Poultry Firms Accused of Labor Violations

The Department of Labor announced Thursday actions against two major poultry processors for allegedly violating wage and hour laws within their largely immigrant low-wage work forces.

Perdue Farms agreed to pay about $10 million to more than 25,000 current and former employees and to change its practices under a consent judgment filed by the department in U.S. District Court in Tennessee. At the same time, the department filed suit against Tyson Foods Inc. on behalf of workers at the company’s Blountsville, Ala., processing facility.

Both cases grew out of allegations that employees were not paid for time spent “donning and doffing” special clothing and equipment required for their work. Workers and advocates, including union organizers and human rights groups, claim those extra minutes should be compensated because they are a required part of the job. Some employers, however, equate the practice with putting on a business suit or donning a hard hat, and say they should not be required to pay for the time.

The question has been litigated in recent years for various classes of workers, including those in meatpacking and in grocery stores, with mixed results. Similar lawsuits were filed by workers at Perdue and Tyson in 1999, with the help of religious groups and the United Food and Commercial Workers, and were pending as of Thursday.

In a statement, Perdue Farms Chairman Jim Perdue said he was “pleased that as a result of the discussions that we initiated almost three years ago, we have been able to conclude the question as to how associates are compensated for donning and doffing.” Parties to the settlement agreed to compensate workers for eight minutes per shift going back two years.

The Department of Labor also had been in discussions with Tyson, but could not reach a settlement, both sides said. In a statement, Tyson chief counsel Les R. Baledge lashed out at the department and plaintiffs’ lawyers, and said the company has consistently followed state and federal laws. He said work preparation at Tyson “is nothing more than putting on clothing, which in our plants typically includes a hairnet, earplugs and a white lab coat.”