Précis: In this chapter Schlosser visits a meat packing factory "somewhere in the High Plains" of Colorado. In it, meat from the recently slaughtered cattle dances around on hooks from the ceiling and conveyor belts where employees attack the carcasses with knives to make the meat easily eatable to the consumer. This profession is currently the most dangerous job in the United States with an outstanding injury rate of over three times that of a typical American factory. Workers stun the strong animals so they can hang the bodies from the ceiling so that another worker can slit its neck; blood saturates the workplace and their clothes. With roughly five thousand cattle entering a day the assembly line can often be very rushed increasing the chances of an injury usually involving a knife as it is the primary tool used by workers. Currently workers are more than encouraged to not report these injuries, payment in the form of bonuses is the strong incentive among middle management to enforce that the workers keep their "complaints" at a minimum. The workforce is largely comprised of minorities who can often not speak English and get much more pay than they would than from where they emigrated from. Sexual harassment has been a problem as well as feelings of discomfort and in a few scenarios the factories have been fined and sued. Probably the most dangerous work is by the late night crews hired for sanitation, these workers are consistently put in hazardous situations such as climbing into a 30 foot high blood tank to clean it, on multiple occasions men have fell unconscious to the overpowering fumes, when this happened workers would often try to rescue their fallen pier and the entire party would die. Schlosser tells the story of many who work for the High Plains meatpacking factory, one in particular is especially heart-sinking, that of Kenny.
Kenny was an Iowa born six foot five hard worker who joined the company at age twenty-four who started doing heavy lifting. Throughout his sixteen years working there he fell victim to many injuries, the first of which he was struck by a falling 90 pound box and crushed onto a conveyer belt needing back surgery. Following this he was called into use harmful materials to clean the workplace which others refused to do because of the obvious safety hazard. Kenny was not issued appropriate safety materials and was in the hospital because his lungs were burned from the chemicals and his body as covered in blisters. Kenny also broke his leg due to a hole in the wall, and after that he had a heart attack that the company doctor denied. While recuperating he was fired from the company.
Gems: "Supervisors have been known to sell 'crank' to their workers or to supply it free in return for certain favor...For obvious reasons, a modern slaughterhouse is not a safe place to be high" (174).
"They're trying to deter you, period, from going to the doctor" (175).
"The fine was $480 for each man's death" (178).
"If the records showed an injury rate at the factory lower than the national average for all manufacturers, the OSHA inspector had to turn around and leave at once...These injury logs were kept and maintained by company officials" (179).
Thoughts and Questions: The atrocities in this chapter were appalling, my thoughts and questions could go on and on about the information that I just read as I think anyone with a soul could. What baffled me however is, how can a company not fix these safety hazards? Even if they're heart is a block of ice, as I'm sure it is, aren't the fines at least a reason to have some safety precautions? Then I realized that these fines are probably not at all the cost it would be if they imposed better working conditions. And since money is what drives the decisions in these (and many other) factories why can't we increase the fines until the decision is either pay or be in serious financial trouble?
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