We at the FAU Bielefeld union want to address the situation of human workers in
the animal industry in addition to the right and important contributions to thesuffering of non-human animals in this system. ---- The undignified conditions inthe animal industry have been drawn into the public eye, above all by the coronavirus: the workers have to live in large numbers in accommodation that is far toocramped and come to work regardless of their state of health, and there is alsothe risk of infection by working closely in areas contaminated with blood andfaeces. ---- A brief outcry that quickly died away. Few seem to care thatconditions were just as bad before, and still are now. Politicians seem happythat they can sweep it all under the carpet again and that the mass media nolonger mentions that they themselves are involved in building and maintaining thesystem.Part of the lack of interest from large parts of the public is certainly also dueto the fact that many people completely banish the animal industry from theireveryday thoughts because the injustices are too obvious. Any person seriouslyconcerned with the animal industry system needs to question capitalism and oursenseless and cruel hierarchical relationship with nonhuman animals in general.Another aspect is likely that the workers are mostly from Eastern Europe and manyof them speak little or no German, which makes it particularly easy to withholdinformation about their rights and exploit them - an exploitation we benefitfrom, which is why there is often little interest in ending them.About three quarters of the 100,000 workers in German slaughterhouses have workcontracts, which means that they have to suffer worse working conditions than thepermanent workforce and are barely paid starvation wages.Around 30,000 of these contract workers come from Eastern Europe, mostly Bulgariaor Romania. And recently also some from the Ukraine, since Tönnies hasblackmailed many refugees by assuring them transport and accommodation if theysign an employment contract - for 11 euros gross and without being able to taketheir families with them, while Tönnies in 2021, for example, one had recordsales of 6.2 billion euros.Cases have come to the public where these workers have been directly banned fromeven speaking to core staff - a ban that is even enforced by security forces. Itshould be prevented at all costs that contract workers can be informed abouttheir rights and that should take away any illusion that these people "should behappy to have jobs at all".In addition, there is the constant need to process more and more animals in lessand less time. On the one hand, this increases the psychological pressure on theworkers, and on the other hand, careless mistakes that result in extreme animalsuffering are becoming more frequent.What does it matter to a human being to separate calves from their mothers on adaily basis or to shoot screaming creatures bolt after bolt just to make enoughmoney to make ends meet? Many flee into alcoholism in order to be able to enduretheir everyday life somehow.A study by the University of South Africa found that workers in a slaughterhouseare often prone to emotional absence, substance abuse, loss of concentration,sleep disorders, depression and more violent acts.An anonymous slaughterhouse worker wrote the following in an article for the BBC:"As I spent day after day in this large, windowless box, my chest feltincreasingly heavy and a gray mist settled over me. During the night my mindtaunted me with nightmares and replayed some of the horrors I experiencedthroughout the day."Not only are the psychological consequences terrible, but at the same time thework is physically demanding and dangerous. The daily contact with largecreatures in fear of death and sharp blades and hooks causes numerous injuries,which are often not even allowed to go to the doctor, but simply have to continueworking. In addition, there are injuries and chronic pain caused by therepetitive, strenuous work.And the fact that human workers also live and work in horrible conditions andhave to endure physical injuries and traumatic experiences again and againaffects the situation of non-human animals when workers are no longer able tohandle them properly stun or even take out their own desperation on them.The veterinary services, which are supposed to monitor conditions in theslaughterhouses and report violations, witness these abuses on a daily basis andsometimes even help the slaughterhouses to destroy the evidence against them whenthe conditions are exposed. No wonder, because inspectors can simply be fired bythe companies if they become too uncomfortable.Of course, thousands of demands could now be made on politicians or owners ofcompanies in the animal industry, begging that screw xy should be turned a bit inorder to at least improve the conditions a bit.But that's not enough for us, because that wouldn't prevent the exploitation, atmost it would cover it up. The entire animal industry must be abolished, togetherwith all industrial exploitation and reification of living beings!However, the workers in the animal industry have our fullest solidarity andsupport. They must be guaranteed a new job in an industry that does not exploitanimals, non-human or human.This system harms everyone who comes into contact with it. It destroys the livesof human and non-human animals and the planet at that. Let's put an end to thisand do our part towards a reality where all living beings can be free!Sources:Exploitation in the meat industry:https://www.tagesspiegel.de/gesellschaft/was-insider-uber-die-ausbeutung-in-der-fleischindustrie-verraten-5066875.htmlPsychological consequences (article):https://greenstarsproject.org/2020/05/04/social-impact-meat-industry-slaughterhouse-conditions-ptsd/Psychological consequences (study):https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4841092/Corona in the slaughterhouse:https://www.tagesspiegel.de/wirtschaft/wenn-das-kotelett-knapp- wird-4166134.htmlSituation in the US:https://aldf.org/article/industrial-animal-agriculture-exploiting-workers-and-animals/#easy-footnote-13-29099BBC staff report: https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-50986683Tönnies recruits refugees:https://taz.de/Toennies-werbt-ukrainische-Gefluechtete-an/!5845384/Transport and agent fees: https://www.wsws.org/de/articles/2020/06/23/toen-j23.htmlTönnies turnover 2021:https://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/handel-spendergueter/nahrungsmittel-fleischgruppe-toennies-verhlt-almost-eine-milliarde-euro-verkauf/28280590.htmlhttps://bielefeld.fau.org/redebeitrag-situation-der-arbeiterinnen-in-der-tierindustrie/_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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