‘Vincent’, a worker in meat processing, gives us a clear and extensive breakdown of the harsh working conditions in the food industry. Among his comments he cites the intense workrate (58 seconds to de-bone a ham) and the appalling conditions (the cold, the standing position).
Monique. On an electronics assembly line, Monique has had to insert 60 television components a minute. She speaks with a dry smile about her tendons and ligaments irreparably damaged after 40 years of such rapid and repetitive movements. She concludes that machines are treated better than workers.
Joseph. The breathing of his beloved accordeon contrasts with the frail condition of his own damaged lungs, the result of a life-time laying pipes in a shipyard. Asbestos, which does not burn, has consumed the life of this exemplary worker. Now he gazes towards that sad horizon across the sea where so many colleagues have already gone.
‘Christophe’ underlines that in fish processing the extreme working conditions have never really improved over the decades. Hands and feet are still frozen, 70-kilo boxes still have to be lifted and large knives still wielded without rest. He shouts out his disgust but continues fighting for a better future.
