November 22, 2005
The President
The White House
Washington DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
On behalf of the 1.4 million members of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), I am writing to share our serious concerns about the preparation for and prevention of avian influenza (H5N1) commonly known as the "bird flu," and especially the potential hazards it presents to poultry workers in the United States.
The UFCW represents more than 60,000 poultry workers in the United States. These workers perform many different jobs, from chicken catchers to packagers. They slaughter and process millions of chickens, turkeys, and other birds for consumption. In addition, the poultry industry is a major industry and employer in the United States, employing more than 200,000 workers and generating more than $35 billion per year in revenue. The value of U.S. broiler exports alone increased 16 percent in 2004 to $1.7 billion.
Your recently announced plan to deal with this important issue fails to include a poultry worker component. The growing fear of a global pandemic of bird flu finds the U.S. government essentially ignoring the potential for exposure, illness, and death of the frontline agricultural and poultry processing workers. If we are to successfully avoid a pandemic, this is wholly inadequate and must be addressed.
There is now evidence that a more deadly form of the H5N1 virus has developed, increasing the risk that it will become a virus that can be transmitted from human to human. Added to this is the discovery of the virus in wild bird populations that migrate across continents. There are also indications that new forms of H5N1 are carried in birds without producing any physical appearance of illness. This means that visual identification of sick birds, the most common means of surveillance used so far, may become impossible.
We applaud the government for discussing and planning the control of avian influenza at its source in animals, but must urge you to immediately initiate concomitant coordinated protection for poultry workers.
Several issues cause us grave concern:
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Direct contact with infected poultry or contaminated surfaces and objects is considered the main route of human infection. This kind of direct contact is a daily occurrence for workers in the poultry industry. In fact, there have been several reported cases of poultry workers who tested positive for H5N1 infection in China.
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The government must provide flu vaccines to workers in the poultry industry. A poultry industry immunization program will not only prevent the spread of the disease, but will also provide confidence to the public that every step has been taken to contain the disease at its potential source.
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The recent sting where the Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) posed as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has hurt the credibility of government health and safety programs, and your Administration in general. Many workers in the poultry industry are unaware of workplace safety regulations and are also generally mistrustful of the government. They will frequently not ask for safety and health items such as respirators or flu shots at work. Your Administration must implement and strictly enforce a policy to prohibit the use of safety and health programs and agencies as guises for immigration enforcement activities.
Poultry workers are in the best position to visually identify sick birds and report suspected cases of H5N1. These frontline workers are the nation's best defense, but they will need whistleblower protections in order to avoid discrimination and to assure that short-term economic concerns do not override health issues.
Because time is of the essence, we urge you to initiate a Cabinet-level meeting to discuss all of the issues regarding this potential pandemic. The worker issues that we cite here are of paramount importance. It is critical that worker organizations like unions be consulted and integrated into the effort to avoid the tragic loss of human life which this disease has the capacity to cause. We stand ready to work with all interested stakeholders, including worker representatives, government agencies, and poultry companies.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. We look forward to discussing this with you soon.
Sincerely,
Joseph T. Hansen
International President
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