U.S. meat processing plants criticized over human rights

"Working conditions at three U.S. meat processing plants in North Carolina, Nebraska and Arkansas violate basic human rights, according to a Human Rights Watch report.

The report, released Tuesday after a year of research, is based on interviews with employees and managers at a Nebraska Beef factory, a Tyson Foods chicken plant in Arkansas and the Smithfield Packing Co. pork plant in Tar Heel, about 100 miles south of Raleigh. It says workers at all three plants are frequently injured, then refused medical care or fired. "