Peanut Plant Employees Knew, Said Nothing
The former workers of the family-owned firm based in Lynchburg, Va., said the problems were obvious and long-running.
“It was pretty filthy around there,” said Jones, 50, who said he worked in the sanitation department for eight months before being laid off.
Recalling rainwater leaking into the plant, he said, “It was coming in through the roof and the vents, but that didn’t stop them from making the paste.”
Jones said he earned $6.55 an hour but was happy to have the job, which included mopping water and setting traps that sometimes caught three or four rats a day.
- Ex-employees tell of ‘filthy’ conditions at Georgia peanut processing plant by Dahleen Glanton
of the Los Angeles Times
While I thought it was a worthwhile exercise trying to see through the eyes of Peanut Corporation’s staff, it is rather eye-opening to see their explanation for the sanitation problems which were kept under wraps, shipped, and delivered:
… employees often talked among themselves about the conditions, but that most workers did not complain to management because they wanted to keep their jobs.
Perhaps it is not wise to leave food preparation to the underpaid.
