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Safety and Health News
Injuries in meatpacking and poultry plants happen at three times the rate of those in other manufacturing sectors. These are dangerous jobs because for example, workers, with knives in hand, must work next to each other in an assembly-line fashion, while trying to keep up with production demands and line speeds. UFCW members negotiate safety protections-- like safe line speeds, ability to report injuries without retaliation, safe and adequate equipment, establishment of safety committees that are trained, active and have a real voice--into their contracts to assure a safe work environment in a dangerous industry.
Numerous reports have been clearly shown the hazards workers face in this industry where--when left unchecked--companies will place more care on their meat products than their employees. <<< Read More
Below are various articles on safety and health news, alerts, or fact sheets affecting workers in the meatpacking and poultry industries.
REPORTS
A Government Accounting Office (GAO) report shows what workers in the industries have been subjected to for years:
- Dangerous line speeds
- An absence of injury and illness monitoring by OSHA
- Intimidation that leads to under-reporting of injuries
- Department of Agriculture inspectors without adequate training for recognizing hazardous conditions
The Human Rights Watch has issued two reports finding that the industries’ largely immigrant workforce “contend with conditions, vulnerabilities and abuses, which violate human rights,” including:
- Life-ending injuries
- Lack of compensation for injuries
- Discrimination against immigrant workers
- Illegal company actions to suppress workers’ rights to form unions
