Overview

With an injury rate more than twice the national average, meatpacking is one of the most dangerous jobs in America. In this regard, MCHR leads a multi-state public education and advocacy initiative to improve the health and safety of meatpacking workers throughout the Midwest. In conjuncture with Nebraska Appleseed, the Human Rights Program at the University of Minnesota, the UFCW, and Worker’s Interfaith Network the Midwest Coalition is working to investigate and make meatpacking a safer job by holding the meatpacking industry accountable to community standards.

Goals

• • Promote public education and advocate the rights of meatpacking workers. 
• • Document and publicize the conditions facing workers in the Midwest meatpacking industry. 
• • Collaborate with local unions and other partners to advocate for human rights protections in the workplace. 
• • Work on immigration reform issues that affect the largely immigrant workforce employed in meatpacking plants 

Actions

• • In November 2006, member organization Nebraska Appleseed released a report, Dignity on the Line: An Evaluation of the Nebraska Meatpacking Workers Bill of Rights.
• • The Coalition provided key testimony in the Minnesota Legislature, leading to the adoption of the Packinghouse Workers Bill of Rights in 2007. 
• • Coalition members completed over 350 surveys of meatpacking workers in Nebraska and Minnesota in 2007 documenting working conditions, health and safety concerns, and allowing workers to voice their concerns and thoughts about the industry. 
• • The Coalition established a “Slow Down the Line” campaign asking the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to push for slower line speeds in the meatpacking industry, to reduce worker injuries and to increase food safety. 
• • In October, 2009 Nebraska Appleseed released a report titled The Speed Kills You: The Voice of Nebraska's Meatpacking Workers detailing safety concerns expressed by meatpacking workers throughout Nebraska. 
• • In 2009 the Human Rights Program at the University of Minnesota, MCHR Member Organization, released a report, Meatpacking in Minnesota: An Assessment of the Packinghouse Bill of Rights.
• • The Coalition worked with community organizations following the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids at three meatpacking plants to raise awareness about human rights violations committed during the raids and to demand fair and comprehensive immigration reform. 
• • Since 2009 up until the present, the Coalition has be conducting a series of Focus Group Discussions in Minnesota, Nebraska, and Iowa with the goal of identifying the concerns of meat packing workers regionally.

For more information visit our Worker's Rights Resources Page