New Report: “Kelly Ayotte’s Oversight Failures Blamed for Child Labor Abuses at Blackstone-Backed Company”

New Report: “Kelly Ayotte’s Oversight Failures Blamed for Child Labor Abuses at Blackstone-Backed Company” 

A disturbing new report from the Granite Post reveals that during the same time that Kelly Ayotte made millions of dollars on the board of Blackstone, a Blackstone-owned firm “was found to have employed over 100 children as young as 13 years old in violation of U.S. labor laws in February of last year.” According to the report, Blackstone subsidiary Packers Sanitation Services Inc. “was fined $1.5 million by the US Department of Labor” after they were caught hiring children to “work hazardous, overnight shifts cleaning meatpacking equipment,” and  “three of the children suffered injuries working at the plant, including one who suffered caustic burns from cleaning chemicals.”

As the Granite Post reports, this is a direct failure under Kelly Ayotte’s leadership: “as a member of the audit committee, Ayotte was tasked with overseeing Blackstone’s compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, including child labor laws,” and that “Blackstone officials attributed the violations to shortcomings in the firm’s compliance and audit functions — areas directly overseen by Ayotte’s committee.”

As the Granite Post notes, “this is not the first time Ayotte has faced criticism for her ties to corporations accused of harming American workers,” citing Ayotte’s work on the boards of organizations that have shipped American jobs overseas and laid off Granite State workers. Ayotte’s work on Blackstone’s board, where she has “receive[d] at least $150,000 a year and holds over $2.2 million in stock,” has also been criticized by members of both parties for “being part of the corporate team responsible for driving up housing costs as the nation’s largest corporate landlord.”

“On Kelly Ayotte’s watch, young children were put directly in harm’s way while she pocketed millions of dollars,” said DGA States Press Secretary Emma O’Brien. “Time and again, Ayotte continues to prove there’s nothing she won’t do to boost her ambitions and her bottom line — even if it means turning a blind eye to lawlessness or kids getting hurt. Kelly Ayotte must answer for her  failure of leadership to keep kids safe, and how Granite Staters can possibly trust her to uphold the law in the corner office.”

Read more from the Granite Post here.

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