Workers in the nation's meat and poultry plants toil in the most dangerous factory jobs in the nation, and the companies that employ them frequently abuse their rights, advocate groups said Thursday at the state Capitol.

They called for workers' compensation reforms to protect all workers' rights.

Representatives of labor rights, civil rights and religious organizations cited findings of a Human Rights Watch report, "Blood, Sweat and Fear: Workers' Rights in U.S. Meat and Poultry Plants," and said Texas poultry and meatpacking workers face the same violations found in the study.

"It's really shocking that in 21st century America, we're talking about worker safety practices that are so bad they violate international human rights standards," said Bill Beardall, director of the Equal Justice Center, an Austin-based legal advocacy project.

Released in January, the Human Rights Watch report found that workers face a danger of losing a limb or their lives and that companies frequently deny workers' compensation to employees hurt on the job and intimidate workers who try to organize. Employers take advantage of immigrant workers who are increasingly becoming an important part of the industry's work force.

Trade organizations for the meat and poultry companies have rejected the study's claims. The American Meat Institute, for example, said the report was "way off the mark" and that employees are paid on average almost twice the minimum wage and their rates of unionization are higher than in other industries. It said the industry is monitored by federal authorities and that injury rates are falling.

Human Rights Watch says that injuries are underreported.

"The problems we found seem to be systematic, indeed epidemic in the poultry processing industry," said Lance Compa, a labor rights expert and the report's author.

He said that high speeds on the factory lines put enormous pressures on workers. In a single shift, workers make up to 25,000 hard-cutting motions with sharp knives, often cutting themselves or one another, and that carpal tunnel syndrome and injuries resulting from repetitive movement are common.

The Texas poultry industry, which employs about 13,000 workers, is the fifth-largest producer in the nation, said Anita Grabowski of Austin, with the Poultry Worker Justice Project.

The Legislature is considering competing proposals in the Senate and House and various amendments for overhauling the workers' compensation system, which has been widely criticized.

"It's a critical moment," Grabowski said. "Whatever happens can really advance protections for worker rights, particularly for injured workers, or it could be major setback."

Grabowski said supporters want reforms that give workers fair legal representation and a broad choice of doctors, and ensure that companies cannot force employees to sign waivers that relieve the company of legal responsibility.

http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/03/8POULTRYWORKERS.html