Union head claims USDA tried to intimidate employees

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON - The head of the union that represents 6,000 federal food inspectors told a congressional committee Thursday that the Agriculture Department tried to intimidate him and other employees who reported violations of regulations, an allegation denied by the agency.

Union chief Stan Painter said that following a mad cow disease scare in 2003, he told superiors that new food safety regulations for slaughtered cattle were not being uniformly enforced. Painter said he was told to drop the matter, and when he didn't, was grilled by department officials and then placed on disciplinary investigative status.

Painter said he was eventually exonerated, but the incident "has caused a chilling effect on others within my bargaining unit to come forward and stand up when agency management is wrong." He said that supervisors tell workers to "let the system work" rather than cite slaughterhouses for violations.

Painter made the allegations at a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform domestic policy subcommittee, which was looking into slaughterhouse practices following humane violations at Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. in Chino, Calif., which led to the largest beef recall in U.S. history.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080417/ap_on_go_co/congress_slaughterhouse_abuse

[kestrel91316]

1. How is the system "working", one wonders, when no citations are issued

for the many violations???

If I ever go to work for USDA, they're gonna have ME to contend with, lol. And I'd be watching their a--es like a hawk.

[Omaha Steve]

2. My Bro in Law was a packer for years

Never ate anything from his plant. Heard way to much!

K&R for a great post.

[bluesmail]

3. probably because it's mostly cloned beef

I don't know for sure but it wouldn't surprise me. I know I'm neither shocked nor surprised. (They do have their men in place, don't they)?

[unkachuck]

4. if we were....

....serious about keeping our food supply safe, all federal food inspectors would be appointed for life with their pay tied to performance....and then throw in some stiff new laws with severe financial and criminal penalties for bribing a food inspector....


....that might eliminated some of the politics and corporate influence regarding food safety....while we're at it, we should do the same thing with FAA inspectors....

[FormerOstrich]

6. In the 80's....

your vision was close to reality. I worked in a Poultry plant and the USDA inspectors called the shots. Period.

Inspectors wouldn't even drink the company coffee because they didn't want any indication of impropriety. They worked close with our QA and tested a large percent of the birds. Furthermore, they had the authority to condemn the meat for any reason (or any reason I was aware of). When the meat was condemned they poured buckets of red paint on it.....no mistakes...

They would work with the plant owners on some reprocessing before out right condemn if the situation warranted. For instance, I basting needle broke off into a turkey and wasn't reported for several hours. They worked with the plan to x-ray the birds instead of condemning them. After x-raying exceeded the break even point they did condemn.

I felt very safe eating any product with a USDA stamp on it. That was then and this is now.....I trust nothing about USDA.

edit...stupid typo

[ohio2007]

5. But who poisoned all that beef a few months ago? PETA ?

somebody has to be the scapegoat for that massive recall