Another Unregulated Private Sector Triumph

Tyson Foods is a pretty big employer in Wilkes County. So, we are kind of curious if this story will get any coverage in the local or regional media:

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- An Arkansas federal judge on Friday ordered Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN) to pay $500,000, the maximum criminal fine allowable, and serve a year's probation for violations of worker-safety regulations that led to a worker's death.

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In a county where unemployment is sky high--and worker-activism is not exactly appreciated or encouraged--we suspect that there will be no coverage at all in the local media. It would even seem fair to say that Wilkes is a company county, now that Lowe's is basically gone.

The likelihood of Tyson workers in Wilkes expressing their concern over incidents like this to local management is about zilch. And who could blame them? They'd be afraid of losing their jobs...in a extremely tough economy.

There's more though:

Little Rock--Tyson Foods and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are actively fighting workplace safety measures that could have prevented the tragic death of a Tyson Foods worker, said Reverend Steve Copley today.

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"Mr. Kelley's death is the worst possible example of what can happen when employees do not have a voice on the job and are not protected at work. If workers had a voice at that plant, if they had a union, there could have been a more rigorous safety program in place to prevent this tragic loss of life," said Rev. Copley.

Despite an identical accident in 2002, Tyson Foods did not put safety measures in place to make sure it didn't happen again. Tyson Foods workers do not have a union and its workers were not able to hold their employer accountable for failing to enforce these federally mandated worker safety protections.

"Groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that opposed the original Occupational Safety and Workplace Act and are now fighting legislation that would enable allowing more workers to choose to form a union. They're opposing workplace safety," said Rev. Copley.

Does the local or regional media have any responsibility to employees who might be too scared to ask for basic workplace protections--which would prevent accidents like this from occurring...or even to ensuring that this tragic story is made known to their readers?

Or is everyone still stuck in that "all unions are evil" mentality? Unions...you remember...the folks that brought you the weekend, worker safety, and a decent wage?