Letter to Trump: Ensure safety of meat plant workers

Democratic attorneys general from 19 states and the District of Columbia have urged President Donald Trump to do more to ensure the safety of meat and poultry processing plant workers.

(Photo by Austin Alonzo)
(Photo by Austin Alonzo)

Democratic attorneys general from 19 states and the District of Columbia have urged President Donald Trump to do more to ensure the safety of meat and poultry processing plant workers.

In late April, Trump signed an executive order delegating authority under the Defense Production Act (DPA) of 1950 to keep meat and poultry plants operating amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In a letter the attorneys general sent to Trump on May 12, they said safety standards must be enforced.

“The industry’s workers are risking their lives to maintain production in these facilities under extremely unsafe working conditions, the letter said. “Your action purporting to force plants to stay open and employees to continue working must be accompanied by the enforcement of standards to ensure the safety of these essential workers.”

According to the letter, more than 10,000 cases of COVID-19 have stemmed from outbreaks at processing facilities, and 45 workers have died.

“Infection clusters at 40 plants have been so severe they have been required to close for some period, with some reporting hundreds of employees falling ill,” the letter said.“Without adequate and enforceable mandates to protect worker safety, your executive order may perpetuate this spread of illness and death.”

The attorneys general notes that conditions in many plants mean that workers must stand close together and that “the push for faster line speeds and limited access to protective equipment (PPE) have increased dangers on the job.”

Along with PPE, the letter said there must be more testing and enforcement of safety standards.

“The industry’s failure to act earlier to protect its labor force, and the administration’s lack of leadership and support for testing, procurement of personal protective equipment, and enforcement of federal worker safety standards, will be among the many regrettable lapses contributing to the tragic story of America’s experience with this pandemic,” it said.

Safety guidance for industry

Soon after Trump signed the executive order, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released industry-specific interim guidance aimed at further protecting our nation’s essential poultry processing workforce. The guidance is consistent with many of the practices chicken plants have already implemented across the industry, but the attorneys general say the recommendations are “entirely voluntary.”

“Without making these standards mandatory and taking decisive action to enforce them, the administration will fail in its duty to provide meaningful protection to workers that have been deemed essential to maintaining our food supply,” the letter said. “The toll may be thousands more falling victim to this disease. In addition, the administration will thwart its own goal of keeping the plants open, as increasing prevalence of COVID-19 infection results in mounting labor shortages.”

The letter said the CDC and OSHA guidance “must be strengthened and made mandatory, with vigorous and robust federal enforcement.”

At a minimum, it said, mandatory actions must include:

  • Priority testing for workers in the processing plants
  • Immediate access to adequate PPE
  • The suspension of all line speed waivers, and a halt to approval of any additional waivers
  • Six-foot physical and social distancing where possible, and Plexiglas barriers where distancing cannot be achieved
  • Isolation and quarantine of COVID-19-positive workers, with full pay

“We fully recognize the complexities at issue here: the security of the national food supply; the jobs and livelihoods of farmers, meat and poultry processors, distributors, and other employers; workers up and down the supply chain; the waste and animal cruelty concerns that arise when processing components of the supply chain break down; the imperative of slowing the spread of disease; and many other issues made more difficult by this pandemic. Yet we must attend to them all without sacrificing the health and safety of hard-working people whose labor helps ensure we can continue feeding the country,” the letter said.

The letter was signed by the attorneys general of Maryland, California, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

View our continuing coverage of the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic.

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