'I had to wear Pampers': US Poultry workers detail brutal conditions in damning report
(FOX NEWS/AP) - Workers at one Arkansas poultry plant were denied restroom breaks to the point some "had to wear Pampers," according to an explosive new report on working conditions in the chicken processing industry.
"I had to wear Pampers," a worker identified as Dolores stated in a damning a report from Oxfam America. "I and many, many others had to wear Pampers."
Industry employees have also been forced to cut down on drinking fluids "to a dangerous degree," and some reported having urinated or defecated on themselves while working because they can't hold it in any longer, according to the report.
"Supervisors mock [the workers'] needs and ignore
their requests; they threaten punishment or firing," the report's executive summary states. "Workers wait inordinately long times (an hour or more), then race to accomplish the task within a certain timeframe (e.g., ten minutes) or risk discipline."
One worker said supervisors at an Alabama plant regularly threatened people by saying, "Go to the to the bathroom, and from there, go to Human Resources." Another worker at a plant in the Delmarva (Delaware, Maryland and Virginia) region claimed it took between 20 and 60 minutes to get permission to leave her position and use the bathroom.
Simmons Foods plant says the allegations are "troubling" and the refusal of bathroom breaks isn't tolerated. Tyson says it's concerned by the claims, but currently has "no evidence they're true."
The National Chicken Council says it believes that "such instances are extremely rare."