US uncovers over 3,800 cases of child worker abuse, launches crackdown

WASHINGTON: The Biden administration is responding to the burgeoning problem of child labour exploitation, especially of migrant children, with tougher new measures designed to punish violators after discovering thousands of cases of abuse, reported Sputnik.

"In the last fiscal year, the department found 835 companies it investigated had employed more than 3,800 children in violation of labour laws," said the Labour Department in a press release on Monday.

To combat the rising challenge of child labour exploitation - particularly of migrant children, the release added - the Labour Department and Health and Human Services announced a number of initiatives to increase efforts on vetting sponsors, probing violations, and holding companies accountable.

Labour chief Marty Walsh said everyone has a moral and legal obligation to prevent the "scourge of child labour." Too often, he added, companies look the other way or blame staffing agencies and subcontractors.

"This is not a 19th-century problem, this is a today problem. We need Congress to come to the table, we need states to come to the table. This is a problem that will take all of us to stop," Walsh was quoted as saying in the statement.

Earlier in February, the Wisconsin-based Packers Sanitation Services Inc. (PSSI) paid a fine of US$1.5 million for illegally employing over 100 children in hazardous conditions at meatpacking sites across several US states, the Labour Department said in a statement.

--BERNAMA