JBS will transition the food safety and food plant sanitation of 10 processing plants to its newly created company, JBS Sanitation. The move comes after one of its former contractors, Packers Sanitation Services Inc. (PSSI) was fined more than $1.5 million for child labor violations.
“In light of the troubling allegations that have occurred in the food sanitation sector, JBS USA has made the decision to create a company that can provide the highest levels of food safety and quality assurance, while also adopting the same high standards for compliance and employment verification that we adhere to in the hiring of our own JBS USA workforce,” said JBS USA CEO Wesley Batista Filho.
JBS Sanitation could become responsible for cleaning additional JBS and Pilgrim’s Pride facilities if third-party vendors are unable to meet new audit and compliance standards.
Wilson Herrera, who most recently led corporate HR for JBS USA Pork, will serve as the president of JBS Sanitation. Alfred “Al” Almanza, global head of food safety and quality assurance for JBS Global, was named the new head of technical services.
“Sanitation is a key component to producing safe, affordable, healthy food,” said Almanza. “It requires specific expertise and extensive training to be done safely. Our focus at JBS Sanitation will be the safety of the food we provide, the safety of the men and women who provide sanitation services and creating opportunities for our team members.”
Preventing future violations
JBS Sanitation will partner with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) to provide new jobs and wages for qualified workers. All JBS Sanitation employees and their child dependents will also be eligible for a tuition-free community college education as a part of het JBS USA Better Futures program.
“The revelations about child labor among subcontractors in meatpacking plants are simply unacceptable, and it has been heartening to see JBS USA’s willingness to proactively move to address this egregious situation," said Marc Perrone, UFCW international president.
To prevent any future labor violations, JBS has established an internal whistleblower hotline. In addition, local school districts have been provided with access to the JBS Ethics Line for confidential reporting of suspected child labor issues.
In February 2023, PSSI was fined $1.5 million in civil money penalties after the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division revealed that PSSI illegally employed more than 102 children aged 13-17. The amount, which worked out to $15,138 for each minor-aged employee, was the maximum civil money penalty allowed by law. The company later named a new CEO, Tim Mulhere.
PSSI served as a food safety sanitation contractor at JBS USA plants in Grand Island, Nebraska and Worthington, Minnesota, and at Turkey Valley Farms in Marshall, Minnesota.
