that January 6th day that Republican President Trump tried to overthrow the government of the United States.

— Children forced to work in meat packing plants and other dangerous places kill, but Arkansas’ Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders just proudly signed legislation loosening that state’s child labor laws and other Republican governors are considering the same.

— Back-alley abortions kill women, but Republicans in South Carolina are considering legislation to give the death penalty (your choice of lethal injection or firing squad) to women who travel to other states to get a legal abortion.

— Opioids kill people, but Republicans consistently oppose any funding for addiction treatment programs, “safe” places for addicts, and even anti-overdose drugs.

— Heart disease kills people, but Republicans fight every effort to reduce Americans’ consumption of trans-fats and saturated fats.

— Bacterial and viral infections kill people, but Republicans oppose any attempt to expand healthcare coverage for low-income people.

— Hate kills people, but Republicans most recently voted against anti-Asian hate-crimes legislation.

— Tearing children from their parents kills people — both through stress and suicide — but Republicans gleefully ripped thousands from their mothers’ arms and trafficked so many of them that around 1,000 are still missing.

— Stress from working full time but not being able to support your family kills people, but Republicans vigorously fight any effort to raise the minimum wage above $7.25 an hour.

— Cutting medications in half to save money kills people, but Republicans oppose any effort to reduce obscene drug prices.

— Deregulated trains kill people, but Republicans will only support more deregulation of the industry on top of all the rules Trump rolled back in 2018.

— Covid kills people, but Republicans were so anxious to turn a pandemic into a political opportunity that they embraced policies that led to over 300,000 unnecessary deaths, most (two to one) among people who trusted the GOP.

— Misogyny and domestic violence kills people, but Republicans have fought the Equal Rights Amendment for over 5 decades and 157 Republicans in the House voted against taking guns away from domestic abusers.

— Losing your home during an economic crisis kills people, but as suicides spiked during the 2008 Bush Crash, Republican Steve Mnuchin happily and perhaps illegally threw over 36,000 families out of their homes (and he was just the tip of the iceberg).

— Ignorance kills people, but Republicans want to ban books, fire teachers, and defund public schools.

— Student debt kills people, but Republicans fight any effort to reduce the school loan burden of millions of struggling Americans.

— Climate change kills people every single day, but Republicans continue to insist it’s not a problem or doesn’t even exist.

— Losing power during harsh weather kills people, but Republicans block every effort to shift America from big, centralized, for-profit power systems to local, community-based green power.

— Racism kills people, but Republicans have elevated it to the centerpiece of their so-called “anti-woke agenda.”

— Poverty kills children, but Republicans have blocked the Biden administration’s effort to maintain the child tax credit.

— Mass- and school-shooters kill people, but Republicans fight for killers’ right to continue to buy semi-automatic weapons, high-capacity magazines, and “cop-killer” bullets.

— Speaking of cops, they can kill, too. Far too often, and it’s got to be really tough on the good cops. But Republicans fight any effort to professionalize our police in America. If anything, they work to the contrary.

— Health insurance payment denials kill senior citizens, but Republicans continue to defend George W. Bush’s “Medicare Advantage” scam.

— Autocracy and strongman government kills people, but Republicans embrace both over democracy, which today they are actively working against.

— Diabetes kills people, but for over 20 years Republicans have fought lowering the cost of insulin.

— Premature birth kills babies, but for 40 years Republicans have fought every effort to provide housing, food, or medical care to pregnant women and, most recently, fought efforts to even provide workplace accommodations.

— Advanced dental disease kills people, but Republicans have fought adding dental care to Medicare or Medicaid since 1965 and proudly continue to do so.

— Vigilantism kills people but Republican-led states around the county have passed “stand your ground” laws that effectively legalize murder.

— Not having a union kills people (workplace deaths are 54% higher in “right to work for less” states), but Republicans consistently oppose the right of workers to unionize.

Untreated mental health issues can kill people, but 205 Republicans just voted against a bill to expand school mental health services.

Is there any area where Republicans will put the interests of life above making a buck or pandering to their base? Outside of their affection for fertilized eggs, I can’t find a single one.
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.


THOM HARTMANN
Thom Hartmann is a talk-show host and the author of "The Hidden History of Monopolies: How Big Business Destroyed the American Dream" (2020); "The Hidden History of the Supreme Court and the Betrayal of America" (2019); and more than 25 other books in print.


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