'I had to wear Pampers' - Oxfam uncovers sick working conditions in US poultry plants

A recent report by Oxfam America has found that American poultry workers are being denied toilet breaks.

In a report titled No Relief, Oxfam America reported that they had begun investigating the American poultry industry because of the unusually high rate of illness associated with it.

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What they found makes for grim reading.

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Workers told the anti-poverty charity that they are frequently denied the use of the bathroom, and that their supervisors routinely mock their needs.

"Workers struggle to cope with this denial of a basic human need. They urinate and defecate while standing on the line; they wear diapers to work; they restrict intake of liquids and fluids to dangerous degrees; they endure pain and discomfort while they worry about their health and job security. And it’s not just their dignity that suffers: they are in danger of serious health problems," Oxfam reported.

Much as the The National Chicken Council told The Guardian it believes that “such instances are extremely rare”, Oxfam's report found otherwise.

"In one survey of 266 workers in Alabama conducted by the Southern Poverty Law Center, nearly 80 percent said they are not allowed to take bathroom breaks when needed. A recent survey in Minnesota revealed that 86 percent of workers interviewed said they get fewer than two bathroom breaks in a week," Oxfam reported.

Why is this happening? Because when someone goes on a bathroom break it slows down the production line, and supervisors are under a lot of pressure to make sure that doesn't happen.

Consequently supervisors make taking bathroom breaks difficult, with some workers saying they have to wait up to an hour to go to the toilet.

Fern, who works at a Tyson plant in Arkansas told Oxfam, “Our supervisor always makes fun of us. He says we eat too much so we go to the bathroom a lot.”

Betty, who also works at Tyson, notes, “That’s what they say to us. Don’t drink and eat a lot—if you do, you will end up in the bathroom five times a day.”

“I had to wear Pampers. I and many, many others had to wear Pampers,” Dolores, who worked at a Simmons plant in Arkansas told Oxfam.

Meanwhile a facility in Mississippi is facing a lawsuit -  because a supervisor was charging its female workers for the use of the bathroom.

And when they do get the toilet, the break frequently has them stripping off their gear on the way in order to meet the strict time limits they're given.

“Workers have reported policies limiting bathroom breaks to five minutes… Workers described stripping off their gear while running to the restroom, an embarrassing but necessary action to meet the strict five-minute time limit. This race to the bathroom is also dangerous because processing plant floors can be slippery with fat, blood, water, and other liquids,” Oxfam quotes the Southern Poverty Law Center as noting.

Sometimes workers lose control of their bladders on the way.

According to Forbes, Tyson said they found the claims troubling, but claims that as the Oxfam report protected the anonymity of their sources to avoid reprisals, they can't investigate the allegations.

“Our production supervisors are instructed to allow Team Members to leave the production line if they need to use the restroom. Not permitting them to do so is simply not tolerated,” Tyson said.

This was similar to what Simmons told the Guardian.

Pilgrim’s Pride, which was also mentioned in the report, told Forbes via Email; "We care for our people and work hard to provide a safe, respectful working environment … Any allegations of the nature claimed by Oxfam, if proven, would be clear violations of company policy and would result in disciplinary action."