Tim Walz awards $126K in taxpayer funds to meatpacker JBS that had kids cleaning processing plant

· New York Post

It’s a meaty issue. 

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz greenlit up to $126,000 in taxpayer-funded job training grants to the notorious international meat processing empire JBS — despite the global juggernaut being mired in a slew of high-profile scandals. 

In February 2023, the US Department of Labor found at least 22 children had been unlawfully hired by a cleaning company to scrub JBS’ processing plant in Worthington, Minn., where they worked in hazardous conditions and during graveyard shifts.

JBS later fired the cleaning service. 

The US Department of Labor found a cleaning company tapped to scrub down JBS’ Minnesota plant illegally used child labor. UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

In June, the now-Democratic vice presidential candidate’s Office of Higher Education awarded the cash for JBS to provide dual training programs to 28 staff members at the Minnesota plant, according to OHE spokesman Keith Hovis. 

“These career growth and training opportunities allow Minnesotans to get ahead in their careers while helping businesses recruit and retain talent. It’s a win-win,” Walz gushed at the time. 

Over the past decade, JBS and its Brazilian-based parent company, which is controlled by the billionaire Batista brothers, have been embroiled in myriad legal and criminal controversies.

Last week, McDonald’s filed an explosive lawsuit in Brooklyn Federal Court, alleging JBS and other food companies have conspired to fix beef prices by artificially limiting supply. 

In February, New York state Attorney General Letitia James sued the meat giant for allegedly misleading consumers with far-fetched claims about reducing its environmental pollution. 

The meatpacker’s owner, J&F Investimentos SA, meanwhile, pled guilty to US foreign bribery charges in 2020 and agreed to pay $128 million as part of a settlement. 

Joesley Batista and his brother Wesley are the billionaire controllers of JBS. Getty Images

“JBS has a long history of misleading investors and other corrupt business practices,” said Sen. Marco Rubio, who was part of a bipartisan group of senators who expressed “deep concerns” to the Securities and Exchange Commission in January over JBS’ effort to list on the New York Stock Exchange.

“The company doesn’t deserve a taxpayer handout, it needs a federal investigation,” he told The Post.

Walz’s office did not respond to a request for comment.