The largest union of American meatpackers opposes the forced reopening of slaughterhouses and factories because the Trump administration cannot yet guarantee the safety of workers. The union believes that the federal government must require slaughterhouses and meat factories to ensure 'safe working conditions' with masks and social distancing.
So far, several dozen factory workers have died from the coronavirus and more than 10,000 have been infected, says the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), which represents more than 250,000 meatpacking and food processing employees.
In recent weeks, articles and photo reports have appeared in the American media about the working conditions 'on the assembly line' in the meat processing industry. The pandemic has already caused at least 30 meat processing plants to temporarily close in the past two months due to staff shortages caused by illness and absenteeism.
This resulted in a 40% decrease in pork production capacity and a 25% decrease in beef production capacity. On Thursday, about 35% of the U.S. pork slaughter capacity remained inactive, said Steve Meyer, an economist for Kerns and Associates. He estimated that about 32% to 33% was inactive on Friday.
At the end of April, President Donald Trump mandated that meat factories remain open after companies warned of meat shortages in the United States. The UFCW union has previously stated that more protective equipment and testing are needed to allow the factories to reopen.
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said that 14 of those closed plants will reopen this week. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue welcomed the announced reopening, but the union calls it a reckless move that endangers American lives and threatens the long-term security of the food supply.
The 14 plants set to reopen include a Smithfield Foods Inc pork plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and another in Waterloo, Iowa, which Tyson Foods earlier in the week said it would resume limited operations. The agriculture department also said that JBS USA meat plants in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and six other Tyson plants would reopen.