Slaughterhouse cleaning company that illegally employed minors loses contract with JBS in Cold...

The Wisconsin company, which was recently sanctioned by federal officials for hiring children to clean slaughterhouses, is losing another contract at a Minnesota processing plant.

Packers Sanitation Services Inc. (PSSI), a Kieler, Wisconsin-based food service janitorial service, has notified the Minnesota Bureau of Employment and Economic Development that it is laying off 81 workers who work at a poultry processing center in Cold Spring, Minnesota his clean 19-year contract was suddenly terminated.

Brazilian meatpacking company JBS PP, which owns Pilgrim's Pride, had ended its relationship with PSSI in Cold Spring.

That's the latest finding from a US Department of Labor investigation last year that found PSSI employed more than 100 miners at meatpacking plants across the Midwest . In January , JBS terminated its contract with PSSI at its Worthington, Minnesota facility, where PSSI had hired several underage workers.

In a letter to DEED on Monday, PSSI Vice President Tom Glackin said JBS has found another remediation company to continue the remediation of the JBS Cold Spring site.

"Recently we received an unscheduled notice from JBS PP – Cold Spring that they have decided to outsource the site to JBS PP – Cold Spring," Glackin said, "which means PSSI will cease servicing this facility effective May 30, 2023 ".

A company spokesman confirmed that a cleaning contract at Pilgrim's Pride in Cold Spring would end in June, calling the announcement "disappointing news for the home team and for PSSI."

The spokesman said the Department of Labor has not alleged any violations at the Cold Spring site.

The announcement comes two months after the Department of Labor fined PSSI $1.5 million for violating federal labor laws by hiring minors to clean packaging facilities across the country, including in Minnesota. Cleaning slaughterhouses is considered dangerous under labor law, which prohibits anyone under the age of 18 from doing this work.

PSSI did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.

DEED's announcement did not specify why JBS ended contact with PSSI. A letter from Glackin to employees attributed the layoffs to unforeseen business circumstances surrounding JBS and beyond "something we didn't anticipate".

According to Glackin's letter, PSSI had been cleaning the Cold Spring facility since 2004.

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