US Chamber and Tyson Foods Fought Workplace Safety Measures ($500,000 fine)

[Omaha Steve]

Source: SEIU.ORG

By Tyler Prell

Little Rock--Tyson Foods and the US Chamber of Commerce are actively fighting workplace safety measures that could have prevented the tragic death of a Tyson Foods worker, said Rev. Copley today.

On Friday, a U.S. District Court in Arkansas ruled that Tyson Foods Inc. must pay a $500,000 fine for "willfully" violating workplace safety regulations that led to the 2003 death of Jason Kelley, a maintenance worker at its River Valley Animal Foods plant in Texarkana. Mr. Kelley was killed by toxic fumes emitted from a machine he was repairing.

"Mr. Kelley's death is the worst possible example of what can happen when employees do not have a voice on the job and are not protected at work. If workers had a voice at that plant, if they had a union, there could have been a more rigorous safety program in place to prevent this tragic loss of life," said Rev. Copley.

Despite an identical accident in 2002, Tyson Foods did not put safety measures in place to make sure it didn't happen again. Tyson Foods workers do not have a union and its workers were not able to hold their employer accountable for failing to enforce these federally mandated worker safety protections.

Read more: http://www.seiu.org/2009/06/us-chamber-and-tyson-foods-fought-workplace-safety-measures.php

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