U.S. Sen. Hawley Implores DOL to Open Child Labor Investigation Against Tyson Foods

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has implored Dept. of Labor (DOL) secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer to open an investigation of Tyson Foods after Hawley claimed a former employee of the meat processor approached him with allegations of child labor at the company.

The whistleblower reportedly “oversaw plant safety,” and said hourly employees told them children were working in the plant and that they had personally witnessed underage workers there. “According to the allegations, these child workers were employed by a third-party entity contracted by Tyson for work in the plant,” as noted in the letter Hawley sent to DeRemer.

This is the latest move by Hawley targeting the Springdale, Ark., processor over the last few years, though it has been relatively quiet over the last 18 months. In September 2023, Hawley hounded Tyson Foods CEO Donnie King about the future of processing plants in Dexter and Noel, Mo., which the company planned to shut down.

Hawley promised constituents that he would basically lead the charge to hold the company responsible for meeting the commitment to help the local communities by selling the facilities to any interested parties, including competitors, and helping local chicken farmers secure new contracts. The Dexter facility was sold to Cal-Maine and converted into an egg-grading facility, according to reports in December of that year.

That same week, Hawley picked out a New York Times story alleging migrant children were working illegally for Tyson and Perdue, and sent King a letter demanding an explanation and answers. All this came about a week after Hawley had introduced legislation to break up the mega-sized meatpacking companies, which he believed to hold a monopoly on the market.