A Brief Note On Iowa Beef Packers ( Ibp ) - 950 Words

While America’s economy has fluctuated significantly throughout the last century, growth has remained consistent in the meatpacking industry; companies like IBP Inc. reported profits of $198 million on sales of $12.5 billion back in 1997 (Hettena, Seth. 1997). Today, Iowa Beef Packers (IBP) is one of four companies including ConAgra, National Beef and Excel that collectively comprise the meatpacking industry in United States. Excel is a subsidiary of Cargill, which alone controls 85 percent of the market (Gzedit. 2001). Unions, which are in place to prevent workers’ rights from being overlooked, now find themselves far removed from the locations of factories owned by these companies, and more undocumented workers are being hired with little to no incentive for change. â€Å"Decades ago, meatpacking was centered in labor-friendly urban areas. But the giant stockyards of Chicago, Fort Worth and Kansas City are long gone. The industry built huge plants closer to the livestock—and in right-to-work states where unions are far less popular† (Sharon. 2006). Unions are not providing adequate protection for the workers, and more undocumented workers are being hired, which raises a question: are illegal immigrants taking advantage of the system, or is the system taking advantage of them? Risks and Subsequent Changes The risks associated with working in meatpacking factories have plagued the industry for a long time. Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle exposed the repulsive dangers and perilsShow MoreRelatedFast Food Nation : The Dark Side Of The All American Meal5122 Words   |  21 Pagesbiggest fast food chains in America first started out as small restaurants, mainly in southern California, that adapted to the changing lifestyle of Americans and revolutionized the way people eat their meals. He supports his claim by first giving a brief story of Carl N. Karcher’s life and how he began his business in the fast food industry in Anaheim, California, then he explains how â€Å"curb service† worked for customers with automobiles since cars became a more common method of transportation thus