The slaughterhouse experience : a critical case study of workers in the British industrial meat processing sector

Abstract

This thesis contributes to the ‘Sociology of the Slaughterhouse’ (York, 2004) by mapping out the experiences of industrial meat workers in The United Kingdom (UK). It utilises primary qualitative data to distinguish both what these experiences are and how they differentiate between workers based on ethnicity and job type. It heavily draws upon fields of ‘dirty work’ theory and migration to help understand the social and psychological forces which mould these experiences. British Industrial Meat Processing Sector (BIMPS) employers often favour hiring migrant workers over their UK counterparts. Narratives from employers suggest that there is a ‘need’ to hire migrant workers due to difficulties recruiting UK workers. Yet, upon investigation, there were benefits for employers to hire migrants, including higher degrees of control, the possibility to pay less, and creating access to wider labour pools through family and friends. At the same time, the argument from employers that UK workers are simply ‘bad workers’ proved false, with plenty of UK workers finding employment, working hard, and enjoying their jobs. Once hired, workers reported several difficulties in the workplace. Strenuous physical labour, psychological difficulties from exposure to slaughter, workplace aggression and intra-group conflict were common. Concurrently, workers found a sense of shared endeavour with colleagues, pride in their skills and knowledge, and deep meaning in their work. The occupational community provided workers with opportunities for camaraderie and leisure activities. Many of these problems and benefits cut across ethnicity and job types. However, migrants were found to be paid less and sometimes receive the ‘worse’ jobs but did benefit from a ‘migrant solidarity’ which was absent for UK workers. The thesis indicates that whilst ethnicity did affect some aspects of work, overall, workers, regardless of background, had similar experiences. Job type affected this to some extent, especially for MHIs/OVs but there was still much overlap between both ethnic groups and occupations.