For Thanksgiving, Take a Moment to Thank Slaughterhouse Workers

I spent today with slaughterhouse workers in America’s largest beef packing plant. Here are some takeaways.

Worst job? Killing cattle with a probe. The animal enters a chute and is jammed into a tight space. The worker uses a hydraulic press with a probe that crushes the skull and penetrates the entire brain. Kill time? Two seconds.

Workers often develop psychological problems with this job. One man developed a severe drinking problem after cattle were in his dreams and spoke in words to him.

How to buy good pork? These guys have worked with hogs, too. When an animal doesn’t die quickly, its body secretes chemicals that affect the meat. The redder the pork, the faster the kill and the higher the quality. Beef has the same principle but you can’t judge the kill time.

Toughest moment for me? The new method for killing hogs is putting them (about 20) on an elevator, lowering them to a pit, and gassing them. It’s fast and doesn’t spread germs.

This made the death of my family in Auschwitz more real for me.

Workers’ view of their company? They hated their old employer, IBP; they respect Tyson, their new employer. Why? “They talk to us and want to know how our jobs could be better.” Also: “They treat us like people, not like cattle.”

The workers are local union officers. They believe that their union is very important. But they don’t view conflict as an inherent part of their relationship with their employer.

Undocumented workers? I didn’t ask, but half the workers were Hispanic and spoke Spanish.  I’m sure everyone has been verified, but my hunch is that some (or more) have fake IDs. Unemployment in eastern Nebraska is 2 percent, so deporting these workers would mean real hardship for the company and the food chain.

Chain speed? That’s how rapidly animals are “disassembled.” 400 per hour in a beef plant, 600 per hour in a hog plant, 1,200 per hour or more in poultry plants.

Speed hurts workers.

Biggest worry: President Trump's USDA took off limits on chain speed for poultry. More workers will slice off finger tips. These workers fear beef will be “deregulated.”

In a labor market with 2 percent unemployment, these guys are planning already for their next move.

Thank you, slaughterhouse workers.