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phylny

(8,353 posts)
Wed May 11, 2016, 11:06 PM May 2016

Oxfam America report on poultry farm workers: “I had to wear Pampers”

While concerns about food safety and animal welfare dominate discussions about the perils of the modern food system, there's a downside that many might find just as troubling: the often inhumane conditions people who work in the industry face.

A new report by Oxfam America, an arm of the international anti- poverty and injustice group, alleges that poultry industry workers are "routinely denied breaks to use the bathroom" in order to optimize the speed of production. In some cases, according to the group, the reality is so oppressive that workers "urinate and defecate while standing on the line" and "wear diapers to work." In others, employees say they avoid drinking liquids for long periods and endure considerable pain in order to keep their jobs.

The findings are the result of hundreds of interviews with line workers from some of the largest poultry processing companies in the United States, including Tyson Foods, Pilgrim's, and Perdue. And they bring the current state of the poultry industry into serious question. Competitive forces, they suggest, are driving poultry processors to produce as much meat as possible, as fast as possible, leading companies to mistreat their workers, even if unknowingly.

Today, poultry processing plants are allowed to funnel chickens through their assembly lines at a rate of 140 birds per minute, a rate which the industry recently lobbied to increase by another 35 birds per minute. The speed has been great for business, but for those working on the line, it has made for extremely taxing shifts. Just ask Debbie Berkowitz, a senior fellow at the National Employment Law Project who used to work with the government agency that oversaw industry practices. On Wednesday, she published a piece in response to the new report. This is how she described the conditions:

Full story at link.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/05/11/i-had-to-wear-pampers-many-poultry-industry-workers-allegedly-cant-even-take-bathroom-breaks/?tid=sm_fb

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Oxfam America report on poultry farm workers: “I had to wear Pampers” (Original Post) phylny May 2016 OP
. Guy Whitey Corngood May 2016 #1
175 birds a minute is new expectation ? yeoman6987 May 2016 #3
Depends pinboy3niner May 2016 #4
LOL. Very funny! PatrickforO May 2016 #9
I LOVE your signature line! That is awesome! PatrickforO May 2016 #10
For all the world... ReRe May 2016 #12
Funny, isn't it? Bangbangdem May 2016 #16
History repeating itself. ReRe May 2016 #18
Where is John Steinbeck when you need him? Bangbangdem May 2016 #19
It's exactly like that, minus the construction waste in the sausages Warpy May 2016 #28
Depressing ain't it. I work with union guys all the time. The few that are left Guy Whitey Corngood May 2016 #24
Deregulation sucks. Initech May 2016 #2
That is the crux of it. Rex May 2016 #6
K&R. I'm old enough to remember when we had unions to fight this kind bullwinkle428 May 2016 #5
Too bad our party awoke_in_2003 May 2016 #21
Yes, me too. whathehell May 2016 #26
if you eat dead chickens you are likely complicit in this nt msongs May 2016 #7
Holy shit. We agree on something! bunnies May 2016 #23
It is all so depressing ciaobaby May 2016 #8
The people are treated almost as badly as the animals. (n/t) thesquanderer May 2016 #11
Yeah... ReRe May 2016 #14
Thanks for posting Omaha Steve May 2016 #13
Welcome To The New America scottie55 May 2016 #15
Upton Sinclair's The Jungle revisited elmac May 2016 #17
People could stop eating the shit. snort May 2016 #20
Or pay more for an on farm processed chicken...... yellowcanine May 2016 #22
TTIP will make it even worse felix_numinous May 2016 #25
Shocking and horrific. Thx for posting. snagglepuss May 2016 #27
 

yeoman6987

(14,449 posts)
3. 175 birds a minute is new expectation ?
Wed May 11, 2016, 11:16 PM
May 2016

Gosh. That doesn't seem reasonable. I know many have gone from beef to chicken in their eating habits but I can't imagine they can't fulfill the need even with giving 10 minute breaks every few hours.

PatrickforO

(14,514 posts)
10. I LOVE your signature line! That is awesome!
Thu May 12, 2016, 12:12 AM
May 2016

As to the post, we've got to get back behind unions. Every time anyone says, "Hey, I want decent hours, safe conditions and good benefits along with reasonable economic security," all of a sudden they become some kind of extremist radical.

But this is morally wrong. It has to be stopped. We need to ALL get behind unions.

I will pay extra for so-called 'free range' chickens because I can. I will also contact the empty suit that is my Democratic Senator whose big deal now is, "Oh, see, look how great I am! I'm co-sponsoring a bill that will allow kids to 'refinance' their student loans!"

I will also contact my Republican extremist Senator and my Republican extremist Representative about the need for more regulation.

Yep. I'm sure that will work!

 

Bangbangdem

(140 posts)
16. Funny, isn't it?
Thu May 12, 2016, 12:42 AM
May 2016

Upton Sinclair ran as a socialist for the governorship of California. Big business and the corperate media railroaded him. His platform was on education, wealth inequality, and healthcare. He had a lot of popular supporters. 1932? Sound familiar?
Think we can beat them this time?

ReRe

(10,597 posts)
18. History repeating itself.
Thu May 12, 2016, 12:54 AM
May 2016

Just when we (mankind) think we've got something licked, boom there it is again. If I was a Sociology Prof, I would require The Jungle for summer reading, then when they came to the first class, hand out this article.

Warpy

(110,900 posts)
28. It's exactly like that, minus the construction waste in the sausages
Thu May 12, 2016, 03:48 PM
May 2016

Plus they're working with knives, so any speedup is going to increase worker accidents, not that the pigs at the top care about that.

They hire undocumented workers so they won't complain and won't strike.

Guy Whitey Corngood

(26,481 posts)
24. Depressing ain't it. I work with union guys all the time. The few that are left
Thu May 12, 2016, 01:47 PM
May 2016

that is. Other people in my industry badmouuth them all the time. But they really know their shit and do real quality work.

 

ciaobaby

(1,000 posts)
8. It is all so depressing
Wed May 11, 2016, 11:39 PM
May 2016

The animal farming industry is horrendous. It has also been noted that the cruelty in killing and processing animals causes mental stress and the violence is often taken home with the workers.
I don't understand how millions can ignore what is going on all in the name of eating animals.

 

elmac

(4,642 posts)
17. Upton Sinclair's The Jungle revisited
Thu May 12, 2016, 12:53 AM
May 2016

As a nation we are going backwards in many ways thanks to the fascist right wing agenda and the disastrous system called capitalism.

yellowcanine

(35,692 posts)
22. Or pay more for an on farm processed chicken......
Thu May 12, 2016, 10:19 AM
May 2016

You go to the farm and buy the chicken. You can see for yourself how it was raised and processed.

felix_numinous

(5,198 posts)
25. TTIP will make it even worse
Thu May 12, 2016, 02:49 PM
May 2016

we have slavery, gulags and debtors prisons in this country--and we actually have people here calling human rights unicorns and ponies--and that Bernie Sanders is the one in the fantasy world!?!

ANYONE not wanting to reform this system are the ones living on FANTASY ISLAND--where the pain, pollution and dying of the planet doesn't exist for them. They are the ones that need the freaking wake up call.

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