Meat and Poultry Workers Suffer Disturbingly High Rates of Injury

FEATURING DEBORAH BERKOWITZ – In the past month, several new reports have been released on the horrific conditions facing workers in the meat and poultry industry. The government’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration office reported that the industry had the 8th highest rate of all industries for reported severe injuries. A shocking 17 workers are having amputations or hospitalizations on average every month.

Then, Oxfam released a report pointing out that poultry workers were being denied bathroom breaks and some were relying on wearing diapers during work hours.

Now, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released its own report this week confirming these claims and exposing how injured workers are being denied medical treatment.

Berkowitz recommends viewers call Tyson, Pilgrims Pride, Perdue, and Sanderson and demand workers be treated more fairly, or find more at www.nelp.org.

Deborah Berkowitz, Senior Fellow with the National Employment Law Project.