Working Conditions of the Meat Industry
Case Assignment 5: Working Conditions of the Meat Industry
20 June 2011
Recognition of the inherent dignity and of equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and the security of person. These few words pretty much sums up the mission of the Human Rights Watch (HRW), an international non-governmental organization whose main focus is to ensure the wellbeing and the inherent rights to life that all human beings are entitled to. By using means such as the media for example, Human Rights Watch sets out to not only insure that all human beings live their lives with dignity but to also bring to justice those who, through merciless dictatorships, suppress the happiness and basic human rights of their people. The purpose of this paper is to discuss my opinion on whether or not I agree with certain changes recommended by the HRW in regards to work safety when it comes to immigrant workers. I will provide my opinion and consider some of the utilitarian and deontological considerations.
In 1906, Upton Sinclair 's novel "The Jungle" uncovered harrowing conditions inside America 's meat packing plants and initiated a period of transformation in the nation 's meat industry. The Pure Food and Drug Act and the Federal Meat Inspection Act were both passed later that year, and labor organizations slowly began to improve the conditions under which the country 's meat packers toiled. But some critics say America 's meat business has been in decline for decades and that the poor conditions found in slaughterhouses and packing facilities today are often little better than those described by Sinclair. The Human Rights Watch was founded in 1978 as “Helsinki Watch” to support and protect individual dissidents and independent citizen groups in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. The aim was to defend the rights of suppressed writers, scholars, and
20 June 2011
Recognition of the inherent dignity and of equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and the security of person. These few words pretty much sums up the mission of the Human Rights Watch (HRW), an international non-governmental organization whose main focus is to ensure the wellbeing and the inherent rights to life that all human beings are entitled to. By using means such as the media for example, Human Rights Watch sets out to not only insure that all human beings live their lives with dignity but to also bring to justice those who, through merciless dictatorships, suppress the happiness and basic human rights of their people. The purpose of this paper is to discuss my opinion on whether or not I agree with certain changes recommended by the HRW in regards to work safety when it comes to immigrant workers. I will provide my opinion and consider some of the utilitarian and deontological considerations.
In 1906, Upton Sinclair 's novel "The Jungle" uncovered harrowing conditions inside America 's meat packing plants and initiated a period of transformation in the nation 's meat industry. The Pure Food and Drug Act and the Federal Meat Inspection Act were both passed later that year, and labor organizations slowly began to improve the conditions under which the country 's meat packers toiled. But some critics say America 's meat business has been in decline for decades and that the poor conditions found in slaughterhouses and packing facilities today are often little better than those described by Sinclair. The Human Rights Watch was founded in 1978 as “Helsinki Watch” to support and protect individual dissidents and independent citizen groups in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. The aim was to defend the rights of suppressed writers, scholars, and
References: Blackwell, Jon. 1906: Rumble over ‘The Jungle’, retrieved 15 Jun 2011 from: http://www.capitalcentury.com/1906.html Meatpacking in the U.S.: Still a "Jungle" Out There? (2006), retrieved 15 Jun 2007, from: http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/250/meat-packing.html Parker, Laura, USA just wouldn’t work without immigrant labor, (July 2001), retrieved 15 Jun 2011, from: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/july01/2001-07-23-immigrant.htm