|
Food Workers in United States Union Demands Presidential Order to Keep Meatpacking Plants Open Must Strengthen Safety Measures for WorkersPresident Trump on April 28 signed an executive order for meat processing plants to stay open to avoid food shortages, invoking the Defense Production Act to classify these plants as essential infrastructure that must remain open. The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) on this occasion reiterated previous demands that the security of the food supply necessarily means providing the necessary and enforceable protections that provide for the health and safety of the workers in those plants. In an April 28 press release, the UFCW called on President Trump to take immediate action to increase safety measures for workers as part of the order.
"UFCW announced today that new estimates show 22 meatpacking plants have closed -- including union and non-union plants -- at some point in the past two months. These closures have resulted in over 35,000 workers impacted and a 25 per cent reduction in pork slaughter capacity as well as a 10 per cent reduction in beef slaughter capacity." UFCW International President Marc Perrone on April 23 wrote a letter to U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, in his capacity as head of White House Coronavirus Task Force, prioritizing the protections that meatpacking workers require from their employers and the government, including demands that the union reiterated on April 28: 1) increased worker testing, available on a daily
basis; UFCW's April 28 press release further states that "Additionally, to protect the food supply and ensure these safety standards for workers are enforced, these plants must be constantly monitored by federal inspectors and workers must have access to representation to ensure their rights are not violated." The UFCW is the largest private sector union in the United States, representing 1.3 million professionals and their families in health care, grocery stores, meatpacking, food processing, retail shops and other industries. Its members serve communities in all 50 states, Canada and Puerto Rico.
(Photos: UFCW, AFL-CIO)
This article was published in   Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca |
The UFCW reported
on April 28 that already, it has "confirmed 20 worker deaths in
meatpacking and food processing. In addition, at least 5,000
meatpacking workers and 1,500 food processing workers have been
directly impacted by the virus. Those directly impacted include
individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19, missed work due to
self-quarantine, are awaiting test results, or have been hospitalized,
and/or are symptomatic.
