WORKPLACE SAFETY IN THE MEAT PACKING INDUSTRY

WORKPLACE SAFETY IN THE MEAT PACKING INDUSTRY: CURRENT SITUATION, CONTRIBUTING CAUSES, & IMPLICATIONS FOR WORKERS & CONSUMERS

The meatpacking industry in the United States was examined from a perspective that placed a primary focus on worker safety in the industry. The current situation in the industry was reviewed from this perspective, and from that perspective, casual factors of the problem were identified and discussed.

The examination found that worker safety in the meatpacking industry continues to be a major problem, and it was found that the industry leads all other industries in the rate of repetitive serious injuries. Important causal factors for the safety situation in the industry are (a) structural changes that have tilted power within the industry to employers who force labor rates down by killing unions, (b) exceptionally high rates of labor turnover stemming from the actions of employers, and (c) an impotent United States Department of Agriculture.

The implication of the situation in the industry for workers is a continuation of high-risk employment for lower compensation. The implication of the situation in the industry for consumers is an increasing frequency of food-borne disease from meat.

This paper examines the meatpacking industry in the United States from a primary perspective of worker safety. From this perspective, however, contributing causes of problems related to worker safety are examined, as are implications for both wo

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ocument? p_table=NEWS_RELEASES&p_id=9769&p_text_version=FALSE Sinclair, U. (1905). The jungle. De Grave, K, & Lee, E. Introduction. (2003 reissue). Tucson, Arizona: Sharp Press. United States Department of Labor. (1999, August 5). Meatpacking plants have the highest rate of repeated-trauma disorders. Monthly Labor Review, 122(8), 31-33. Retrieved from the Internet 2003-12-06 at: http://www. bls.gov/opub/ted/1999/aug/wk1/art04.htm Article Copies Horowitz (2002) Social Policy, Spring 2002 v32 i3 p32(5) The decline of unionism in America's meatpacking industry. Roger Horowitz. Full Text: COPYRIGHT 2002 Social Policy Corp. Until the late 1950s four Chicago-based companies -- Armour, Cudahy, Swift and Wilson -- dominated America's meatpacking industry. Company profits depended on control of the work process, as national distribution hinged on high volume slaughtering, which in turn mandated the rapid movement of the product. Managerial control over work in meatpacking was impeded by the labor intensive quality of the production process; mechanizing meat production was a difficult process and was (and remains!) far more limited than in metal, plastic, chemical, or other food industries. Hence meatpacking always has been an industry

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