‘They’re killing you’: US poultry workers fear faster lines will lead to more injury | Trump administration

the Trump administration The processing lines for meat filling plants in poultry and pork will speed up the reports of workers’ safety. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced, in a move that the workers and preachers say will lead to more injuries.

The ministry said in a press release.

At the same time, the US Department of Agriculture will not require reports on workers’ safety data, and it is called “excessive need” information and indicates that the agency says “has not confirmed any direct link between processing speeds and injuries in the workplace.”

Four people working in various poultry treatment factories described in fast -paced working conditions that include the risk of infection. They asked to withhold their names and sites for fear that the Trump administration will cancel its visas.

One of the young man was only working in the chicken processing factory for two weeks, and he was still scrambling to learn the job and keep pace with the expected work burden.

He said that after an injury to the workplace, he continued to work – until he fell from a 13 -foot ladder and broke his back.

He was not able to return to work as he cured the fracture slowly.

The man said: “I could paralyze the rest of my life.” He now said “he lives with remorse and remorse”, unable to work or pay bills on his own.

January Ticket From the US Department of Agriculture, I found that the fastest line speeds were not the main cause of injuries – but a higher “piece rate”, or a different method of speed, was associated with injuries.

The report warned that the rate of infection among poultry workers was already high at speeds of 140 and 175 birds per minute, with 81 % of workers at a significant risk of structural muscle disorders – “indicates that current risk alleviation efforts are not sufficient.”

The report said that the majority of workers (70 %) of workers have first suffered from “moderate to the extreme work related to work” during the first three months of the job.

“There are injuries that occur regularly, and are definitely linked to the speeds that people move,” said Michael Bian, Operations Director of the Sussex and Environmental Network (Shin), an organization based in Delaware and Maryland.

Maria Bian, Executive Director of Ken, indicated that she “puts more through inputs – this is more injured.”

“Why, at the same time, increase the speed of the line, will you eliminate the collection of workers’ safety data?” I asked. “If they do not think it will affect the workers, then why do they stop collecting data?”

She said that one of the women worked to treat poultry for 11 years before being expelled after his illness with Kovid. The chicken bodies were cut off from a hook – the same movement again and again.

Her hands and shoulders are still enlarged regularly, and her hands miss every night, although not working on the line for five years.

“They are killing you.”

Under the new rules, workers may treat up to 175 birds per minute, an increase of the maximum speed of 140 before 2020. But unlike the year 2020, when meat workers were destroyed due to the rates of disease and high death from Covid, there is no lack of meat.

The US Department of Agriculture said in a statement.

There are about 250,000 poultry workers in the United States, and in some states, agricultural workers are Exempt From federal labor laws.

About 78 % of the poultry processors included in the reconnaissance in Alabama said faster speeds of the line that made their work more dangerous, according to 2013 a report From the center of the Southern Poverty Law.

Poultry workers suffer five times the number of cases of occupational diseases compared to the average worker in the United States. Celebal tunnel syndrome rates are seven times higher and frequent stress injuries are 10 times higher than ordinary workers.

Workers also suffer from allergic rhinitis, or chronic cold symptoms, from cold temperatures and exposure to chemicals. Percticic acid, a substance used to fight pathogens such as Salmonella and E Coli, was found in the air at rates that exceeded the regulatory limits in one in five functions in all locations, according to the US Department of Agriculture’s report.

2015 a report From Oxfam indicated an increase in line speeds as one of the causes of injuries.

The reported injuries are likely to be less than the actual rate, because many poultry treatments provide care through medical clinics on the site, which means that they may not need to refer workers to external medical practitioners, as the OxFam report pointed out: “If companies can avoid doing more, they will not have to register the accident, or reports to the Occupational Health Department and the US government (OSHA).”

One man worked on the processing line for 15 years. He said that “15 years did the same five days a week, eight to 10 hours a day.” He was painful after eight years, but he continued to work.

In 2020, he had to undergo surgery for his repeated stress. He said he opened fire during healing, without any benefits or pieces. He still suffers from back pain, and his family is now financially supported.

Often the newcomers are in the lowest “arrangement of the attackers”, as Bayan calls it, “and this means, mainly, they are placed on the lines in which you will constantly repeated discounts.”

The lack of continuous language training and linguistic barriers also contributes to the high rate of injuries, as workers are pushed to move quickly once the work begins.

“We have a lot of workers who are not properly trained in their language,” said Maria Bayan. New workers are often directed to imitate the person next to them. “If you understand this industry – these are very very dangerous functions,” said Bayan.

A third man, on his first day working in the sewage department in the processing factory, was dipping the parts of the machines in caustic chemicals, and began to feel itching on his arms. Soon, the burning is intensified. He withdrew from his arms, and the skin of his aides was from the wrist to the elbow, exploding and peeling.

His colleague at the work said that he must have raised his hands over the elbows-which he did not realize that he is forbidden-and the chemicals that came from his gloves below his sleeves.

“There was no appropriate training at all,” said the man.

The man later said the nurse told him to wash chemicals with soap, and later referred him to vocational therapy-the emergency room. He was not able to work for three months.

Returning home in Haiti, the man was an accountant, but in the United States, he would do any job he can. He said: “It is about survival.”