Hamelt Video and Continuation of Charlotte Observer Series
On September 3, 1991, a fire broke out at the Imperial Poultry Processing plant in Hamlet, NC. Workers tried to escape, but managers had locked the fire doors to prevent workers from stealing chicken nuggets 25 worker died. This powerful video is part of the Charlotte Observer's series on the poultry processing industry which continues today: http://www.charlotte.com/poultry/poultry_video2/
Misery on the linehttp://www.charlotte.com/poultry/story/489655.html Illegal immigrants say it's easy to get a job at House of Raeford Farms. Of 52 current and former Latino workers at House of Raeford who spoke to the Observer about their legal status, 42 said they were in the country illegally. Company officials say they hire mostly Latino workers but don't knowingly hire illegal immigrants. But five current and former House of Raeford supervisors and human resource administrators, including two who were involved in hiring, said some of the company's managers know they employ undocumented workers. "If immigration came and looked at our files, they'd take half the plant," said Caitlyn Davis, a former Greenville, S.C., plant human resources employee. Former Greenville supervisors said the plant prefers undocumented workers because they are less likely to question working conditions for fear of losing their jobs or being deported. . A boss's view: Keep them workinghttp://www.charlotte.com/716/v-print/story/489654.html The production lines rarely stopped. An endless stream of raw chickens -- thousands an hour -- had to be sliced and cut into pieces for family dinner tables. It was Enrique Pagan's job to keep his part of the line running. He paced and often screamed at Mexicans and Guatemalans cutting chicken thighs. He demanded they move faster and scolded them when they left too much meat on the bone. Pagan said most of his 90 workers in 2002 suffered hand and wrist pains. But he had production goals to meet. And he knew that workers wouldn't complain because many were in the country illegally. Editorial: Throwaway workershttp://www.charlotte.com/716/v-print/story/489653.html You may not like the fact illegal immigrants break the law to come to this country for jobs. Yet they do come, and Americans want the low-priced products and services their cheap labor provides. But we should be appalled by what's happening to thousands of immigrant workers who do dangerous, dirty work in pain factories in the Carolinas. They are being exploited, abused, then thrown away when they are injured or when they speak up. Companies can get away with it, in part, because politicians in Washington don't have the conscience or will to fix failed immigration policies. -- |
