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Trump orders not to close meat processing plants 2:09
Editor's Note: Raúl A. Reyes is a lawyer and a member of the USA Today taxpayer board. Follow him on Twitter @RaulAReyes. The opinions expressed in this comment are solely those of the author. See more opinions at CNNe.com/opinion
(CNN) - Get back to work, says President Trump. I could also add: even though that may kill you.
This Tuesday he used the Defense Production Law to order that meat and poultry processing plants remain open, despite the coronavirus pandemic. He declared them "critical infrastructure" in a decree designed to avoid a shortage of beef, pork and chicken.
"We are working very hard," said Trump, "to make sure that our food supply chain is strong and abundant."
Since meat processing plants are critical points of covid-19, this order is the height of irresponsibility and cruelty. It jeopardizes the health of some of the most vulnerable workers in the United States, many of whom are Latinos, Blacks, and immigrants. It prioritizes corporate interests over the lives of workers.
Unfortunately, for this president, the work of immigrants is clearly disposable, and always useful for political gain.
Across the country, meat packing plants have been closed as their employees became ill. Smithfield Foods closed its pork processing plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, this month after more than 600 workers tested positive for coronavirus. Last week, Tyson Farms closed its largest pork processing plant in Waterloo, Iowa, after more than 180 workers tested positive.
Other plants across the country have similarly closed, with reports of coronavirus-related illness and death.
The employees of these plants work in extremely difficult and dangerous conditions. They often work shoulder to shoulder, receiving and killing animals and preparing them for sale. It is exhausting and repetitive work that many Americans would shudder to do, especially given the risk of injury and low pay.
In 2017, meat plant employees earned an average of about $ 15 an hour more benefits, while chicken plant employees earned an average of about a dollar less per hour. The New American Economy think tank estimates that almost half of this workforce is made up of immigrants, and many are black.
Trump's order may amount to a death sentence for meat-packing plant workers, who have little choice but to continue working to support their families. In Iowa, for example, citing data from the state of Iowa, The Gazette reports that blacks and Latinos have disproportionately high rates of coronavirus as a result of their work at meatpacking plants compared to figures from the US Census Bureau. United States on its relative representation in the state: Latinos are 6% of Iowa's population, accounting for 17% of the state's confirmed cases of coronavirus. Blacks are 3% of the state's population, yet they are 9% of the territory's coronavirus cases.
These are the people the President wants to continue working for the benefit of American consumers. How surprising that the President, who has shown unprecedented cruelty and disdain for immigrants and minorities, now expects them to risk their lives so that we can all have an uninterrupted food supply.
Recall, for example, that last year Trump ordered massive sweeps of food processing plants in Mississippi, resulting in hundreds of arrests of undocumented workers, as well as devastated communities.
The way that Trump implemented this decree is especially revealing. He told reporters that he was working with Tyson Foods, as opposed to health and safety experts in the workplace. The order was developed in consultation with corporate industry leaders.
"I think we are going to sign a decree today, and that will solve any liability issues," Trump said Tuesday.
While its decree states that employers will follow the guidelines of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, their main concern appears to be corporate bosses, not employees or public health. And does anyone think the president would feel comfortable ordering white-collar professionals to stay on the job, despite the significant health risks of covid-19 transmission?
That Trump was reluctant to invoke the Defense Production Act to speed up the production of personal protective equipment (PPE) for health workers, and is now invoking the law in a way that could really harm plant workers in meat says a lot.
The President and CEO of the North American Meat Institute told the Vox website that meat processing plants are fully disinfected every night after the last shift, and that workers should wear masks and face shields when plants can obtain them. .
Separately, Dean Banks, head of Tyson Foods, told CNN's Erin Burnett that "we are doing everything we can to make sure we take care of our team members." Banks said his company acted "extremely early in providing as many protective measures as we could imagine."
However, if conditions were safe, employees would not be organizing strikes and protesting at meat plants for working conditions.
There is no doubt that the meat processing sector faces a serious threat from the coronavirus pandemic. The International Union of Commercial and Food Workers of the United States noted that plant closings have resulted in a 25% decrease in pork slaughter capacity and a 10% reduction in meat slaughter capacity.
But the union also calculated that so far 20 union meat packing and food processing workers have died from the virus, and that 6,500 union workers are sick or exposed to the virus. Therefore, protecting our food supply must start with protecting workers in the food supply chain. A thoughtful response to this situation would be to prioritize worker safety, not corporate input.
Trump should order the meat processing industry to comply with the highest standards of social distancing and safety, or else he will face fines and criminal liability. Instead, it is protecting the industry at the expense of its workers.
Like many other aspects of his administration's coronavirus response, Trump's latest decree is deeply mistaken and negligent. Employees of meat processing plants are not expendable, and should not be forced to return to dangerous working conditions.
coronavirus