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Abstract #150708

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Sara A. Quandt, PhD¹, Antonio Marín, MA², Joseph G. Grzywacz, PhD², Lourdes Carrillo, BS³, Michael L. Coates, MD, MS², and Thomas A. Arcury, PhD². (1) Department of Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Medical Center Blvd, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, 336-716-6015, squandt@wfubmc.edu, (2) Department of Family and Community Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Medical Center Blvd, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, (3) Western North Carolina Workers Center, P.O. Box 667, Morganton, NC 28680

Over 250,000 workers are employed in poultry processing, one of the most dangerous industries in the US. Increasingly these jobs are held by immigrant workers, most of whom lack basic knowledge of workers' rights to workplace safety and are reluctant to pursue justice for their injuries. This paper draws on data collected during the research phases of a community-based participatory research and social justice project. Using data from 32 in-depth interviews and community ethnography in western North Carolina, this analysis describes the power relations among workers and between workers and supervisors. Three types of power relations form the basis for interactions in the plant: ethnicity (American vs. Latino), immigration status (“good papers” vs. undocumented), and rank (supervisor vs. worker). Two factors modify these relations: kinship (preferences and privileges for family members) and gender. Reports from survey data collected in 200 interviews in a representative, community-based sample of workers demonstrate that workers' reports of supervisor-worker power relationships are associated with a variety of specific and summary health indicators. The associations are stronger for women than for men. This suggests that among Latino immigrants working in poultry plants, power differences may promote occupational illnesses and injuries, particularly for women. (NIOSH grant OH008335)

Learning Objectives:

• •Identify components of social relations within poultry plants
• •Demonstrate the combination of qualitative and quantitative methods as a way to understand determinants of occupational injuries and illnesses in hard-to-reach populations

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

• Audio (mp3) recording
• Slides (pdf) or Handout
• Multimedia recording