Hawley, in a letter to the US Department of Labor, said Tyson's former employee claimed to have witnessed underage workers at the plant, which the senator did not identify. The company does not facilitate or excuse the use of child labor by third-party contractors, according to a statement. Hawley said he opened an investigation in a Senate Judiciary Committee subcommittee he chairs and urged the Labor Department to do the same. That year, the Labor Department found that more than 100 children had been illegally employed by Packers Sanitation Services Inc, a company that contracted with meatpackers to clean slaughterhouses. Some worked at Tyson plants, according to the department.