With over a hundred chaplains, poultry giant plunges into ministry

[Randi_Listener]

Walking the walk, on the assembly line

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7231900/

"MONETT, Mo. - “¡Madre! ¡Madre!”

The greetings ring out the moment Francis Rivers steps into the lunchroom at Tyson Foods’ chicken processing plant in the Missouri Ozarks. She circulates among the workers, chatting easily in unaccented Spanish. Some she asks about their families. With others, she shares in the gossip. At one table, she places her hand on a woman’s forehead and inquires about her health.

Much of the workforce here is made up of recent Hispanic immigrants to the United States. In Francis Rivers, many are welcoming their only spiritual counselor in their new country.

Francis Rivers is a nun. She is a vital link in the chain of support for many of the people who work in bone-chilling temperatures on the fast-moving lines of refrigerated machinery on which Tyson Foods guts, cleans, sorts and packages hundreds of thousands of chickens a week. She hears their triumphs and counsels them on their problems. She mediates their disputes with one another, with their spouses and sometimes with the company. She intercedes on their behalf with doctors and cops and teachers."

****************************************************

Now I gotta see these motherfuckers at work too? What's this shit with all the goddamn proselytizing at work?

[Richard Steele]

1. So you work at Tyson, RL?

[Randi_Listener]

2. Not yet but it's in the fucking mail.

This is bullshit.

[Richard Steele]

10. Wow, I don't know if I should wish you luck!

Tyson's processing plants sound like real hellholes, by most accounts.

I guess you NEED the job if you applied for it, so I'll wish you luck getting it...and I'll wish you luck finding something better QUICKLY.


I don't know what to think about this story; I think I'll hold off judgement until I hear from some WORKERS wh deal with these folks.

I mean, one one hand: If I was working there,(and more DEVOUT) I'm sure I would LOVE to see a representative of my faith just there to talk to people.

On the other hand: These folks are _PAID BY_ the TysonCorp???? WTF??? That just sets off my internal CREEPY-meter!
Didn't Jesus have some opinions on "serving two masters"?

[jdj]

3. they're right about that , the Tyson here hires DAILY at the

employment security commission. Apparently the jobs are so awful they can't keep people.

And there are many, many hispanic immigrants in this area.

[Randi_Listener]

8. This is FUCKED UP

The entire coutry is going total apeshit.

[Kerrytravelers]

4. Why oh why oh why oh why...

and I'm just curious. Let's say I'm a Muslim or a Hindu, do I get someone representative from my religion in there, too? Or is it just for Christians.


Hold your fire. I'm a Catholic... but I don't want to see nuns running around where I work.

How much does this nun get paid by Tyson's? Does that mean they fired a factory worker... or two... or twleve to pay for her salary? Perhaps they just raised the price for the consumers. What deal do they have going on with the local church.

Why so many questions and why am I terrified of what the answers may be?

[Randi_Listener]

5. Exactly. This is horse shit and I'm fucking pissed.

Where are the other goddamn soothsayers.

[jdj]

6. well she sure ain't there for the chickens.

I bet Tyson is protestant owned anyway.

I bet she does this as volunteer, cause these folks have nobody.

Just think, she can turn them on to her church, and they can come put all that hard earned chicken killing cash into the collection plate.

[Trillo]

7. Can relatives or friends come and visit instead,

and walk freely about the premisis like this nun?

How about workers calling out from the employer's telephone lines without sanction or charge during breaks?

[BiggJawn]

20. Never mind the relatives, how about UNION Reps?

If the company's just jake with nuns wandering around talking to the help, how would they feel about representatives of the Amalgamated Chicken-Choker's Brotherhood dropping by to chat with the help?

[bobthedrummer]

26. Hasn't the UFCW organized Tyson yet?

O8)

[BiggJawn]

27. Maybe. I'd be surprised though.

Outside of the UFW, I'd be surprised to find an industry that relies so heavily on immigrant labour allowing organization.

I just assumed they weren't organized, y'know?

[madrchsod]

9. what the fuck ?

do you guys have any idea why she is doing this? . to bad you guys do not have a clue.

[Richard Steele]

13. No, we DON'T have a clue.

If you have one, please share it.

That's kinda why we are here, y'know.

[Randi_Listener]

14. None of us have a fucking clue.

What's your goddamn story?

[madrchsod]

15. my best friends dad did this sort of thing for

years. back in the day we had hundreds of migrant workers here and they were taken advantage of by their employers and mostly by the cops. he did everything this nun is doing. he certainly wasn`t a "man of god" i suppose far from it-he was a drunk irishman from new england but he had the respect of every poor mexican laborer and their families for the many things that he did for them.
that`s why i am defended this nun, that`s her calling and she should be rewarded for it,well i guess she doesn`t care about rewards. tyson is another story but i could care less about what they think.if this nun can help these down and outs who are trying to make a living at a job no one else will take. i think it`s called compassion....

[Richard Steele]

17. I can certainly agree with compassion, re: this Nun.

I'm just freaked that the article quoted claims she is gettin _PAID_ by TysonCorp.

Tyson Corp is HUGE...I believe it is the single largest meat-moving Corp. in the recorded history of all mankind....

And I have personally only ever met 4 people who worked for it.
But those 4 people (who did not know each other) told me stories MUCH worse than any "expose" I ever saw on corporate media!

Only one was in management; he told me that the "personnel director" at his plant only had ONE function: to SHRED resumes, and personally drive the bags of resume-confetti to the local LANDFILL once a week, and to hang around to witness that the confetti was BULLDOZED.

His plant handled hiring thusly: They had a 15 foot strip of grass surrounding the building.

In order to "maintain" this vast green expanse, they had a privately-owned "landscaping service" on contract...

a 'landscaping service' that had:
23 employees (total, including the owner, who was a buddy of the Plant Manager)
22 pickup trucks (late-model, full sized)
1 lawnmower (push-type, age unknown, seen once weekly)

AND, (DingDingDING)
ONLY _ONE_ CLIENT: TysonCorp!!!!

LongStoryShort (Too Late, I know....)

His Tyson plant had created a phony 'landscaping' company that needed 22 pickup-trucks to pick up illegal-immigrant day-laborers EVERY DAMN DAY, while the 'landscaping' consisted of ONE guy with a pushmower once a week!

That's just ONE story of how Tyson laughs at the law, and I have talked long enough for one post.
The tales I heard from the LINE Worker...are a tale for another day.

Sincerely,
Richard Steele

On edit: I ramble first, edit for clarity later. May G*D have mercy upon my soul.

[theophilus]

23. "At a job no one else will take" sounds like a Rove talking point, but

I'll give you that ---- under the circumstances. Read "Fast Food Nation" and learn a lot about how the meat processing industry USED to be one of the best and safest jobs around. Then along came corporate greed during the Reagan years and now it is indeed nightmarish in many plants. If the jobs were safe and not torturous people would do the work, yes, even Americans. This is a complex issue. If the nun is helping these folks that is good but the big picture needs to be kept in focus. Tyson, and many others, need to shape up, IMHO.

[LdyGuique]

11. Oh, yeah, MO is the hotbed of Hispanic immigration

Can we say "ILLEGAL" Immigration? They are hired daily and don't speak English.

I've never noticed Tyson chicken products being cheaper due to their hiring practices.

[signmike]

12. Killin' chickens fer Jeeeezus

[burrowowl]

16. Strange!?!

Certainly isn't a Dorothy Day Catholic Worker type nun or Social Justice or Liberation Theology type nun. They didn't state her order, because Dominicans and Benedictins are in jail for protesting the Schools of the Americas (or Western Hemisphere whatnot now, or U$ trainng school for socialist and/or democratic gov. overthrow, torture and how to kill 200,000 Guatemalian Indians under Ray-gun and G. Bu$h I.

[Swamp Rat]

18. Where the HADES is Dionysus?!?

I want my Greek Gods represented and my Orisha! Just because the proselytizer is bought and paid for, like smoked salami, doesn't mean other Gods should be left out.

Pox on Tyson!

[BR_Parkway]

19. My first blink was WTF? but she is in a position to do some good. Working

with the Drs and other authority figures that the worker's are trained to obey and never question - making sure that the information is translated properly. Who knows, she could be the one that organizes them into some type of labor movement for better conditions.

[Randi_Listener]

21. No fucking way.

This is another goddamn attempt to further subvert the country into strictly a Christian nation.

[rocktivity]

22. It's part of a series on "Faith In America"

Why don't they call it Christiantity in America? I don't see them covering all faiths--and I about they'll be doing a chapter on atheists.

On edit: check out this question from their survey:

What is your religion?

• Protestant
  
• Catholic
  
• Jewish
  
• Muslim
  
• Other
  
• Not sure/refused

Not sure or refused??? What about a "Not affiliated" or just plain "None"?

:headbang:
rocknation

[Randi_Listener]

24. Not everyone has a goddamn religious affiliation.

The should address this shit as well or at least explain the fucking thing.

[fishwax]

25. I worked for a small company that had "chaplains"

they were hired from an outside company that specializes in corporate chaplains, believe it or not. At one point in time we had an insurance plan that covered mental health services. Then they revised the plan and had a plan that provided for a specific counselor/psychologist practice locally to treat employees and family at extremely low rates. Then they dropped that and brought in the chaplains, who would show up a couple of times a week and "chat" with everyone. They'd wander through the cubes and ask about your day/life, etc.

Some people found them useful, but they kind of got on my nerves, particularly b/c I knew the owners of the company were extreme social conservatives and I always assumed that they got rid of counseling services (psychology/psychiatry is evil, after all) and replaced them with religious figures for ideological reasons. One of the guys was really a nice guy, and wound up performing wedding ceremonies for a couple of people from the company, but even though I liked him personally I found the whole situation annoying.