Follow-up Investigation By The Government Accountability Office Confirms That Poultry Processing Plants Create A Climate Of Fear, Where Workers Are Afraid To Speak Out

Oxfam’s concerns were recently confirmed by the GAO, after it conducted direct interviews with poultry processing workers in five states. The central underlying problem is the pervasive climate of fear inside poultry plants; when workers are afraid to report issues, OSHA and other inspection agencies are unable to detect or investigate problems.

 

Eighteen months after the GAO issued a report confirming that poultry workers face inordinate health and safety hazards and that many of these problems go under-reported, a follow-up investigation calls on all three federal agencies-- the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture-- to improve ways for workers to communicate issues without fear of retaliation.

 

“The health and safety problems that workers face in poultry processing plants have been exacerbated in the past year due to a growing climate of fear and oppression in an industry where workers are mostly immigrants, refugees, and people of color,” said Alex Galimberti, Senior Advocacy and Collaborations Advisor for Oxfam America. “Every day, workers experience problems, such as denial of treatment for repetitive motion injuries, lack of access to bathroom breaks, and sexual harassment. Most of the time, they feel unsafe reporting these issues to federal agencies or to top level management.”

 

Oxfam continues to call on the nation’s top poultry producers to lead the way in addressing these issues and creating systems for workers to safely report violations.

 

The findings from the GAO investigation are similar to those in reports from Oxfam’s two key reports, Lives on the Line and No Relief. In particular, the GAO confirmed that workers are routinely denied access to bathroom breaks, and that workers suffer health problems as a result (sometimes quite grave and potentially life-threatening). Other findings:

 

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.