Mentally Retarded Kept as Virtual Slaves

Senator Tom Harkin is leading an investigation of a case in which a turkey processing plant kept a group mentally retarded men as virtual slaves. These men were shipped up from Texas and worked at the plant for approximately 44 cents an hour. The men slept in an old, unheated schoolhouse with boarded up windows. (See the video below of the bunkhouse provide courtesy of the Iowa Gazette newspaper online)

I interviewed Curtis Decker who is the executive director of the National Disability Rights Network. We discussed the issues of employing the mentally retarded to work at below minimum wage.