Lawmakers plan hearings on poultry industry after newspaper probe

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.charlotte.com/204/story/497927.html

CHARLOTTE, N.C. --
U.S. Senate and House committees are planning hearings on worker safety in the poultry industry following a report by The Charlotte Observer on House of Raeford, congressional leaders and aides said.

"All Americans should be horrified at the conditions reported in this investigation," Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, said in an e-mail. He said he plans to hold a hearing this spring.

The Observer reported that House of Raeford, which has seven processing plants in North Carolina and South Carolina, had masked the extent of injuries in its plants.

Employees say the company has ignored, intimidated or fired workers who were hurt on the job. The Observer reported that the company has broken the law by failing to record injuries on government safety logs, according to a top OSHA official, and that some seriously injured workers were brought back to the company's Greenville, S.C., plant hours after surgery.

House of Raeford officials have said they follow the law and strive to protect workers.

"It's unacceptable that in 21st century America any employees are subjected to inhumane and dangerous work conditions," Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., who chairs the Senate committee on Health, Labor, Education and Pensions, said in an e-mail. "The Observer's reports vividly demonstrate OSHA's ineffectiveness in protecting the nation's poultry workers. Instead of strong action against abuses, its responses are clearly inadequate and our Committee is beginning an investigation."

FULL story at link.

[angrycarpenter]

1. Chicken plants have always been a dirty business

My dad worked in one for a while. He took me there one night and gave me a tour. He said "stay in school or you will end up working in a place like this like I did."

Best incentive For education I ever had.