In one of the most dangerous workplaces in West Virginia, a poultry giant has profited from immigrant labor for decades
Resumo
Data informada: 6 Jul 2024
Localização: Estados Unidos da América
Empresas
Packers Sanitation Service (PSSI) - Employer , QSI (part of Vincit) - Employer , Quintanilla Poultry - Employer , Pilgrim's (part of JBS) - EmployerAfetados
Total de pessoas afetadas: Número desconhecido
Trabalhadores migrantes e imigrantes: ( Número desconhecido - México , Abatedouros , Men , Undocumented migrants ) , Trabalhadores migrantes e imigrantes: ( Número desconhecido - México , Abatedouros , Women , Unknown migration status ) , Trabalhadores migrantes e imigrantes: ( Número desconhecido - Porto Rico , Abatedouros , Men , Unknown migration status ) , Refugiados: ( Número desconhecido - Eritreia , Abatedouros , Gender not reported , Unknown migration status ) , Refugiados: ( Número desconhecido - Etiópia , Abatedouros , Gender not reported , Unknown migration status ) , Refugiados: ( Número desconhecido - Myanmar - Setor desconhecido , Gender not reported , Unknown migration status )Temas
Saúde e Segurança Ocupacional , Reasonable Working Hours & Leisure Time , Espancamento e Violência , Intimidação e Ameaças , Discriminação Racial/ Étnica/ Origem , Acesso à Informação , Prisão Arbitrária , Acesso a medicamentos , Social Security , Access to Non-Judicial RemedyResposta
Resposta solicitada: Sim, por Journalist
Link externo para resposta (Saiba mais)
Medidas tomadas: Both local and corporate officials for Pilgrim’s Pride, an arm of the largest poultry producer in the world, did not answer calls and voicemails asking for interviews. They didn’t answer a letter with over a dozen questions related to this story. Pilgrim’s corporate office says it’s accountable for the well-being of contract company employees. In its corporate sustainability strategy, the company wrote that “we take our responsibility for their health and safety seriously.” In emailed statements, spokespeople for PSSI and QSI said they are committed to only hiring people who are authorized to work in the U.S. “QSI protects the American dream by providing career opportunities to those who are often overlooked, who need second chances, or who just need an opportunity to show their value,” wrote Gene Boulware, the company’s director for corporate and community relations. PSSI said employees spend their first three weeks in training about potential hazards, safety protocols and how to handle chemicals. Juan Quintanilla, the owner of Quintanilla Poultry, said in March that he was in the process of shutting down his company and declined to answer further questions.
Tipo de fonte: News outlet
…Marco had seen plenty of similar injuries take place inside Pilgrim’s Moorefield factory, built along a fork of the Potomac River’s South Branch. He knew what could happen inside the plant.
Over the past 30 years, he and thousands of others who’ve left their homelands have come to Moorefield to work at West Virginia’s only industrial poultry plant. Often fleeing poverty or violence, many have immigrated from other countries, and others have come from U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico.
Seeking safety and a better life, they’ve often faced unsafe working conditions.
Throughout the last decade, Pilgrim’s Moorefield plant has been one of the most dangerous non-coal industrial workplaces in West Virginia…
And in a state in which 91% of residents are white, a disproportionate amount of the danger is shouldered by the plant’s large immigrant workforce, a Mountain State Spotlight investigation found…
This time, Hector said he and others who lacked this legal authorization were pushed toward two independent companies that contracted with the plant: Quality, Service, Integrity and Packers Sanitation Services Incorporated…
In emailed statements, spokespeople for PSSI and QSI said they are committed to only hiring people who are authorized to work in the U.S. ..
... The plant turned to Quintanilla Poultry, a South Carolina-based company that hired dozens of Hardy County undocumented workers to keep the production process running...
... the owner of Quintanilla Poultry, said in March that he was in the process of shutting down his company and declined to answer further questions...