OxFam: US Poultry Workers Denied Bathroom Breaks, Some Wear Diapers

(RTTNews) - A report released by Oxfam America has exposed the dangerous and harsh working conditions inside U.S. poultry processing plants, including the lack of adequate bathroom breaks.

In addition to low wages, worries about job security, and standing for long hours in cold, wet noisy plants, about 250,000 poultry workers in the U.S. are denied adequate bathroom breaks, according to the report.

This comes even as the poultry industry is enjoying record profits. The poultry industry sells 8.5 billion chickens annually, at a wholesale value of $50 billion.

Oxfam America launched its campaign for poultry worker justice in October 2015 with an extensive expose on conditions inside poultry processing plants.

Its report, Lives on the Line, is based on three years of research and interviews with dozens of current and former poultry workers and experts. The latest report uncovered the cruel realities inside these cold, noisy and dangerous plants.

To cope with the denial of adequate bathroom breaks, poultry workers wear diapers to work as well as restrict intake of liquids and fluids to dangerous degrees. The workers are thus compelled to urinate on themselves or purposefully dehydrate themselves. They are also in danger of serious health problems.

The situation is particularly hard for women, who face biological realities such as menstruation, pregnancy, and higher vulnerability to infections, even as they struggle to maintain their dignity and privacy when requesting breaks, Oxfam said in its report.

Almost all workers interviewed by Oxfam reported being denied bathroom breaks outright or having to wait an unreasonably long time to use the bathroom — up to an hour or more. Workers also reported being fined if they are late returning from the bathroom.

The top four chicken companies control roughly 60 percent of the domestic market in the U.S. - Tyson Foods, Pilgrim's Pride, Perdue, and Sanderson Farms. Oxfam urged these companies to ensure that workers have bathroom breaks necessary to stay healthy, safe, and dignified at work.

It called upon the companies to develop specific commitments that workers have access to bathroom breaks whenever they are needed, make these policies public, and ensure that staffing levels at each stage of the processing process are sufficient to provide workers the opportunity for replacement when they need a bathroom break.