CONTRACT GROWERS:
During the last 10 years, sales of poultry products increased almost 400% and profits rose 325% to over $2.1 billion per year. The average poultry farmer, however, (averaging about 71% of all growers) lives below the poverty line. In Georgia, as in other parts of the nation, poultry is produced under what is called a "vertically integrated system" of production.
Under contracts signed by farmers on a flock-by-flock basis, the integrators (companies) own the live, healthy birds, provide the feed and veterinary medicines, contorl the time of grow-out, decide which flock goes to which farm, determine the type of feed, the thickness of the bedding, the temperature of the litter, dictate which equipment must be used and which improvements must be implemented by the farmer.
In contrast, the farmers own the dead birds, are responsible for the "ownership" and disposal of the millions of tons of manure produced each year, pay for the feed, the birds, the mortgages on their farms, medications, and furnish the water, electricity and gas needed to operate the farm. The companies avoid the social, financial and legal responsibility for the pollution of the lakes, streams, rivers and watersheds caused by the vast amounts of waste generated each year.
Small farms play a huge role in the Georgia economy. In 1999 there were 50,000 farms and 11,300,000 acres devboted to farming in the state. The viability of these farms is crucial to the rural communities where farmers pay taxes and support the small businesses that sustain the community. Every dollar a farmer spends generates $2.50 in the community. When farmers lose their land, rural areas become depressed and cannot support small businesses or necessary social services.
PLANT WORKERS & CHICKEN CATCHERS:
Poultry plant processing workers face jobs that are hazardous to health. The fast pace of the work, repetitive motions, cold temper-atures, the chemicals used and the unsafe electrical equipment have made the injury and illness rate one of the highest of any industry in the nation. Workers' Compensation is almost impossible to obtain for repetitive motion injuries in Georgia. With no alternative to working in a processing plant available in rural areas, workers become chronically unemployed, or continue to work while injured, and become permanently disabled. Chicken catchers also labor under terrible and unsafe conditions. Often, they suffer from respiratory disease due to exposure to dust, bacteria and microorganisms in the cihcken houses. In addition to laboring in deplorable working conditions, wages for catchers have actually fallen in the past decade. Poultry companies avoid paying them overtime orp orividng benefits by unlawfully considering them "independent contractors." |
