To reduce prices for U.S. consumers and boost American exports, the U.S. government should waive the 140 birds-per-minute (BPM) cap on how many chickens can be handled by factory workers.
This is relevant in light of a new push by the National Chicken Council to repeal the Obama-era cap on how many birds-per-minute can be killed.
Of course, most of the media disagrees. Interviewing an array of left-wing activists, Newsweek quotes a former Obama administration official who explained that administration refused to waive the cap limit because “…. we didn’t want thousands of workers to have their arms destroyed by having to cut up chickens at 175 birds per minute.” Similarly, NBC News quotes Debbie Berkowitz of the pro-minimum wage National Employment Law Project (NELP), who says, “There’s no data to support that this would be safe. And even at existing line speeds, it’s extremely unsafe.”
While these organizations pretend that their concerns are about worker safety, what they’re really interested in is continued inefficiency. They know that if chicken suppliers are able to speed up their inspections protocols, they’ll be able to use fewer staff to put more chickens on the market at lower costs.
The critics also claim that raising the BPM rate would lead to declining chicken standards.
I doubt it.
After all, assuming it is telling the truth — and I believe it is — the National Chicken Council claims that “Broiler plants in Brazil, Argentina, Canada, Belgium and Germany, among others, all operate at line speeds of 200 or more birds per minute.” While Brazil might not have the regulatory standards of the other listed nations, it’s a stretch to believe that the regulatory friendly European Union states of Belgium and Germany are taking risks with their populations. In turn, if 200 BPM is good enough for Europe, it should be good enough for America.
Indeed, because U.S. companies use chlorine to clean chicken products before supplying them to market, our chickens are probably amongst the safest in the world.
Ultimately, what this comes down to is the public interest in greater productivity and the left-wing’s interest in protecting vested interests. But if we can get more chickens safely to market for less money, we should do so. That course is the one most likely to boost export-focused jobs, and reduce prices for consumers.
