The case against Case Farms:Worker Exploitation in the Foothills of N.C.

The plight of the workers at Case Farms in Morganton serves as another example of North Carolina's long history of anti-unionism and worker exploitation.

The hardships that the meat packing plant employees have been forced to endure should have caught the attention of the state's lawmakers long ago, and in any other state they would have.

The largely immigrant and primarily Guatamalen workforce has been trying since 1995 to correct the human rights abuses that have occured at this facility. From 1995 to 2001 their union, the United Food and Commercial Workers fought these abuses.However, the lengthy and costly fight forced the UFCW to abandon the effort in 2001.The union left behind enough money to start a group that has become an advocate for not only the Case Farms workers, but all oppressed immigrant workers in WNC. This advocate is the Western North Carolina Workers Center, and it's director is Francisco Risso.

Case Farms is a large poultry processing plant in the foothills of N.C. The state is the second largest poultry processing plant in the nation. The grievances of the workers at the facility would have long since been addressed in many other states but not North Carolina. The state that gave us Norma Rae, is still very unkind to it's citizens who punch a clock for a living.

Case Farm workers complain about near impossible production quotas because of excessive assembly line speeds, inadequate lunch and restroom breaks, as well as intimidating management practices.

What happens to an employee if he or she speaks up? In the words of one worker, "If you speak up, they take you upstairs, and you never come back."

The injury rate at Case Farms was so egregious, that in 2008 it garnered the attention of the Charlotte Observer. They ran a series of articles on the facility called, "The Cruelest Cuts."

Worker's efforts have paid off somewhat. Recently, they received a 25 cent raise. Now they make the princely sum of $8.70. However, in return for the company's largesse, their quota went from processing 40 chickens per minute to 45.

In 2005, researchers at Wake Forest University received a grant to study the physical effects on the state's poultry workers. Their findings showed that N.C.'s poultry workers suffered from three different maladies. Firstly, due to the repetitive motions of the jobs, many workers suffered from carpal tunnel syndrome. A simple remedy would be to rotate workers on a shift to shift basis. One day they would work on the assembly line, and the next day they would work in the packing area. They have also asked that the scissors and knives they use be sharpened on a regular basis. The company has refused both requests.

Secondly, many workers suffer from various skin problems. The problems are caused by the chemicals that are used in the meat packing process.

Lastly, many workers suffer back, shoulder and neck pain due to the less than ergonomic layout of the assembly line. As the Wake Forest researchers pointed out, many of the Guatamalans are of short stature and the facilities were not designed with them in mind. Said one researcher, "The company knows what's going on and they don't care. They see the workers as disposable. If they can no longer work, they just throw them away."

The plight of the Case Farms workers is just another chapter in the sad saga of North Carolina's anti-union, anti-worker history.

Thanks to Francisco Risso and the Western North Carolina Workers Center, these abuses do not go unreported. Perhaps someday North Carolina's workers will be afforded the full protections they deserve. Until then, the state's history of labor abuses will be it's cross to bear. Just think about that the next time you sit down to your Sunday chicken dinner.