The farmers who raise chickens and the workers who process them are among America’s poorest workers.
They’re kept poor by the greedy companies that buy chickens, pluck and package them, and sell them to grocers.
These companies, government trustbusters allege, illegally conspired together to reduce the incomes of farmers and workers.
The Department of Justice (DoJ) filed a lawsuit on Monday, July 25, 2022, against Cargill, Sanderson Farms, and Wayne Farms (a subsidiary of Continental Grain) to end practices it calls “abusive” and obtain $84.8 million of restitution (see story here).
Most U.S. chickens are raised under what amounts to a serf system. The companies provide chicks, feed, and equipment to contract farmers. Under this system, they get the profits while the farmers bear the risks. Chicken farmers typically work 7 days a week to earn less than $20,000 a year (details here).
Plant workers earn hourly wages, but DoJ alleges employers shared information and fixed wage rates across the industry. Working conditions in the plants have been described as “hellish” (see story here).
In May 2022, Forbes said, “Meat conglomerates have used their … power to exploit workers, increase consumer prices, underpay farmers and generate enormous profits, and noted that, “Pandemic-era net income surged by 500% while … [p]rocessors prioritized productivity and profitability over worker safety (see story here).
Early in the pandemic, this blog commented about a California chicken processing plant where 8 workers died from Covid-19 and 350 more were infected because the company didn’t follow Covid-19 safety recommendations (see article here).
Capitalism is the best economic system when it’s regulated. Unregulated, the “free market” touted by conservatives leads to results like this. A market with no rules or policing makes no more sense than highways without traffic laws or cops. Should companies be allowed to engage in false advertising, put their thumb on the scale, or adulterate products? Do you want to live in an economy like that?
Sure there can be ill-advised, excessive, or unnecessary regulation.
But that calls for tweaking regulations, not dismantling the regulatory system and allowing businesses to do whatever they want at the expense of workers and consumers.
The economy, like the highway system, works better with rules and traffic cops. That’s why Republicans are wrong about government regulation of business.