Punching In: McDonald’s Labor Violations Latest in DOL Crackdown

Monday morning musings for workplace watchers.

Kids at Work|AFL-CIO Leadership Shuffle

Rebecca Rainey: The US Labor Department’s Wage and Hour Division continues to uncover alarming instances of children working in illegal and unsafe conditions after announcing an enforcement effort just a few months ago to try and reverse a growing tally of labor violations involving minors.

Three Kentucky-based McDonald’s Corp. franchise operators allowed more than 300 kids to work more hours than the law permits, DOL investigators announced last week. The agency discovered one of the franchises also permitted two 10-year-olds to work as late as 2 a.m., and had one operating a deep fryer.

The public and the agency’s renewed attention to the issue comes after several media reports and a DOL investigation uncovered that more than 100 undocumented children as young as 14 working overnight shifts cleaning meatpacking facilities for Packers Sanitation Services. In response, the Biden administration launched a special enforcement initiative in February, and recently requested that meatpacking companies audit their workforces for potential child labor exploitation.

Here’s a breakdown of some of the recent violations DOL has uncovered since launching the enforcement program:

Children working after hours. Similar to the Kentucky McDonald’s franchise cases, DOL recently found that a Georgia Zaxby’s allowed more than a dozen 14- and 15-year-olds to work more than three hours on a school day, beyond the 18-hour limit for a school week, and before 7 a.m. and after 7 p.m., which are all prohibited under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Limits on what jobs kids can do. Minors are barred from completing certain tasks that have been found “dangerous” by the DOL. There are more restrictions for 14- and -15 year- olds, especially when it comes to cooking and baking operations. Like in the Kentucky McDonald’s case, it’s illegal for children to use a deep fryer that doesn’t have automatic devices to lift the baskets in and out of the oil.

Age restrictions. Children under 14 aren’t allowed to work in non-agricultural operations at all, other than some limited exceptions, like for acting. In April, the DOL sought a permanent injunction and fined the operator of a Tennessee-based Comfort Inn for “oppressive child labor violations” when it employed two kids younger than 12.

Prompting change: The increased scrutiny from federal regulators has already led at least one business to change their practices. JBS USA, one of the country’s largest meat processors, announced last week that it was moving its sanitation operations in-house. JBS operated some of the facilities where children were found working illegally, and also recently terminated its contract with Packers Sanitation. The company said its new cleaning team was formed in partnership with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union.

“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,” Marc Perrone, president of the UFCW, said in a statement on the announcement.

READ MORE:

• Labor, Health Agencies Launch Taskforce Tackling Child Labor
• Packers Sanitation Faces $1.5 Million Child Labor Case Fine
• Wage and Hour Staff Crunch May Hinder DOL Child Labor Crackdown

Liz Shuler speaks at the Fight for Our Future: Rally for Climate, Care, Jobs & Justice on April 23, 2022, in Washington, D.C.

Photo by Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Green New Deal Network

Ian Kullgren: Veteran political strategist Michael Podhorzer has left the AFL-CIO, part of a leadership shakeup by President Liz Shuler that has brought a lineup of new faces to the nation’s largest labor federation.

Podhorzer had worked at the federation since the Clinton administration, and is seen as one of Washington’s top Democratic strategists. He’s credited as one of the few people who got the 2022 midterms right, and brought together business and union stakeholders in the aftermath of the 2020 election.

But a few months ago, he retired with no notice except for a passing mention in a Politico podcast. Podhorzer declined to comment on his departure, but has launched a Substack and starting tweeting again.

To replace him, Shuler tapped Jennifer Rodriguez, who spent 15 years as campaigns director for the American Federation of Teachers and was seen internally as a big get for the labor federation.

The staff changes show how Shuler is trying to make the federation less male, less white, more egalitarian, and more connected to the rank and file.

In recent weeks, she also hired Julie Greene Collier, a campaign veteran who served as mobilization director in 2020 and worked for the DNC before that, to be her chief of staff. She’s the first Black woman to hold the role. Collier replaced Chris Neff, who was executive assistant to Shuler while she was Secretary Treasurer; Neff has stayed on as a senior adviser.

Shuler also poached Marc Goumbri from SEIU to be her deputy chief of staff. Ray Zaccaro, a longtime aide to Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), has jumped on as public affairs director, and Clayola Brown was hired as a senior adviser for strategic partnerships and racial justice.

The federation also merged its mobilization and political departments, part of an effort to keep door-to-door member campaigns going year-round.

“We’re seeding the ground by having those issue conversations all year long,” said Steve Smith, deputy director of public affairs. “We’re not just coming to them right before the election and telling them, ‘Vote for so-and-so.’”

We’re punching out. Daily Labor Report subscribers, please check in for updates during the week, and feel free to reach out to us.