Denied Breaks, U.S. Poultry Workers Wear Diaper

[GennGreymane]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...ied-oxfam-says

Workers in plants run by the largest U.S. poultry producers are regularly being denied bathroom breaks and as a result some are reduced to wearing diapers while working on the processing line, Oxfam America said in a report Wednesday.

“It’s not just their dignity that suffers: they are in danger of serious health problems,” said Oxfam America, the U.S. arm of the U.K.-based global development group. The group works for a “just world without poverty” and focuses on topics ranging from refugees in Greece to malnutrition.

The report cited unnamed workers from Tyson Foods Inc., Pilgrim’s Pride Corp., Perdue Farms Inc. and Sanderson Farms Inc. who said that supervisors mock them, ignore requests and threaten punishment or firing. When they can go, they wait in long lines even though they are given limited time, sometimes 10 minutes, according to the report. Some workers have urinated or defecated themselves while working because they can’t hold on any longer, the report said. Some workers “restrict intake of liquids and fluids to dangerous degrees,” Oxfam said.

Conditions for workers in the meat industry have been known as being notoriously poor since the days of Upton Sinclair, the American author who wrote of abuses in his 1906 novel, “The Jungle.” In a 2015 report, Oxfam said the cost of cheap chicken in the U.S. is workers who face low wages, suffer elevated rates of injury and illness and face a climate of fear in the workplace. The industry was also highlighted in the 2008 documentary Food Inc.
Difficult Conditions

The conditions present difficulties, especially for menstruating or pregnant women, according to the latest report. Workers could also face medical problems, including urinary tract infections, and managers have told some workers to eat and drink less to avoid going to the bathroom, according to the report.

Sanderson Chief Financial Officer Mike Cockrell declined to comment on the Oxfam report in an e-mail.
Tyson said in an e-mailed statement that it does “not tolerate the refusal of requests to use the restroom.” Perdue said in an e-mailed response that the “anecdotes reported are not consistent” with the company’s policies and practices. Pilgrim’s Pride said in an e-mailed statement that “any allegations of the nature claimed by Oxfam, if proven, would be clear violations of company policy and would result in disciplinary action.”

“We value our team members and treat them with respect,” according to an e-mailed statement from Tyson. The company is “concerned about these anonymous claims, and while we currently have no evidence they’re true, are checking to make sure our position on restroom breaks is being followed and our team members’ needs are being met,” according to the statement.

Shift Breaks
“Regarding bathroom breaks, our associates receive two 30-minutes breaks during each eight-hour shift,” Perdue said. “If an associate is unable to wait for the scheduled break and needs to use the restroom, they are to be given permission to leave the line as soon as someone can cover for them.”
“Bathroom breaks have not been raised as an issue in any of our internal team member satisfaction surveys, nor in the results of our third-party-conducted sustainable safety culture surveys,” Pilgrim’s Pride said. “Team member health and safety is an integral part of our sustainability commitment, fundamental to who we are as proud members of American agriculture, and a priority for our more than 37,000 team members.”

The anecdotes in the Oxfam report don’t represent the whole industry, the National Chicken Council and the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association said in a joint statement Tuesday.

“We’re troubled by these claims, but also question this group’s efforts to paint the whole industry with a broad brush based on a handful of anonymous claims,” the groups said. “We believe such instances are extremely rare and that U.S. poultry companies work hard to prevent them.”

[PosPosPos]

Well, this is what happens when corporations are enabled and allowed to get away with blackmailing and threatening their employees with what they need to survive.

We have certainly come a long way from slavery, to thinly veiled slavery disguised as "subsistence employment".

[Adam Jensen]

Don't we have laws against this sort of bullshit?

This right here is why I always prefer regulation to "freedom." Because asshole managers will abuse their freedom in the name of production and profit on the backs of suffering workers.

[Tradewind]

I wore diapers to work because they're comfy.

[xskarma]

That was one hell of a shitty job copy/pasting Genn, at least take a minute to check what you are mindlessly copying is actually the correct content next time.

[PosPosPos]

Don't we have laws against this sort of bullshit?

This right here is why I always prefer regulation to "freedom." Because asshole managers will abuse their freedom in the name of production and profit on the backs of suffering workers.

Do you honestly think workers who have to grin and bear such inhumane treatment are going to be able to afford the money to hire a lawyer?

[Tradewind]

Do you honestly think workers who have to grin and bear such inhumane treatment are going to be able to afford the money to hire a lawyer?

Lawyers will work on a contingency basis just fine if the case is winnable.

[PosPosPos]

Lawyers will work on a contingency basis just fine if the case is winnable.

Well, let's just wait and see if something like this actually happens.

Although given the climate with regards to shaming/blaming the poor and corporate worship, I highly doubt there's going to be any traction on this front.

[Celista]

Don't we have laws against this sort of bullshit?

We do indeed have laws against this sort of insane bullshit.

Lawsuit incoming.

[Kapadons]

Anecdotal "stories" doesn't equate to data. They also seem to stereotype the entire industry.

[Tradewind]

Anecdotal "stories" doesn't equate to data. They also seem to stereotype the entire industry.

Although given the climate with regards to shaming/blaming the poor and corporate worship, I highly doubt there's going to be any traction on this front.

Damn, the elephant is right!

[Kreo]

Don't we have laws against this sort of bullshit?

This right here is why I always prefer regulation to "freedom." Because asshole managers will abuse their freedom in the name of production and profit on the backs of suffering workers.

Many years ago corporations had to improve their workers condition due to increased popularity of the communism and formation of the trade unions, especially within blue collar workforce. Atm they have no reason to do so anymore, and with increased population, combined with union shrinkage, cheap workforce from 3rd world countries...
Good ol' days are gone.

[Kapadons]

Damn, the elephant is right!

Granted I didn't read the link, what he posted offers no ACTUAL evidence that this is widespread among all the companies, happens on a daily basis, or in fact is not some story made up for some agenda. I personally would like to see video evidence, stacks of complaints to the workforce commission or an actual employee publically state the issues. or rather something more than "unnamed employees" before I form an opinion that this is actually an issue. Especially when the report comes from an organization that stands to benefit from a bad report, be t false or factual

[PosPosPos]

Granted I didn't read the link, what he posted offers no ACTUAL evidence that this is widespread among all the companies, happens on a daily basis, or in fact is not some story made up for some agenda. I personally would like to see video evidence, stacks of complaints to the workforce commission or an actual employee publically state the issues. or rather something more than "unnamed employees" before I form an opinion that this is actually an issue. Especially when the report comes from an organization that stands to benefit from a bad report, be t false or factual

Whether this one incident actually happened or not isn't even going to make a difference anymore.

There are just so many well-documented incidents of inhumane employee treatment that happened in other big corporations like Target and Walmart, that this much isn't surprising.

Inhumane treatment to employees is a big problem in the US, plus minus one anecdote has little bearing on the overaching rate.

P.S. Let's not mention how difficult it is to procure evidence of abuse in the workplace and then to step up to protest it, when one's lifeline is held at the proverbial gunpoint. Even if a 3rd party offers assistance with the issue, that doesn't mean the abused will accept risking the paycheck their and their families' lives depend upon for the sake of common justice and the greater good.

[Kreo]

What? The second part makes sense, first part? Not in the slightest.

Google "red scare" during 1918+

[Cthulhu 2020]

Our country just recently passed the wealth disparity that existed immediately prior to the great depression, when monopolies and barons existed. We're allowing corporations to dismantle worker rights and wages, and it's always defended by the far right conservatives as being "free market".

I know most moderate conservatives are fed up with it, but not fed up enough to oppose the corporate ball-cupping far right.

[Mormolyce]

This damn entitled generation, demanding diapers. In my day we worked until the shit filled our shoes, and did we complain? No!

[Tradewind]

This damn entitled generation, demanding diapers. In my day we worked until the shit filled our shoes, and did we complain? No!

Yeah, you shit and piss yourself to stay warm cuz warmness didn't even exist yet!

[GennGreymane]

That was one hell of a shitty job copy/pasting Genn, at least take a minute to check what you are mindlessly copying is actually the correct content next time.

Shit happens sometimes. :P

[Melkandor]

That was one hell of a shitty job copy/pasting Genn, at least take a minute to check what you are mindlessly copying is actually the correct content next time.

I don't see anything wrong with how he posted it?