The archive of the show is available online. You can hear about how they conducted their investigation and the lax workplace safety measures at House of Raeford Farms plants throughout the Carolinas.

You can read the full series, The Creulest Cuts, online at the Observer Web site.

Reporters spent 22 months investigating the poultry industry in North Carolina and South Carolina, interviewing more than 200 workers and reviewing thousands of documents.  They found that between 80 percent  to 90 percent of the workforce at some plants is Latino and that is by  design. As one plant employment superviser told a reporter, she was encouraged to hire Latinos because they are likely to complain and report their injuries.

House of Raeford is clearly violating the spirit of the state's workers' compensation laws.

"The company has compiled misleading injury reports and has defied regulators as it satisfies a growing appetite for America's most popular meat. And employees say the company has ignored, intimidated or fired workers who were hurt on the job. "

Among the findings of the Charlotte Observer series, called the Cruelest Cuts:

• House of Raeford's 800-worker plant in West Columbia, S.C., reported no musculoskeletal disorders over four years. Experts say that's inconceivable. MSDs, including carpal tunnel syndrome, are the most common work-related injuries afflicting poultry workers.

• Its Greenville, S.C., plant has boasted of a five-year safety streak with no lost-time accidents. But the plant kept that streak alive by bringing injured employees back to the factory hours after surgery.

• The company has broken the law by failing to record injuries on government safety logs, a top OSHA official says.

• At four of the company's largest Carolinas plants, company first-aid attendants and supervisors have dismissed some workers' requests to see a doctor -- even when they complained of debilitating pain.

 Our journalists found evidence that House of Raeford has failed to report serious injuries, including broken bones and carpal tunnel syndrome. They discovered that plant officials often dismissed workers' requests for medical care that would cost the company money.

22 months, interviewed more than 200 poultry workers, many of them Latinos.

The regular readers of Workers First Watch are likely already aware of Wal-Mart's egregious violations of labor laws, its dismal environmental record, its bleeding precious tax dollars through infrastructure subsidies, and the incredible number of its associates who must avail themselves of tax-supported public assistance programs. The movie is most effective, however, in indicating this is not just an inevitable consequence of Wal-Mart policy, but the result of a conscious, articulated corporate game-plan. Wal-Mart employees, for example, are encouraged by store managers to explore and enroll in public relief programs for insurance, in place of non-existing Wal-Mart benefits packages.

For many readers, this is preaching to the choir. Many of us have friends and family (or - admit it - in a private moment, ourselves) who stop at a ubiquitous Wal-Mart / Sam's Club empire. Studies suggest one of these mammoth buildings is within five minutes of 94% of all Americans nationwide. This film underscores the point: patronizing Wal-Mart is flat out wrong.

The film artfully illustrates the feel that those of us who have dealt with Wal-Mart employees already know. The incredible hypocrisy spewed by this giant in all its abysmal litany of violations (Fair Labor Standards Act, overtime violations, sex and race discrimination claims, NRLA Union busting, etc.).

Wal-Mart president Lee Scott's annual year end report to his shareholders becomes a standup comic routine as his saccharin-sweet pronouncements are contrasted on screen with the better commentary of Wal-Mart ex-managers and employees. Some heretofore unpublicized nuances emerged from this movie, revealing the profit-over-people philosophy permeating the Wal-Mart corporate culture. After receiving tax-supported subsidies for infrastructure (roads, stop lights, sewers, etc.), many Wal-Mart locales move outside city limits when local property taxes are imposed.

Not to despair, the film concludes with uplifting stories involving community activists whose valiant efforts have kept Wal-Mart from expanding into and destroying their local communities. The film is a must-see for all progressives concerned about working people. Copies can be requested on the website www.Wal-Martmovie.com or via info at www.bravenewfilms.org.

WILG Workers First Watch
May 2006

Tom Domer is a member of the WILG Board of Directors and is the Chair of the WFW-Workers' First Watch Editorial Board. He is an adjunct faculty member at Marquette University School of Law, where he teaches workers' compensation law. He has authored numerous articles and texts on workers' comp. Domer also holds a Ph.D. from Marquette University. He may be reached at Domer Law in Milwaukee, WI at 414-967-5656 or tom@domerlaw.com.