US Chamber and Tyson Foods Fought Workplace Safety Measures ($500,000 fine)

[Omaha Steve]

Source: SEIU.ORG

By Tyler Prell

Little Rock--Tyson Foods and the US Chamber of Commerce are actively fighting workplace safety measures that could have prevented the tragic death of a Tyson Foods worker, said Rev. Copley today.

On Friday, a U.S. District Court in Arkansas ruled that Tyson Foods Inc. must pay a $500,000 fine for "willfully" violating workplace safety regulations that led to the 2003 death of Jason Kelley, a maintenance worker at its River Valley Animal Foods plant in Texarkana. Mr. Kelley was killed by toxic fumes emitted from a machine he was repairing.

"Mr. Kelley's death is the worst possible example of what can happen when employees do not have a voice on the job and are not protected at work. If workers had a voice at that plant, if they had a union, there could have been a more rigorous safety program in place to prevent this tragic loss of life," said Rev. Copley.

Despite an identical accident in 2002, Tyson Foods did not put safety measures in place to make sure it didn't happen again. Tyson Foods workers do not have a union and its workers were not able to hold their employer accountable for failing to enforce these federally mandated worker safety protections.

Read more: http://www.seiu.org/2009/06/us-chamber-and-tyson-foods-fought-workplace-safety-measures.php

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[lindisfarne]

1. Tyson is a scummy corporation. I won't buy their products (at least not knowingly -

restaurants likely use them, although I'm rarely in restaurants).

Chickens are probably treated the worst of any farm animal and Tyson is probably the worst of the worst (Purdue might come close). Buy local or buy organic. Don't trust the word "natural" - it's meaningless. Don't trust the word "free-range" - there might be a 20x20 foot space with a tiny door for 10,000 chickens - and few chickens even go out of it.

Americans eat far too much meat anyhow. The best thing to do is to cut back to less than 50% of what you're eating now. You'll be healthier, less likely to develop certain cancers (especially if you add whole grains to your diet), and contributing to decreasing the demand for such horrible farm practices.

[bertman]

2. Buy local, from farmers you know. If you don't know any, go to the local farmers' markets

and meet them. If you buy their chicken, beef, pork, veggies, whatever you'll know it was raised without the nasty stuff. Plus it'll cost you twice, or more, what industrially-raised meat does, so you'll end up eating less.

All-in-all, a good thing.

[Wednesdays]

3. K&R

:kick:

[midnight]

4. Mr. Kelly's death another in the history of "money trumps peace"

mentality. Let's end it! "Peace trumps money" Make workers safety and voices heard, and admit that this is a better way to do business. RIP Mr. Kelly.

[avaistheone1]

5. The US Chamber of Commerce is a crummy organization too.

They would gladly sell your grandma down the river if they could figure out how to make a dime off of it.

[flpab]

6. tyson foods and walmart

doesn't Walmart own tyson foods?