Many old and present workers in three plants of House of Raeford say that he is frequent to see minor workers in the lines of production. Photo/John D. Simmons - jsimmons@charlotteobserver.com

Four months after turning 15 years, Gayton Star began to at night work in the turn in a plant processor of chickens of House of Raeford Farms.
Beginning to the 11:00 p.m. every night, when most of the young people of their age were slept, the timid adolescent of black eyes worked in turns of 10 hours in the plant of Greenville, handling filoso knife, cutting muscles of thousands of chickens.
“It was scared to cut to me and to remove a finger”, said to me to the Observer. “I really cut some times”.
Star lost its work the month last in the cast of immigration greater than sometimes outside carried out in the Carolinas. It was one of the six minor workers, among 15 and 16 years, found between the 331 lengthy workers.
Of Raeford is frequent to see minor workers in the lines of production of House, and not only in Greenville.
Than 20 more old and present workers in three plants of House of Raeford - in Greenville, West Columbia, Carolina of the South, and Raeford, Carolina of the North said to the Observer that the bird-raising company frequently contract to minor workers.
Six present and ex- supervisors said that the managers allowed these hirings to find cheap and docile manpower.
Due to the dangers, the federal and state labor laws prohibit that somebody minor of 18 years works in a line of processing of birds.
The ex- supervisor Eric Lawson said that after the company initiated the plant in West Columbia the last year, a director of the factory said to him: “Most (of the workers) is illegal or minor. Therefore they will not question anything”.
Lawson was forced to leave its work in April, after discussing with its supervisors, according to him. In the series of news articles of February on the conditions of work in the bird-raising industry, the Observer disclosed that House of Raeford had been mentioned 130 times by violations of security in the work place, from the 2000 - between the majors that any other American bird-raising company.
The company, cradle in Raeford, are one of the producing majors of chicken and turkey at national level with approximately 6.000 employees and eight plants of processing in the Carolinas and Luisiana.
Followed of the cast of the last month, the Department of the Work initiated an investigation on possible violations of infantile work.
Miguel Pascal, who obtained to a work in the plant of House of Raeford in West Columbia when she was 15 years old described, it like a hazardous environment, but a place easy to find a job.
“Nobody asked whichever years to me had”, said.
In a written answer Friday, House of Raeford said that it is following the law. Each applicant must present/display an identification demonstrating that she is 18 years old or more. The company said that it is required that they accept documents that seem to be legitimate and is prohibited to ask for additional documentation.
“Lamentably, the documentation presented/displayed by the employees not always is genuine, or exact, even if it seems that it is it”, it said the company. “Also, as we know, everybody does not say the truth all along”.
Star arrives at the United States
The father of Star did not want that she came to the United States. At least not before he turned 18 years. When it called it to Star of the house of his mother in Oaxaca, Mexico several months before realizing the trip through desert, Tranquilino Gayton remembers to him to have said that it did not allow him to come. Already it lived in Greenville and periodically it sent money to house.
“You are too young”, said. “The trip is dangerous. It remains in the school. You must study”. But Star was determined to accompany its older sister, who already had received the permission of the father. She knew of the financial problems of the family. Her mother sometimes cried when there were sufficient money for the food or no medicines. Star wanted to help.
Star and its father became angry by three weeks. It even threatened mudar another city if his father did not receive it in Greenville.
“I thought at least… will be with me”, said Gayton. “Good! ”, he remembers to have said. “You can come”.
Star traveled soon from Mexico to the United States and to Greenville with the aid of a human smuggler at the beginning of the 2007. Hundreds of immigrants have taken a similar way to work in the plants of House of Raeford. The company has had the reputation to be a place where the undocumented people can obtain employment easily, said many workers.
When Star visited the plant of Greenville, nevertheless, a woman behind the writing-desk said to him that he was too young.
The employee made a pause and soon she made a proposal, said Star to him. “If it pays 300 dollars”, Star remembers the words of the woman, “I can change its date of birth”.
House of Raeford did not respond on this specific incident, but it said that he is illegal and it against goes the policy of the company to ask or to require that an applicant pays to be engaged. The company said that it has dismissed employees of human resources that were shortages selling uses.
“If it (Star) presented/displayed false documentation, then it has broken the law, as well as the policy of the company”, said the company. “We have audited our registries of I-9 (forms of use elegibility) and do not have certainty of which no employee who has presented/displayed documentation having taught that he or it was less than 18 years old at the time of his hiring, work in the company has occurred him.
Adolescent in the line
Star, sitting in the sofa of its room, as soon as it pretends his age. With his supported legs, it turns his hair moored in a horse tail while it speaks of his friendly in Mexico. While most of their old classmates practiced sports, they coqueteaban to the boys, and they attended dances, Star took care of turns of all night in a factory of concrete cold, helping to turn thousands of birds into you cut advisable for restaurants, stores and cafeterias.
“I do not dance much here”, said.
Star, now of 16 years, worked in a plant, well-known like, Columbia Farms during approximately 18 months, first cutting muscles and soon moving under the line to cut wings.
To work in a plant of chickens is hard, dirty work.
The workers remain shoulder to shoulder, doing less than 20.000 you do not cut in turn.
With a knife in its hand right, Star cut the chickens as fast as it could. The meat seemed to fly.

To work in a plant of chickens is hard. The workers remain shoulder to shoulder, doing less than 20.000 you do not cut in turn. Photo/John D. Simmons - jsimmons@charlotteobserver.com

The women majors on the line of processing of the plant of House of Raeford Farms did not have major problem, but Star had difficulties by its adolescent muscles.
“The others maintained the rate because they were great”, she said. “More difficult Era for me. I am small”.
The companions who tried to help Star said that its age was not any secret. Anita Baptist worked in front of Star. It and Star sometimes interchanged sites when the adolescent remained back.
“She is only one girl”, said Baptist. “A chamaca”. After its turn, Star took off pieces of fat of chicken of its clothes. Its skin seemed to absorb the scent of the meat. Their trembling hands would burn to him during hours.
Weeks after losing his work, it says that some fingers still hurt to him.
It rises and takes hold the bottle of an analgesic hot lotion of a shelf near the kitchen.
“My father”, says, “every night rubbed my hands with this cream”.
Habitual practice
Old and present workers say that Greenville was not the unique place where House of Raeford engaged minor workers. Dozens of minors, say, also they obtained employments in West Columbia and Raeford.
Fernando Arevalo, whom he supervised to approximately 80 workers in the plant of West Columbia, until outside dismissed to October, he said that he knew of five or six minor workers. They seemed and acted like young people, often speaking of the way in which they do it to the adolescents, said. Arevalo sometimes asked their ages.
“They said to me directly. “I am 15 years old””, said. Another supervisor still employed in the plant, said that the company is conscious of the minor workers, it ignores but it due to the necessity to maintain in movement the lines of production.
“When I have said that somebody seems too young, they have said to me that she does not make any question”, the supervisor said, who asked that their identity is protected because still works for the company. “They say “you you must assume that the papers are real””.
Lizzie Mae Harris, that worked as supervisora in the Raeford plant by many years before leaving in the 2003, considered that approximately two dozens of workers in their department were minor.
The boys still did not shave themselves, he said, and lacked the force to do the work designed for mature men, like throwing the skin of the turkeys. “One could see them”, said she, “and knowledge who were babies”.

Lizzie Mae Harris, that worked as supervisora in the Raeford plant by many years, says that the minor workers lacked the force to do the work designed for mature men, like throwing the skin of the turkeys. Photo/John D. Simmons - jsimmons@charlotteobserver.com

Miguel Pascal said that nobody asked its age to him when he began to work in the plant of West Columbia. He was 15 years old when they gave a knife him to pit they put and it to work in the line of production the past year. His father says that often he dreams whereupon his older son had remained in the school and would have continued until becoming a doctor or lawyer. But, he says, when you come from a poor family of mountains of Guatemala that is rarely an option.
“When one is poor”, his father said, “must accept options that one would prefer not to have them”.
He assures that it is very common in Guatemala that somebody of 15 years works.
Miguel and his father said that many Americans do not understand the daily fights of many Guatemalan families. Before they came to the United States, the family not only passed work to buy food. Also to pay by the fertilizer to be able to work simple basic foods, like maize.
But many think that the children are not done for such work. Marcille Chavis, that clerk of production in the plant of House worked as of Raeford in Rose Hill, during approximately 20 years, before leaving it in the 2003, said that it can remember to have seen about 50 workers of the plant, who she suspected were minor. When it pressed to one of the young people who worked in the line of processing on their age, he admitted that he was 15 years old, said.
All he worried that it. “Good part of the time they were not sufficiently mature to know what to do in case of emergencia”, assured.
House of Raeford said that the supervisors who know that an employee is minor, must report it to the department of human resources because it is a violation of policy of the company and the federal law.
“Any manager of the company that allows the use of minor workers or illegal, in the same way would be violating the policy of the company and would be dismissed”, said the company. “And, in fact, we have dismissed employees only by such reasons”.
Star said that the cast of the 7 of October was one of the most frightful moments of its young life.
Several federal agents entered the plant of right Greenville before the 9:00 a.m.
He migrates “It”, shouted the workers.
Star said that she and others tried to escape by an emergency door. This did not move.
It said that it called to his sister by his cellular telephone, crying, to say goodbye to him.
It was taken to an empty factory to approximately 10 minutes of the plant. They took the fingerprints him and was interrogated.
Star said that it begged to the agents. It said on his father and his sister to them in Greenville.
Star was released under safekeeping of its sister. They said to him that it would be contacted by federal authorities.
She still can be deportee. “I am not wanted to go”, said she. “I want to help mother. I have only done a little. I want to do more”.
Ordo'6nez franc: 704-358-6180

The state and federal laws specify the age in which the young people can do certain works. Some dispositions keys are:

Work nonagriculturist:
• The smaller young people of 18 years cannot most of carry out works considered risky by the federal laws - including uses in empacadoras of meat, carpenters and techadoras. He does not allow himself minors of 18 years to handle many electrical tools.
• To the 16 years of age, the young people can work in any use nondesignated like risky by the federal or state laws.
• To the 14 years of age, the children can work retail in certain sales, and expendio of foods and gasoline.
• He allows himself the minors to take care of children, to give newspapers or to work like actors to any age.

Limits of working hours:
• The minors cannot work during hours of school.
• To the 14 and 15 years of age they cannot work more than three hours in day of school, or more than 18 hours in one week of school. They cannot either work more than eight hours in a day that do not have school, or more than 40 hours in one week without classes. In addition, he will not allow himself them to work before the 7:00 a.m. or after the 7:00 p.m., except in the summer, when they can work until the 9:00 p.m.

Agricultural work:
• The minors of 16 years of age will not be able to carry out works considered risky according to federal laws. Between the prohibited uses they are: use of electrical machinery of farm or to work in scaffolds or stairs of more than 20 feet in the air.
• To the 14 years of age, the minors can carry out any agricultural work not considered risky.
• Children of 12 and 13 years of age, that work in the same farm that its parents, can carry out nonrisky agricultural works.
• Smaller children de12 years can work in small farms as long as to his they approve it parents.
• The infantile labor laws do not apply in children who work in farms of property or handled by their relatives.
Limitations during hours:
• The children cannot work during hours of school.

Source: Department of the Work