From Feb. 10 to 15, 2008, the Charlotte Observer published a six-part special report called "The Cruelest Cuts," which chronicles the plight of poultry workers at the House of Raeford Farms poultry plants in the Carolinas. This stunning work of investigative journalism reveals the corruption of the poultry plants and the Bush Administration behind the egregious health and safety violations in the Carolina poultry plants--similar to those that occurred in Mississippi Chicken. Like Mississippi Chicken, this report highlights the abuses suffered by the largely undocumented Latin American immigrant population and calls them a "new, silent subclass," comparing the current epidemic of musculoskeletal disorders in meatprocessing to "black lung in the coal industry and brown lung in textiles."

After the Observer ran the series, Sen. Edward Kennedy and others in Congress announced that they would hold hearings this spring on worker health and safety in the poultry industry. Read more about their plans here.

With the Bush Administration drawing to a close and the impunity of the poultry industry becoming increasingly well-documented, the prospects for strenghtening workers' rights are looking better everyday.

It’s the holiday season, and in the spirit of Christmas a major poultry company fired one of MPOWER’s board members in what appears to be a retaliatory action for his active involvement in fighting several cases of race discrimination at the plant.

MPOWER is the workers’ center that was in the early stages of formation during the production of Mississippi Chicken, and it has developed over the last few years into a vibrant center, fighting for workers’ rights and led by a board of current and former poultry workers. But MPOWER’s struggle for workers’ rights is an uphill battle against wealthy and ruthless poultry companies that do not hesitate to intimidate workers who stand up for their rights or the rights of their co-workers.

The MPOWER board member who was just fired took a leading role in fighting several cases of racial discrimination in his plant. In one instance, over a dozen African Americans who applied for a promotion were told that they failed a company-written aptitude test while other white co-workers passed the test and were given the promotion. In another instance, an African American worker was fired for failing to lock out a machine that he was working on while other white workers are not even written up for similar practices. Additionally, just this fall, the company paid back wages to a group of African American workers after it was revealed that their white co-workers in the same department were making significantly more than they were.

Like the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, the company appears to be making an example out of the MPOWER board member for daring to speak out against these abuses. So in the spirit of the holidays, we need you to donate to MPOWER to help support these workers. Your support will send a message to the multibillion-dollar poultry companies that they will not get away with these tactics of discrimination, intimidation and harassment.

MPOWER’s goal is to raise $50,000 by the end of January in order to hire a fulltime organizer to work with poultry workers facing harassment and to create an Emergency Assistance Fund for poultry worker leaders who are victims of retaliatory firing and workplace injuries or who experience unforeseen family emergencies.

Please go to www.mpowercenter.org today to make a donation and help MPOWER reach this goal!

Happy Holidays from the Mississippi Chicken team!