Coronavirus is killing meatpackers, putting nation’s supply of beef and pork at risk
One week before Saul Sanchez died, he warned his boss at a JBS USA meatpacking factory in Greeley, Colorado, that he had tested positive for COVID-19, according to his daughter.
His daughter, Beatriz Rangel, said the company did nothing to protect its workers. At least two others have died.
Sanchez, 78, had worked there 30 years.
“They were like his second family,” Rangel said Tuesday during a call hosted by the League of United Latin American Citizens.
“I want to know why they are not being protected if they are essential workers. I’m speaking today in my father’s honor and for all the other workers at these factories that are too scared to talk.”
At least 12 meatpacking plants in Iowa, Colorado and South Dakota have closed in response to COVID-19, putting the nation’s supply of pork and beef in jeopardy.
“If you thought fighting for toilet paper and paper towels was a big deal, wait until you have the last pork chop,” said Domingo Garcia, the national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens.
Protecting Workers
On March 31, LULAC, the largest and oldest civil rights organization in the United States, sent a letter to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration expressing its concerns about the safety of essential food industry workers, such as meatpackers. It asked OSHA to provide clear and uniform guidelines — including appropriate safety equipment, paid sick days and regular health checks— for the companies under the agency’s purview.
The letter was sent following reports and photos from meat and poultry workers, who reported to LULAC that they are not adequately protected from COVID-19 by their employers, according to Garcia.
During a conference call Tuesday, Garcia said OSHA had not responded.
On Friday, JBS USA announced it is working with the White House, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and U.S. Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado to secure COVID-19 tests for its workers in Greeley.
“While the measures we have taken within our facility to improve safety have made a positive impact, COVID-19 remains a threat across the United States and in Weld County, which is why we are investing more than $1 million in COVID-19 testing kits for our team members” said Andre Nogueira, JBS USA CEO in a statement.
About 50 meatpacking workers tested positive for COVID-19 and at least three died before the plant in Greeley shut down, according to Kim Cordova, spokeswoman for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, which includes 3,000 JBS employees in the same plant in which Sanchez worked.
Stopping the Spread
In Texas, meatpacking workers say they also face danger from being forced to work too close together but none of the factories had shut down as of Tuesday afternoon, Cordova said.
“JBS, one of the largest employers in the state of Colorado and one of the largest protein producers in the world, was not prepared for this pandemic,” she said. “There was little to no (personal protective equipment) or any measures taken to help workers with self distancing in that plant.”
More than 6,000 people work at the Colorado factory. Most of the cutting floor workers have to stand elbow to elbow during their shift, Cordova said. There are at least 30 languages spoken by the workers in the plant but most of the health related information was only being distributed in English.
A detailed list of enhanced safety measures, health protocols and worker benefits to keep workers and the products safe during the pandemic was published in late March on JBS website along with a letter from Nogueira. The information online was all in English.
JBS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Photos on the website show plant workers on the cutting floors separated by plastic sheets and break room tables divided by plexiglass.
Garcia said he had spoken to JBS officials on behalf of LULAC earlier this week and the meatpacking company had ordered 5 million face masks for workers but it could take up to three weeks before it received its order from a manufacturer in China.
“We need to make sure that those JBS workers are adequately protected and that’s why we’re in dialogues with their CEO and their corporate officers,” Garcia said, “We need to make sure that those outbreaks which have happened in other plants don’t get to Texas.”
This story was originally published April 15, 2020 at 12:38 PM.
