Missouri senator sends DOL letter about alleged child labor at Tyson Foods plant
This March, Hawley and Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced the Preventing Child Labor Exploitation in Federal Contracting Act, which was designed to prohibit corporations that engage in illegal child labor practices to secure federal contracts.
Missouri senator sends DOL letter about alleged child labor at Tyson Foods plant
Source: ©JHVEPHOTO – STOCK.ADOBE.COM
05.08.2025
WASHINGTON — Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) recently sent a letter to Labor Secretary Lory Chavez-DeRemer, asking the agency to look into allegations of illegal child labor practices at Tyson Foods Inc.
Hawley said in his letter that he was contacted by a whistleblower and would be opening an investigation by the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime.
“The whistleblower, a former Tyson Foods employee who oversaw plant safety, alleges that they personally witnessed underage workers and also received multiple reports from hourly Tyson employees about child workers in the plant,” Hawley wrote in his letter. “According to the allegations, these child workers were employed by a third-party entity contracted by Tyson for work in the plant.”
Later on, Hawley pointed to Chavez-DeRemer’s confirmation hearing where she testified, “Child labor should not be accepted by anybody in America.”
“We cannot allow children to continue to be exploited in the name of corporate profits. I therefore urge you to investigate all allegations regarding Tyson’s illicit child labor practices, including these new whistleblower allegations,” Hawley said.
Following this latest inquiry, Tyson was quick to respond to the allegations.
“We do not allow the employment of anyone under the age of 18 in any of our facilities, and we do not facilitate, excuse or in any other way participate in the use of child labor by third parties,” a Tyson Foods spokesperson wrote to MEAT+POULTRY. “We take the enforcement of all labor laws seriously, and we verify the age of all team members by fully participating in the federal government’s E-Verify and IMAGE programs. We also have multiple processes in place, including an anonymous ethics hotline, for all team members to report suspicious activity.”
In September 2023, Hawley sent a letter to Donnie King, the chief executive officer of Tyson, over allegations of Tyson using illegal child labor.
This March, Hawley and Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced the Preventing Child Labor Exploitation in Federal Contracting Act, which was designed to prohibit corporations that engage in illegal child labor practices to secure federal contracts.