Summary
This article examines how during the COVID-19 outbreak meatpacking companies put their workers’ lives at risk by prioritizing the production lines. According to the article, before COVID-19 became widespread, workers were deprived of safety-related measures like face masks and information on how to avoid exposure. When thousands of workers became ill, and local health departments considered shutting down plants, an executive order by president Donald Trump declared meatpacking plants as “critical infrastructure”. Industry giant plants like Tyson, Cargill, Smithfield Foods, and JBS USA were saved from being shut down and provided with “a legal defense against liability claims”. The article also exposes that to receive medical care from Tyson, workers had to sign a waiver. Taking a broader lens, the article reveals how the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service also initially failed to provide safety equipment to inspectors. The article concludes by underscoring solutions for the better treatment of workers in meatpacking industries and how voting can be the first significant step toward change.