A watchdog group representing federal whistleblowers raised new concerns to Congress on Wednesday about the performance of the Health and Human Services Department, the agency tasked with sheltering unaccompanied migrant children after they cross the border, saying poor oversight may have led to children working in unsafe and illegal conditions inside the United States.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 21, 2023 Government Accountability Project Releases Issue Brief on Whistleblowers at the Intersection of Oversight Failures in the Immigration & Food Production Systems Numerous Reports of Immigrant Minors Working in Dangerous and Illegal Food Production Jobs Spur Need for Stronger Whistleblower Protections WASHINGTON – Today, Government Accountability Project published an [...]
Vermont Business Magazine: Welch Introduces Bill to Hold Corporations Accountable for Child Labor Violations This article features Government Accountability Project and was originally published here. Today, US Senators Peter Welch (D-Vermont) and Cory Booker (D-NJ), both members of the Senate Agriculture Committee, introduced the bicameral Child Labor Exploitation Accountability Act, legislation aimed at holding [...]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 24, 2023 Leading Whistleblower Protection Organization Applauds Court of Appeals Ruling Enjoining North Carolina Ag Gag Law RALEIGH, NC—US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit rules that undercover investigations and whistleblowing are considered newsgathering activities and as such are constitutionally protected by the First Amendment. In the spirit of Upton [...]
December 5, 2022 Dear Assistant Secretary Doug Parker and Deputy Assistant Secretary Jim Frederick, As 19 organizations working with meat and poultry workers, we are writing regarding Packers Sanitation Services Inc., PSSI, a company hired by hundreds of poultry and meat plants nationwide to work the dangerous graveyard shift to sanitize the plants. The Department of Labor's Wage and Hour [...]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 29, 2022 Leading Whistleblower Protection Organization Applauds USDA Proposed Rule to combat Discrimination and Retaliation against Farmers WASHINGTON—Government Accountability Project’s Food Integrity Campaign experts and farmer whistleblowers are available to speak about the Department of Agriculture’s proposed regulations under the Packers and Stockyards (P&S) Act’s provisions prohibiting undue prejudice, unjust discrimination, [...]
Chicken Industry, reform advocates clash over proposed transparency rule This article excerpt features Government Accountability Project and was originally published here. “The Government Accountability Project applauded the proposed rule’s 'movement toward realizing the intent of the PSA by addressing transparency concerns regarding the formation of contracts, the tournament system, and input variability.’” [...]
Concern is growing over coercion in USDA chicken rule This article features Government Accountability Project’s whistleblower client, Rudy Howell, and was originally published here. ADVOCATES AND USDA WARN AGAINST POULTRY COERCION: Advocates and former growers are accusing some of the country’s largest poultry companies of pressuring farmers to oppose a proposed USDA rule they say [...]
5 Reasons You Should Comment on the Packers and Stockyards Act Rule You may be wondering why you should care about an archaic antitrust law from 1921. Below we have collected FIC’s “Top Five Reasons” we think you should weigh in on this important issue. Whether you’re a farmer, eater, or advocate, USDA needs [...]
State attorneys general, including NC’s Josh Stein, support new poultry rule but question oversight This article features Government Accountability Project’s whistleblower client, Rudy Howell, and was originally published here. The attorneys general of 10 states, including North Carolina’s Josh Stein, are backing a proposed rule by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that is meant [...]