'Horrendous': Company accused of employing dozens of children in slaughterhouses

A federal judge granted a nationwide injunction against an industrial cleaning company, ordering the company to end its use of "oppressive child labor" after an investigation found it was employing dozens of children as young as 13—some of whom were injured while working in meatpacking facilities.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) requested the injunction in a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska after completing an investigation of Packers Sanitation Services, Inc. (PSSI) that began in late August.

"The Department of Labor will use every available legal resource to protect workers—regardless of their age—and hold to account those employers who mistakenly believe they can violate the Fair Labor Standards Act."

The federal government had received a tip alleging that PSSI was illegally employing children and that they were working in hazardous conditions.

'Horrendous': Company accused of employing dozens of children in slaughterhouses