Faith Leader Letter to Poultry Processing Companies—Protect Workers

From Interfaith Worker Justice (http://www.iwj.org):

Have you heard about the horrific working conditions endured by the working people who process the billions of chickens that Americans consume every year?

It’s bad. Really bad.

Everyday, working people at poultry processing plants put in eight or more grueling hours making the same two or three cuts to hundreds of birds an hour which fly through the assembly line with quotas that seem to go up every week.

That’s why the CEOs from the top-four big poultry corporations need to hear from faith leaders like YOU.

Imagine being told that you weren’t allowed to take a break at work to use the bathroom. Or to sit down and rest your body. Or to take a few minutes to drink some water and rehydrate.

This is the reality for tens of thousands of working people each and every day. People are losing fingers and limbs due to the lack of adequate safety protocol, for which poultry processing plants are issued serious safety violations by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration on a regular basis. One working woman even lost her pregnancy due to the abhorrent working conditions.

This has to stop.

Fortunately, we are making real progress. The coalition of working people and worker justice advocates that we are part of is in negotiations right now with one of the top four poultry corporations about improving health, safety, and quality of life at their poultry processing plants. This could someday be a model for all poultry processing plants to implement.

Will you add your name to this open-letter to the four big poultry CEOs, urging them to do the just and moral thing and reform their factories so working people no longer have to fear losing life and limb every time they go to work?

Even as these negotiations continue, this is far from a done deal. We need to keep pressure on all four poultry corporations to ensure victory. That’s where you come in.

Click here to read the full letter and sign on as an individual faith leader or on behalf of the institution you lead.

We are so close to winning real reforms that will improve the lives of tens of thousands of working people. We might win this fight with just one more big push.

Your voice will be a critical one in this moment.

Thanks so much for taking action.