Source: OXFAM AMERICA, 5/11/16

At a time when the nation’s largest poultry producers are enjoying record profits, workers on the processing line routinely face the unhealthy and humiliating reality of being denied adequate bathroom breaks, according to a new report by Oxfam America. While it’s well documented that poultry workers in the United States suffer elevated rates of injury and earn low wages, workers interviewed for the report say that the lack of adequate bathroom breaks offends their dignity most of all. The report specifically calls on Tyson Foods, Pilgrim’s, Perdue, and Sanderson Farms, which together control nearly 60 percent of the poultry market, to implement immediate changes that will improve conditions for workers nationwide.

“I was stunned when poultry workers in Arkansas told me that people regularly wear diapers to work in the plants. They feel they have to put up with this, to keep their jobs,” said Minor Sinclair, Director of Oxfam America’s US Program. “The supervisors do whatever they can to keep the line running at breakneck speed, and the companies turn a blind eye, as they’re racking up record profits. It feels like something out of 'The Jungle,’ from a hundred years ago, but it’s happening right now. It just isn’t right.”

Denial of regular access to the bathroom is a violation of US workplace safety law; the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has a “sanitary standard” that requires employers to make toilet facilities available to employees to use when needed in order to avoid “adverse health effects.” But, according to Oxfam’s report, poultry workers’ request for bathroom breaks are routinely mocked or ignored, workers are forced to wait up to an hour or more, and requests are often met with threats of punishment or firing. The report outlines coping strategies and accidents that occur within production plants, including workers urinating and defecating while on the line, wearing diapers to work, and limiting fluid and food intake.
Workers are often given time limits to visit the bathroom. “You go to the bathroom one minute late, they have you disciplined. The supervisor will have you sign a discipline paper,” says Jean, a worker from a Tyson Foods plant in Virginia who is quoted in the report. “I don’t drink any water so I won’t have to go,” she says.

Oxfam’s report, No Relief, is based on three years of research, and hundreds of interviews with current and former poultry workers, attorneys, medical experts and worker advocates. The report cites a survey conducted by the Southern Poverty Law Center in Alabama in which 80 percent of poultry workers reported not being granted bathroom breaks when needed; and a recent survey of workers in Minnesota, in which 86 percent of those interviewed said they get fewer than two bathroom breaks in a week. The report also cites a lawsuit against a Mississippi poultry company in which workers say their supervisor “charged them for such things as using the bathroom.”
Denial of sufficient bathroom breaks can pose serious health risks, including pressure on the bladder and the urethra which can cause kidney damage, infection, and even death. The biggest risk is workers developing urinary tract infections, which can lead to lead to kidney infections. Women in particular face higher vulnerability to infections, especially during pregnancy. The report quotes several women who struggled to endure the arduous conditions while pregnant, as their needs for breaks increased.

“As a former senior OSHA official, I was deeply aware of how the poultry industry failed to implement the most basic safety precautions and protection for workers, let alone measures to maintain their dignity,” said Deborah Berkowitz, senior fellow at the National Employment Law Project. “Poultry workers are some of the most vulnerable people in our country—most are minorities and immigrants, some are recently resettled refugees.  Poultry companies know they can get away with unfair, intimidating and legally questionable practices, because these workers are too fearful to speak up.”

The nation’s largest poultry producer, Tyson Foods, is the only company that has a publicly stated policy on bathroom breaks. However, based on interviews with Tyson workers in half a dozen states, and on survey responses from scores of workers, it appears that Tyson’s stated policy is not being followed at the plant level, with workers routinely denied adequate breaks. None of the other top poultry companies–Pilgrim’s, Perdue, and Sanderson Farms–has a publicly stated policy on bathroom breaks for workers. Oxfam shared the report’s findings with all of the companies prior to publication, and their responses are included in the report.

The report is part of a campaign Oxfam America launched in October 2015, aimed at exposing the dark reality of life inside poultry processing plants: low wages, elevated rates of injuries and illness, and a climate of fear in a vulnerable workforce. Since then, millions of consumers have learned about the issue, and over 100,000 consumers have signed a petition to pressure the nation’s top four poultry companies to improve working conditions for their employees.
Given the growing swell of consumer interest in the transparency of the food chain, the poultry industry has begun to respond in very real ways. Tyson recently announced the company would conduct third-party audits of all of its poultry plants on a range of issues pertaining to worker well-being. This is an important step in closing the often large gap between stated headquarter policies and the realities of day-to-day life for workers on the production line. In addition, as Oxfam launched its campaign in October, Tyson announced a wage increase for a third of its US workforce, as well as a new health and safety initiative that is now operational in 19 of its plants.

On the heels of Oxfam’s campaign launch, OSHA implemented three new Regional Emphasis Programs in the poultry industry, in regions where poultry processing plants are concentrated. OSHA noted the high rates of injury and illness in the workforce, citing numerous hazards, and noted that inspections would “assess the adequacy of toilet and sanitary facilities, and of worker access to them.”

“The moves to make changes, by the industry and the federal government, have the potential to make very real improvements in the lives of poultry workers,” says Oliver Gottfried, Senior Advocacy and Collaborations Advisor for Oxfam America’s US Program. “But really, it’s just the beginning. So much more must be done to address all the problems.”

In conjunction with the release of the report, workers, advocates, faith leaders, and consumers will come together to call on Tyson to improve their working conditions and deliver over 100,000 petition signatures from consumers at Tyson headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas.

The report calls on Tyson Foods, Pilgrim’s, Perdue, and Sanderson Farms to lead the way in ensuring that workers have bathroom breaks necessary to stay healthy, safe, and respected at work. In the report, Oxfam calls on the companies to make several policy and practice changes, including:
• Make sure staffing levels at each stage of the processing process (from receiving to packaging) are sufficient to provide workers the opportunity for replacement when they need a bathroom break (or in the event of injury, illness, or need for rest);
• Develop specific commitments that workers have access to bathroom breaks whenever they are needed
• Make these policies public, submit policies to monitoring and verification by independent, third-party organizations, and make results of audits public;
A full list of recommendations is included in the report.

According to workers interviewed for this report, their shared hope is for companies to recognize their humanity, and to do what’s necessary to accommodate human needs: for bathroom breaks and for respect. When a Pilgrim’s plant employee in Texas was asked to name one thing that she would like company managers and executives to do, she said, “Put themselves in the place of the worker… And stop thinking that we’re machines.”