Federal officials find children being employed as cleaners at a protein production facility in Iowa.

[alaskanseminole]

Well my point is the kids are cleaning up that. Not some little machine u just showed. It requires high powered cleaning equipment. Not a toothbrush.

I still think proper context and more information needs to be made available.

- First and foremost, if they're employed illegally, then the employer needs to be held accountable.
- Are these children 9 or 17?
- Is this a case of forced labor?
- To the work itself, that sort of stuff doesn't affect/impact people equally. I was field dressing a deer with my Papaw in elementary school. Both my buddy's "girly" daughters have zero issue cleaning deer, hog, fish, etc., conversely both my daughters would puke.

 

[Rifler]

Hourly factory jobs come with a 401k?

Of course,.. or are you so distant from common reality to not understand that this is practically the norm?

 

[dandh]

Big difference between that and a food processor.

Much safer to clean a kill floor than drive a grain truck.

 

[tumorboy]

I still think proper context and more information needs to be made available.

- First and foremost, if they're employed illegally, then the employer needs to be held accountable.
- Are these children 9 or 17?
- Is this a case of forced labor?
- To the work itself, that sort of stuff doesn't affect/impact people equally. I was field dressing a deer with my Papaw in elementary school. Both my buddy's "girly" daughters have zero issue cleaning deer, hog, fish, etc., conversely both my daughters would puke.

Said children 9 to 17. I assume. These kids are most likely working the overnight shift. It’s easier to hide from public eyes. Yes , several posters are pointing out their family work experience growing up. But u weren’t doing that as an everyday routine. Kids first priority should be school. Not an overnight shift.

 

[Dr. Spaceman]

Of course,.. or are you so distant from common reality to not understand that this is practically the norm?

For children working illegally?

 

[dandh]

Well my point is the kids are cleaning up that. Not some little machine u just showed. It requires high powered cleaning equipment. Not a toothbrush.

Mostly a hose and a broom,sometimes a shovel. Industrial shops may also use bleach or cleaners, but it's not complicated or "high powered", unless that's how you refer to a manual car wash. Nothing a teenager shouldn't be able to handle.

 

[tumorboy]

Much safer to clean a kill floor than drive a grain truck.

Depends on the factory and their standards. If they are already using minors. Good chance they aren‘t safe some where else.

 

[LunchBox50]

Had multiple friends in high school that drove grain trucks and wagons during harvest when they were 14.

That's definitely, positively, exactly the same as hog slaughter operations.

 

[tumorboy]

Mostly a hose and a broom,sometimes a shovel. Industrial shops may also use bleach or cleaners, but it's not complicated or "high powered", unless that's how you refer to a manual car wash. Nothing a teenager shouldn't be able to handle.

High powered enough to burn and scald u. Or potentially tear flesh.

 

[dandh]

High powered enough to burn and scald u. Or potentially tear flesh.

So is a car wash. Are those off limits until you're 18?

 

[tumorboy]

So is a car wash. Are those off limits until you're 18?

It’s a completely different environment. And u know it. Cousin worked at Excel in Ottumwa. Had to go to ER . Shot 100 plus degree water down his boot his right boot. Incident happened do to lack of spacing. That isn’t going to occur at a car wash. Because users haven’t been clocking 10 hr shifts in close quarters with gear on.

 

[dandh]

Said children 9 to 17. I assume. These kids are most likely working the overnight shift. It’s easier to hide from public eyes. Yes , several posters are pointing out their family work experience growing up. But u weren’t doing that as an everyday routine. Kids first priority should be school. Not an overnight shift.

I saw no mention of their age in the story. AlaskaSeminole asked if they were 9 or 17. It would be nice to have some actual information, not just speculation and hand-wringing.

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

I worked at hyline chicken when I was 16-17. I managed a location that had 4 huge chicken houses. Daily activities required me to make sure they were getting food and water and incinerate any dead loss. W times a year we used a skid loader to clean the feces from the bottoms of the pit. When a line was deemed to nor have the qualities of egg they wanted, we killed the entire line which our hands, thousands of birds. I also spent some time helping with composting, where they would take all the eggs that were no good, grind them into a slurry with hatched chicks and spread it over compost to increase the nutritional value of the compost.




Kids today are ****ing soft.

 

[ICWestfan]

Yes, we are going after the governor who grandstands at the southern border, but won't look in her own backyard for the people hiring illegals in Iowa. Or, are you saying Iowa has no ability to enforce it's own laws?

Who exactly is hiring "illegals" in Iowa?

 

[NoleATL]

The Department of Labor has taken action against a company found to have employed at least 9 children in a Sioux City facility as cleaners on the kill floor, sometimes working on dangerous equipment. Those darn contractors.
https://www.kcrg.com/2024/02/21/fed...d-children-employed-industrial-cleaners-iowa/

Conservative business owners want child labor.

 

[tumorboy]

I saw no mention of their age in the story. AlaskaSeminole asked if they were 9 or 17. It would be nice to have some actual information, not just speculation and hand-wringing.

My guess is it’s children of illegals. 13 to 15 year olds. Ones who can pass for 18.

 

[Rifler]

For children working illegally?

Factory workers,.. now put those goal posts back where you found them

 

[lucas80]

How old were these "children", 9 or 17? Gotta love sensationalized reporting.

This is what people are envisioning:

When it's probably more like this:

You honestly thought the bottom picture helped you prove a point?

 

[Dr. Spaceman]

Factory workers,.. now put those goal posts back where you found them

I responded to a poster who said he wished his 401k started earlier when referencing an underage individual illegally working in a factory. How is that moving the goalposts?

 

[Rifler]

I responded to a poster who said he wished his 401k started earlier when referencing an underage individual illegally working in a factory. How is that moving the goalposts?

You expressed surprise that most US hourly factory jobs came with a 401K,.. now put those goalposts back.

 

[srams21]

I worked at hyline chicken when I was 16-17. I managed a location that had 4 huge chicken houses. Daily activities required me to make sure they were getting food and water and incinerate any dead loss. W times a year we used a skid loader to clean the feces from the bottoms of the pit. When a line was deemed to nor have the qualities of egg they wanted, we killed the entire line which our hands, thousands of birds. I also spent some time helping with composting, where they would take all the eggs that were no good, grind them into a slurry with hatched chicks and spread it over compost to increase the nutritional value of the compost.




Kids today are ****ing soft.

Damn. You are so tough and alpha.

 

[ButtersHawk]

Yep I'm sure the factory illegally using child labor is setting up a 401k for them.

Humor?
Sarcasm?

 

[Dr. Spaceman]

Damn. You are so tough and alpha.

He runs away from parking lot fights that he helps initiate, but kids today are totally soft.

 

[lucas80]

Who exactly is hiring "illegals" in Iowa?

Farmers with a bunch of guys living in a single wide behind the equipment shed. Companies that contract to protein processing plants and employ guys who are clearly 20 years younger than their documents say. Homeowners that take bids to have a roof replaced and hire the crew in which only the foreman speaks English. Probably me who pays cash to a very industrious woman who brings a crew to clean my house, who only nod politely to me, and don't speak English.

 

[WDSMHAWK]

Humor?
Sarcasm?

How about poking a hole in your argument

 

[ButtersHawk]

How about poking a hole in your argument

I wasn't making an argument

 

[alaskanseminole]

You honestly thought the bottom picture helped you prove a point?

Reminded me of my Papaw teaching me how to work on pool and vacuum cleaner motors. I'm more of a Mike Rowe-type person when it comes to working. Too many parents are focused on their kids being in sports and other academic-type activities 24/7 and that just isn't going to be the case for every kiddo. We don't push the trades enough.

We're going to have a whole generation of kids that don't know how to put in a hard days work. Neither one of my daughter's BF's know their way around a car (for example). My oldest's BF is fairly handy around the house and yard, but my youngest's BF knows less about how to do things than my daughter. She just showed him how to change the headlights in his car. [insert facepalm]

I'm certainly not for "child" labor forced or voluntary, but I'm a guy who's been employed one way or the other since he was 14, so within the proper context, I'm for it.

 

[alaskanseminole]

Said children 9 to 17. I assume. These kids are most likely working the overnight shift. It’s easier to hide from public eyes. Yes , several posters are pointing out their family work experience growing up. But u weren’t doing that as an everyday routine. Kids first priority should be school. Not an overnight shift.

Again, more context. My senior year I worked whatever the max-allowed hours were per week. I co-opted school and didn't have a 1st or 8th period. I typically worked 4-10 Tue & Thu and 12-10 Sat & Sun. I was also an honor student. My parents weren't rich, mostly because my dad had long periods in the mental ward at the VA hospital and my mom's church secretary salary wasn't cutting it.

We can't all have kids who spend every day on the football field and taking dual credit college courses.

 

[alaskanseminole]

Kids today are ****ing soft.

While I don't support that as a blanket statement, in cases where it's true, who's fault is that. OURS! I keep "warning" my 10-yo that things are going to change a lot when he hits middle school. He'll be trading in his toys for a wrench. His good friend who's a grade higher just got a table saw for Christmas. His other neighborhood friend is 2 grades higher was just showing off his new bag of tools. Most of the other kids in the neighborhood are showing off their VRs and iPads.

It's our job as parents to find and implement balance. My son plays club soccer which takes up much of his time, but I also want him to know how to change his own oil. Heck, when I had COVID one of my water heaters went out. I had to call a plumber. It cost me $2700 dollars! Fast forward 6 months to when the second one went out, I picked up a heater at a local plumbing supply for $600 and did it myself. ...just had to get a neighbor to help me lift it.

 

[tumorboy]

While I don't support that as a blanket statement, in cases where it's true, who's fault is that. OURS! I keep "warning" my 10-yo that things are going to change a lot when he hits middle school. He'll be trading in his toys for a wrench. His good friend who's a grade higher just got a table saw for Christmas. His other neighborhood friend is 2 grades higher was just showing off his new bag of tools. Most of the other kids in the neighborhood are showing off their VRs and iPads.

It's our job as parents to find and implement balance. My son plays club soccer which takes up much of his time, but I also want him to know how to change his own oil. Heck, when I had COVID one of my water heaters went out. I had to call a plumber. It cost me $2700 dollars! Fast forward 6 months to when the second one went out, I picked up a heater at a local plumbing supply for $600 and did it myself. ...just had to get a neighbor to help me lift it.

It’s a different culture for the children of illegals as well. Lots of parents view the 8th grade as the Senior year and anything after that as college. At least these are my observations from my wife’s ESL students.

 

[Jerome Silberman]

Nobody wants to see this kind of shit happen, but it's ridiculous to act like a 15 year old cannot be on a roof, but a 14 year old can drive a pickup truck down the road without supervision....which is legal in Iowa.

It's an every day thing to see 10 year olds...or younger...operating equipment, driving tractors, in any farming community. And is completely legal. Hell we ignore that we have kids out operating lawn mowers all summer long. Not going to get a much more potentially dangerous than what a lawnmower can do in an accident. Kids operating log splitters while the dads are pulling the trees down and cutting the logs into split able size. Typical midwest stuff. At least snow blowers don't have any dangerous moving parts.

If you gonna have laws....than have the balls to actually have laws that are consistent.

You ever been on a kill floor?

 

[SA_Hawk]

That's definitely, positively, exactly the same as hog slaughter operations.

Both getting food to market. Less skill needed for slaughter operations.

 

[jonesy5960]

I worked at hyline chicken when I was 16-17. I managed a location that had 4 huge chicken houses. Daily activities required me to make sure they were getting food and water and incinerate any dead loss. W times a year we used a skid loader to clean the feces from the bottoms of the pit. When a line was deemed to nor have the qualities of egg they wanted, we killed the entire line which our hands, thousands of birds. I also spent some time helping with composting, where they would take all the eggs that were no good, grind them into a slurry with hatched chicks and spread it over compost to increase the nutritional value of the compost.




Kids today are ****ing soft.

I couldn't do this today.