corporate swine: dehumanizing immigrants
A news segment from Bill Moyers' Journal on PBS this past week exposed how poultry workers in the Carolinas are losing their body parts. And, how Bush's administration had a hand in it.
The segment was based on what reporters from the Charlotte Observer found after launching a year-long investigation into the safety records at one of the top ten poultry corporations in the nation: House of Raeford Farms. In a 6-part news series called, "The Cruelest Cut," reporters exposed how House of Raeford Farms had failed to keep records of worker injuries to avoid OSHA inspections and fines. Injuries such as loss of fingers, hands, arms, other serious injuries workers suffered, even deaths.
According to the Charlotte Observer news report, there were instances when House of Raeford Farms coerced workers to go to work immediately after being treated for these type of injuries. Why? So that human resources wouldn't have to report sick days from work-related injuries to OSHA. The courageous Charlotte Observer reporters analysed hundreds of documents they obtained by filing FOIAs (Freedom of Information Act requests). The records that House of Raeford filed with OSHA showed no or few accidents on the job, though inside the plant something else was happening.
The workers, most of them immigrants, had been afraid of talking to anyone about what was happening because they feared deportation. These workers were also suffering from serious muscular injuries such as carpel tunnel, tendinitis, etc. The average poultry worker does about 20,000 cuts of chicken a day! The repetitive movements have left many of them disabled and unable to work with their hands again.
How could have House of Raeford gotten away with such crimes without being punished?
Well, it turns out that when President W. Bush came into office his administration deregulated dozens of OSHA policies. Bush gave corporations like House of Raeford the ability to cheat and lie about workplace injuries because they now had less forms to file. Corporations obtained the power to grade themselves instead of having OSHA inspectors go and do their job. Bob Whitmore was in charge of injury records at OSHA for 20 years, he has left OSHA to speak out about what is happening to these workers. Whitmore testified before Congress on June 20th to talk about how corporations are getting away with under-reporting injuries.
For me, it's disturbing to know that OSHA fines are more costly to these corporations than the price of human life and health. And, how the Bush administration has given corporations a free pass to conceal injuries. These companies are treating poultry workers like disposable beings not caring one bit about the pain they suffer.
House of Raeford has denied the news reports from the Charlotte Observer, but at the same time they've blocked any efforts by reporters to investigate worker allegations. The problem is not over -- right now many other corporations are getting away with not paying OSHA fines by lying in their safety records. Don't think that its only happening in the Carolinas. Meat packers all over the country are also losing their fingers and hands and nothing is being done about it. They're receiving poor training and their workloads are unrealistic. They're under constant pressure to work faster and faster everyday.
Policy deregulation has been the number one aim of conservative Republicans. They don't want any laws to stand in the way of corporations from making profits. Human life has no value and immigrants folks have it really bad right now. To me, they're the new slaves of the 21st Century and that is why Republicans try so hard to make the rest of America believe that immigrants are just "aliens." It's a term used to dehumanize people so they can treat them like slaves. This is the same thing that happened under Adolf Hitler. Hitler convinced Germans that Jews were a threat and scapegoated them for all of Germany's economic problems. When Jews were taken into concentration camps, most Germans turned a blind eye.
Workplace safety is a must. Everyone should have the right to come home after work in one piece. Everyone: immigrants, blacks, whites, Asians, doesn't matter what color you are! When one group of people is being persecuted and abused then its only a matter of time before they come after you.
Take a moment to educate yourself about what happened with the workers at House of Raeford.
It's the ugly side of America we don't want to see or even believe -- http://www.charlotte.com/poultry/.
Read about Bob Whitmore's testimony to Congress last week: http://www.charlotte.com/739/story/678070.html
The segment was based on what reporters from the Charlotte Observer found after launching a year-long investigation into the safety records at one of the top ten poultry corporations in the nation: House of Raeford Farms. In a 6-part news series called, "The Cruelest Cut," reporters exposed how House of Raeford Farms had failed to keep records of worker injuries to avoid OSHA inspections and fines. Injuries such as loss of fingers, hands, arms, other serious injuries workers suffered, even deaths.
According to the Charlotte Observer news report, there were instances when House of Raeford Farms coerced workers to go to work immediately after being treated for these type of injuries. Why? So that human resources wouldn't have to report sick days from work-related injuries to OSHA. The courageous Charlotte Observer reporters analysed hundreds of documents they obtained by filing FOIAs (Freedom of Information Act requests). The records that House of Raeford filed with OSHA showed no or few accidents on the job, though inside the plant something else was happening.
The workers, most of them immigrants, had been afraid of talking to anyone about what was happening because they feared deportation. These workers were also suffering from serious muscular injuries such as carpel tunnel, tendinitis, etc. The average poultry worker does about 20,000 cuts of chicken a day! The repetitive movements have left many of them disabled and unable to work with their hands again.
How could have House of Raeford gotten away with such crimes without being punished?
Well, it turns out that when President W. Bush came into office his administration deregulated dozens of OSHA policies. Bush gave corporations like House of Raeford the ability to cheat and lie about workplace injuries because they now had less forms to file. Corporations obtained the power to grade themselves instead of having OSHA inspectors go and do their job. Bob Whitmore was in charge of injury records at OSHA for 20 years, he has left OSHA to speak out about what is happening to these workers. Whitmore testified before Congress on June 20th to talk about how corporations are getting away with under-reporting injuries.
For me, it's disturbing to know that OSHA fines are more costly to these corporations than the price of human life and health. And, how the Bush administration has given corporations a free pass to conceal injuries. These companies are treating poultry workers like disposable beings not caring one bit about the pain they suffer.
House of Raeford has denied the news reports from the Charlotte Observer, but at the same time they've blocked any efforts by reporters to investigate worker allegations. The problem is not over -- right now many other corporations are getting away with not paying OSHA fines by lying in their safety records. Don't think that its only happening in the Carolinas. Meat packers all over the country are also losing their fingers and hands and nothing is being done about it. They're receiving poor training and their workloads are unrealistic. They're under constant pressure to work faster and faster everyday.
Policy deregulation has been the number one aim of conservative Republicans. They don't want any laws to stand in the way of corporations from making profits. Human life has no value and immigrants folks have it really bad right now. To me, they're the new slaves of the 21st Century and that is why Republicans try so hard to make the rest of America believe that immigrants are just "aliens." It's a term used to dehumanize people so they can treat them like slaves. This is the same thing that happened under Adolf Hitler. Hitler convinced Germans that Jews were a threat and scapegoated them for all of Germany's economic problems. When Jews were taken into concentration camps, most Germans turned a blind eye.
Workplace safety is a must. Everyone should have the right to come home after work in one piece. Everyone: immigrants, blacks, whites, Asians, doesn't matter what color you are! When one group of people is being persecuted and abused then its only a matter of time before they come after you.
Take a moment to educate yourself about what happened with the workers at House of Raeford.
It's the ugly side of America we don't want to see or even believe -- http://www.charlotte.com/poultry/.
Read about Bob Whitmore's testimony to Congress last week: http://www.charlotte.com/739/story/678070.html