Troubles at the chicken plant

[quincy]

I think key is valuing yourself enough to know you deserve to be treated well, not only as an employee but more importantly as a human. No one should be sacrificing their health and safety (and body parts) for a paycheck.

 

[commentator]

Oh well, welcome to my world in the 1990's. People who have been in a place for a long time, several generations, say, are in their social comfort zone to the extent that it is very difficult for them to contemplate relocation. This seems particularly inherent to the southeastern United States. For generations, they've been going elsewhere when they have to (up north, Detroit city, etc.) but coming home every time they get a chance.

As they would tell you, my family is here, my support system is here, my heart is here, my people and my people's people are buried here, I don't want to leave. True, many people have left for greener pastures, and we when closing the small plants did have "relocation assistance " as a service. It was very rarely used. People in these areas were willing to commute hundreds of miles a day, but they were very resistant to relocating out of their "comfort zones." Ironically, we did find a lot of people willing to do retraining, a lot of them in the medical field, and that worked for them for a while. But now in rural areas in our wonderful states who've refused the Medicaid expansion, the local rural hospitals have closed in multitudes, and now these people are out of the jobs they've trained for.

As for reporting illegal activities, as I said in my post, everyone in our area knew these people were being brought in from another part of the world, were not legal to work, and yet there they were, semi-surviving in our poor place to be, far away from everything they knew and loved and were comfortable with, sending that money home and delighted for a chance to do it. Who ya gonna call? You find no one is interested in your complaints. OSHA kept staying around, as people lost fingers and were stabbed and mangled. As I've always said, thank God for the feds, they were the only thing that kept things even semi civilized. And even then before they'd been weakened like they have now, they were understaffed and unable to cover everything they were supposed to be covering.

And of course, eventually it becomes much cheaper and more simple to take the manufacturing, butchering, processing, etc. to that other part of the world and bring it back for our consumption. So the plant packed up and left over 7000 damaged former employees, a big empty box, and a lot of really terrible pollution that has been suspected of producing health problems dumped in the water supply and in our landfills. So for the very brief time this person is there, I'd suggest that instead of fighting the buzz saw, he save his money, getting ready to leave when it becomes inevitable. But don't for one minute suspect you're going to be "Norma Ray" and going to start a big old movement to make things better by your complaints. There are a lot of things that are going to need fixing, most of them will not be fixed in time to help this OP.

 

[quincy]

Oh well, welcome to my world in the 1990's. People who have been in a place for a long time, several generations, say, are in their social comfort zone to the extent that it is very difficult for them to contemplate relocation. This seems particularly inherent to the southeastern United States. For generations, they've been going elsewhere when they have to (up north, Detroit city, etc.) but coming home every time they get a chance.

As they would tell you, my family is here, my support system is here, my heart is here, my people and my people's people are buried here, I don't want to leave. True, many people have left for greener pastures, and we when closing the small plants did have "relocation assistance " as a service. It was very rarely used. People in these areas were willing to commute hundreds of miles a day, but they were very resistant to relocating out of their "comfort zones."

As for reporting illegal activities, as I said in my post, everyone in our area knew these people were being brought in from another part of the world, were not legal to work, and yet there they were, semi-surviving in our poor place to be, far away from everything they knew and loved and were comfortable with, sending that money home and delighted for a chance to do it. Who ya gonna call? You find no one is interested in your complaints. OSHA kept staying around, as people lost fingers and were stabbed and mangled. As I've always said, thank God for the feds, they were the only thing that kept things even semi civilized. And even then before they'd been weakened like they have now, they were understaffed and unable to cover everything they were supposed to be covering.

And of course, eventually it becomes much cheaper and more simple to take the manufacturing, butchering, processing, etc. to that other part of the world and bring it back for our consumption. So the plant packed up and left over 7000 damaged former employees, a big empty box, and a lot of really terrible pollution that has been suspected of producing health problems dumped in the water supply and in our landfills. So for the very brief time this person is there, I'd suggest that instead of fighting the buzz saw, he save his money, getting ready to leave when it becomes inevitable. But don't for one minute suspect you're going to be "Norma Ray" and going to start a big old movement to make things better by your complaints. There are a lot of things that are going to need fixing, most of them will not be fixed in time to help this OP.

It is a sad way to live.

It takes voices louder than those of the workers to make changes. I think it horrible advice to tell workers to keep their heads down, their complaints to a minimum, to do what they are told, and only hope to escape their workplace with life and limbs intact.

Make noise.

 

[commentator]

Quincy, when the plant first came to this area, other employers were very afraid, because they didn't, felt they couldn't, pay anything like the wages people could make at the chicken plant. A lot of people thought it was going to be the high income salvation of the whole area.

My suggestion to these employers, having toured the plant when it was first opening and seeing the working conditions, was that they keep their doors open. And let people go and work there, and tell them if they later chose to do so, they could always come back to their previous job. And most of them did.

Make a complaint, make a wave, protest, complain, be slower than average, be injured, ANYTHING at that accursed chicken plant and you were out the door with head spinning quickness. As I said, over 7000 people went through the doors before they went to the illegal worker transport system. And now the place is a shuttered eyesore and the area is dealing with big pollution issues and a lot of former employees with serious health issues and (it being MY state!) very poor health care coverage. The owners made big bucks of course. Think one of them holds a high pubic office right now. I don't know the answer, but I do feel very sorry for this young man, and I don't want to see him have his life or health ruined. And "Run away!" is about the best I can do for him.

 

[quincy]

Quincy, when the plant first came to this area, other employers were very afraid, because they didn't, felt they couldn't, pay anything like the wages people could make at the chicken plant. A lot of people thought it was going to be the high income salvation of the whole area.

My suggestion to these employers, having toured the plant when it was first opening and seeing the working conditions, was that they keep their doors open. And let people go and work there, and tell them if they later chose to do so, they could always come back to their previous job. And most of them did.

Make a complaint, make a wave, protest, complain, be slower than average, be injured, ANYTHING at that accursed chicken plant and you were out the door with head spinning quickness. As I said, over 7000 people went through the doors before they went to the illegal worker transport system. And now the place is a shuttered eyesore and the area is dealing with big pollution issues and a lot of former employees with serious health issues and (it being MY state!) very poor health care coverage. The owners made big bucks of course. Think one of them holds a high pubic office right now. I don't know the answer, but I do feel very sorry for this young man, and I don't want to see him have his life or health ruined. And "Run away!" is about the best I can do for him.

“Run away” is the advice I would give to anyone in the same situation, too.

 

[NeilTheCop]

“Run away” is the advice I would give to anyone in the same situation, too.

And then nothing would ever change.

"You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life."

Sir Winston Churchill

 

[quincy]

And then nothing would ever change.

"You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life."

Sir Winston Churchill

Run away either before or after filing complaints about the working conditions.

It is important to be vocal about unhealthy and unsafe working conditions. It is more important to first protect your own health and safety.