meatpacking workers
Most meat plants will be on line this week despite coronavirus, says Perdue
Although beef and pork slaughter plants ran at less than three-fourths capacity last week, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue says, "We think most of our facilities will be back on line" by the end of this week. That would account for as much as 85 percent of U.S. meat-processing capacity. Fourteen beef, pork and poultry plants resumed operation last week, according to the USDA. Other tallies showed a handful of plants still shut down.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
‘The workers are being sacrificed’
new FERN investigation, published Friday in collaboration with Mother Jones, reporters Esther Honig and Ted Genoways tell the stories of workers in America's meatpacking plants who are facing high rates of Covid-19 — and of the industry's chilling disregard for its workforce. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
As meat plants reopen, Iowa, South Dakota, Pennsylvania and Nebraska are coronavirus leaders
As many as 18 percent of workers in meat and poultry plants are infected with the coronavirus in Iowa and South Dakota, while Pennsylvania and Nebraska account for one-quarter of the Covid-19 cases nationwide, said CDC scientists and state public health officials. The CDC released the report as Smithfield Foods, one of the giants of the meat industry, began to reopen a hog plant that was a coronavirus hot spot three weeks ago.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Trump signs order to keep meat plants in operation during pandemic
Trump says Democrats will take away your hamburgers. He’s the one who might.
In FERN's latest story, published with The New York Times, reporter Ted Genoways explains how Donald Trump's vow to deport millions of immigrants if he is re-elected would decimate the meatpacking industry's workforce.