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American’s meat-processing workers are scared. Too many of them have fallen ill and died from the COVID-19 virus as their companies reportedly put profits over people.
READ MORE: Has the coronavirus put our meat supply at risk?
Now that President Donald Trump has issued an executive order, invoking the Defense Protection Act that mandates meat processing plants to stay open, employees concerned with their health say they may not return.
Trump deemed the plants “critical infrastructure” which makes their workers essential employees. The federal government also says they will provide PPE for workers who work closer than six feet on meat processing plant floors.
Meat corporation Tyson Foods took out a full-page newspaper last weekend to warn the public that the food chain was being threatened by the coronavirus epidemic. But meat processing plant workers say that multiple plant closings are because the companies didn’t protect their workers in the first place.
“All I know is, this is crazy to me, because I can’t see all these people going back into work,” said Donald, an employee at a Tyson plant in Waterloo, Iowa told CNN Business. “I don’t think people are going to go back in there.”
Donald did not want to share his last name due to fear of retaliation.
At least 20 workers nationwide have died from the coronavirus, reports The New York Times, citing the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. At the Bell and Evans meat processing plant, which supplies poultry to Whole Foods, eight workers tested positive for the virus and one died, according to Inquirer.com.
Union leaders say that if the president wants meat plants to stay open, he should ensure that their workers are protected.
Using executive power to force people back on the job without proper protections is wrong and dangerous. I echo the call of @UFCW President @Marc_Perrone to put worker safety first. https://t.co/CRRHK3c8o6
— Richard Trumka (@RichardTrumka) April 28, 2020
Tyson spokesperson Gary Mickelson said Trump’s order recognized the importance of the nation’s protein supply as meat processing has reportedly dropped 25% due to coronavirus plant closings.
“The safety of our team members will remain our top priority as we work with the [Agriculture Department] on next steps,” Mickelson said in a statement provided to the Washington Post. “We’ve been screening worker temperatures, requiring protective face coverings and conducting additional cleaning and sanitizing. We’ve also implemented social distancing measures, such as workstation dividers and more breakroom space.”
READ MORE: Chicago medical student says his PPE supplies were turned down by the government
This week, the CDC and OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) provided guidelines to the meat processing companies that include cleaning recommendations, providing workers with PPE, placing barriers between workers who commonly stand shoulder to shoulder. However, those guidelines are suggested, and therefore not enforceable.
“The terrible working conditions that already existed in that industry have only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 virus,” said Jason Walsh, executive director of the BlueGreen Alliance, a coalition of labor and environmental rights groups. “….Trump is using the DPA to try to force workers back on the job in unsafe conditions. It doesn’t get more wrong than that.”
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