Child labor continues in the US after a child laborer who perished in an industrial accident this summer is a 16-year-old Mississippian named Duvan Perez.
Perez passed away inside a chicken facility, serving as another reminder that kids in the US are still susceptible to being exploited at work and the problem of child labor continues, senior Labor Department officials warned on Wednesday.
According to data obtained by The Associated Press, Perez was cleaning a conveyor belt at Mar-Jac Poultry while working on a sanitation team when he was caught up in it.
Child Labor in the USA
Perez’s coworkers attempted to free him from the machinery that reached the plant’s roof before the police arrived at the meat processing facility. Forrest County Coroner Butch Benedict stated in a text message that Perez died from traumatic asphyxia and blunt force injuries after the boy was discovered dead by police.
In a statement, Mar-Jac Poultry claimed that an anonymous recruiting firm had hired Perez to work at the plant and that it appeared that Perez had lied about his age on his documentation.
More child labor victims
Early in July, 16-year-old Michael Schuls passed away from injuries sustained when, while working at a sawmill in northern Wisconsin, he was caught in a wood-stacking machine.
At a landfill in Lee’s Summit, Missouri, Will Hampton, also 16, perished in June after becoming trapped between a semi-truck and its trailer.
Perez is the third worker to die at work at the Hattiesburg plant in the last three years. Additionally, there was an amputation at the company during that time. OSHA previously issued citations to Mar-Jac Poultry for four safety violations in three different occurrences in 2020 and 2021.
The Wage and Hours Division of the Labor Department, which upholds child labor rules, is looking into the employers of all three of the young people who passed away this summer.
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