“As America’s meatpacking and food processing union, UFCW applauds the Biden Administration and the Department of Agriculture for working to improve capacity and create a fairer, more diverse meat and poultry industry,” said UFCW International President Marc Perrone in a statement.

“The investments announced this week through the Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program are admirable, but they’re missing a crucial focus: workers.

“Any attempt to expand or improve this industry moving forward must include specific provisions for fair labor standards that protect workers and safeguards the hard-fought protections they’ve already won at unionized processing facilities around the country. The goal of expanding capacity and diversifying the amount of producers in the industry is naturally aligned with the needs of the workforce who will ultimately make these operations run.

“Let’s not leave those processing and agriculture workers behind and diligently build programs that prioritize their needs too.”

PIERRE, SD – Today,the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 304A, which represents 2,500 workers in South Dakota, leadership and meatpacking essential worker members testified before the South Dakota Senate Energy and Commerce Committee on the dire need to provide protections and workplace safety for meat and poultry processing workers.

The following are excerpts from prepared remarks UFCW Local 304A President BJ Motley delivered today before the South Dakota Senate Energy and Commerce Committee:

“As state legislators, you have the authority and responsibility to protect our state’s frontline workers who have bravely worked throughout this crisis to keep America’s food supply chain strong.  We can no longer accept out-of-court federal agreements that allow meat and poultry processing companies to police their own workforce’s health and safety.

“That is why I urge you to support the South Dakota Safe Workplaces for Meat and Poultry Processing Workers Act.  This proposal will hold meat and poultry processing companies accountable for the health and safety of their workforce and ensure America’s food supply chain remains strong.”

The following are excerpts from UFCW Local 304A essential meatpacking workers on their support for the South Dakota Safe Workplaces for Meat and Poultry Processing Workers Act:

• “From the beginning of the pandemic, it has been difficult to get Smithfield to recognize the threat COVID-19 posed to workers. Today that attitude is even worse, Smithfield has yet to establish any consistent cleaning and sanitation standards. Workers in this industry deserve consistent health and safety protections that hold employers accountable. This proposal does that and I urge you to support it,” said Kevin Kaul, distribution center worker at Smithfield in Sioux Falls and UFCW Local 304A member.

• “Today Smithfield operates the plant as if the pandemic is over and no longer acknowledges any personal responsibility to protect their workforce from getting COVID-19. This creates an environment that encourages workers to come into work sick. This proposal would require Smithfield to provide workers reasonable access to paid sick and safe time. It is time that we change the ‘work while sick’ culture in this country,” said Bobby Conner, lead man at Smithfield in Sioux Falls and UFCW Local 304A member.

• “The public is not aware of how difficult it is for workers to socially distance on the kill floor. Smithfield’s response of installing plastic shield barriers between workers becomes more of an impediment to meet current line speeds than it is to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This proposal requires companies to allow workers to maintain a 6-foot distance between workers at all workstations and common areas. I urge you to support this proposal,” said Scott Worden, electrician at Smithfield in Sioux Falls and UFCW Local 304A member.

• “Smithfield always denies workers’ health and safety claims in the plant. Sometimes workers are given light work duty when they need further medical attention. Smithfield employs its own nurses that often do what is best for the company instead of the worker.”

Background:

Since the beginning of this pandemic UFCW Local 304A has been proactive in advocating for legislation to protect America’s food supply and meatpacking workers.

Today, UFCW Local 304A President BJ Motley testified and participated in the South Dakota Senate Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on Senate Bill 145.

In their testimony, President Motley and UFCW members, discussed the conditions meatpacking workers have faced on the frontlines of the outbreak and called for the support of the South Dakota Safe Workplaces for Meat and Poultry Processing Workers Act that will help hold meat and poultry processing companies accountable for the health and safety of their workforce and ensure America’s food supply chain remains strong.

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UFCW Local 304A is part of UFCW International, the largest private sector union in the United States. UFCW International represents 1.3 million professionals and their families in healthcare, grocery stores, meatpacking, food processing, retail shops and other industries. Our members serve our communities in all 50 states, Canada and Puerto Rico. Learn more about the UFCW at ufcw.org.

Top Union for South Dakota Meatpacking Workers at Smithfield Sioux Falls Plant Condemns Failure to Hold Company Accountable for Workplace Safety Failures Endangering Facility’s Frontline Food Workers  

SIOUX FALLS, SD — Today, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 304A, the union for nearly 3,000 South Dakota frontline workers, condemned a new federal settlement with Smithfield Foods announced by the Occupational Health & Safety Administration (OSHA). The deal announced by the federal agency followed a citation for the April 2020 Sioux Falls Smithfield plant COVID outbreak which resulted in four worker deaths from COVID-19 and nearly 1,300 worker infections.

As the union for Smithfield pork workers at the Sioux Falls plant, UFCW Local 304A criticized the new federal agreement for weakening the citation for worker safety violations, a clear failure to recognize the company’s safety issues, and allowing the company to police itself on worker safety by appointing its own team of experts to evaluate plant safety and preparedness, even as COVID-19 cases proliferate and risks to workers continue.

UFCW Local 304A B.J. Motley released the following statement:

“Smithfield workers put their health at risk daily to make sure Americans could feed their families during this pandemic. The Sioux Falls plant experienced one of the most deadly and dangerous COVID-19 outbreaks in the country. 

“Our leaders have a responsibility to protect America’s frontline workers who have been bravely putting their lives at risk to keep our country’s food supply chain strong throughout this crisis. This deal is nothing more than a slap on the wrist for Smithfield and a deeply troubling betrayal of the men and women who have already sacrificed so much in this pandemic.

“As the union for Sioux Falls Smithfield workers, UFCW Local 304A is disappointed that OSHA has failed to deliver the real accountability these South Dakota workers and their families deserve with meaningful action to strengthen worker safety protections.”

WACO, TX — Today, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), the union for over 33,000 Texas food and retail workers statewide, announced that over 400 Texas poultry workers at the Pilgrim’s Pride plant in Waco, Texas, approved their first union contract which includes pay raises up to $4.00 per hour — the largest in plant history, as well as the creation of the first-ever union worker safety committee, stronger overtime protections, and provisions to preserve strong healthcare and retirement benefits. 

As COVID risks continue in McLennan County and across Texas, this new union contract is the culmination of what started in July 2021, when these Waco Pilgrim’s Pride workers unionized and joinedUFCW Local 540, the largest union for food workers in the region and a leading advocate for frontline food worker safety as the pandemic continues.

UFCW Local 540 President Johnny Rodriguez released the following statement:

“With today’s union contract, Texas poultry workers at Waco Pilgrim’s Pride have secured the highest pay raises in plant history and created the first-ever union worker safety committee — sending a powerful message that workers have a stronger voice on the job when they stand together. 

“Helping Texas families put food on the table during the pandemic, these brave frontline workers stepped up for us when we needed them most and have been essential to keeping our communities strong. Just four months after choosing to unionize, these hardworking men and women are achieving results that will help them support their families, build strong careers, and inspire many more Texans to stand up for the good pay and benefits they have earned.

“As the union for these Texas frontline workers, UFCW Local 540 was proud to stand with our union’s members at Pilgrim’s Pride here in Waco to secure this strong contract. Ensuring these jobs continue to be good Texas jobs for working families is the best way to honor essential workers.”

BACKGROUND: 

UFCW has been a leading voice for Texas essential workers, including Pilgrim’s Pride poultry workers at the Waco plant as COVID infections impacted workers at facilities across the region. Protecting and investing in Pilgrim’s Pride workers at the Waco facility was the first priority in the new UFCW Local 540 union contract approved by these employees. 

Key Provision of Pilgrim’s Pride UFCW 3-Year Contract Approved This Week: 

• Pay Increases of up to $4.00 per hour as part of their first union contract
• Healthcare Coverage preserved as part of commitment to employees and families 
• Retirement Plan security ensured as company maintains this long-term investment 
• Overtime Pay enhanced to provide higher pay daily instead of requiring employees to meet 40-hour weekly threshold before overtime kicks in
• Union Worker Safety Committee created to increase engagement between workers and the company as they work together to strengthen workplace protections as the pandemic continues
• Job Promotion Opportunities expanded with new open bidding process that enables all employees to apply for vacancies and prioritizes seniority and qualifications

In July 2021, Pilgrim’s Pride poultry workers in Waco joining UFCW Local 540 was a major victory that is paving the way for even more Texas meatpacking workers to unionize as these brave men and women continue to work on the frontlines of COVID-19. Additional details regarding UFCW Local 540’s organizing efforts earlier this year at the Pilgrim’s Pride plant in Waco are below:

• UFCW Local 540’s campaign to unionize Pilgrim’s Pride poultry workers in Waco started in May 2021. UFCW organizers met with workers at the plant during shift changes to help them learn about the union difference and passed out English and Spanish language pamphlets about the benefits of joining the UFCW.
• Waco community members played an important role in the campaign, helping pass out the pamphlets during shift changes that answered questions workers had.
• Citizenship clinics were a key part of the campaign, helping introduce the union to the Pilgrim’s Pride employees at the Waco plant, highlighting how the union can support local communities and help workers and their families a better life.

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UFCW Local 540 is part of UFCW International, the largest private sector union in the United States. UFCW International represents 1.3 million professionals and their families in healthcare, grocery stores, meatpacking, food processing, retail shops and other industries. Our members serve our communities in all 50 states, Canada and Puerto Rico. Learn more about the UFCW at ufcw.org. 

FREMONT, NE — Today, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), the union for over 7,300 Nebraska frontline workers, announced that Wholestone Farms pork workers in Fremont voted to approve a historic new three-year union contract with the first-ever paid sick leave provided by the company, as well as provisions to strengthen pay, healthcare coverage, and retirement benefits. The Fremont plant is one of the region’s largest processing facilities and this contract sets a powerful precedent for other Nebraska workers in the industry.

UFCW Local 293, the union for these pork plant workers, called the contract a strong recognition of the service by the men and women who have stepped up to protect the food supply chain in Nebraska and nationwide during the pandemic.

UFCW Local 293 President Eric Reeder released the following statement: 

“Today’s historic union contract for Wholestone Farms workers includes the first-ever paid sick leave provided by the company, as well as increases to pay, healthcare coverage, and retirement benefits. With this new contract, Nebraska meatpacking workers are sending a powerful message that every company in the industry must step up and recognize the incredible sacrifices made and danger faced by these frontline workers who helped millions of Americans put food on the table during this health crisis.

“As the union for these Nebraska frontline workers, UFCW Local 293 was proud to stand with our union’s members at Wholestone Farms to secure this robust contract that they have earned and deserve. Ensuring these jobs continue to be good Nebraska jobs for working families across our state is the best way for us to thank our essential workers.”

Nebraska Wholestone Farms Worker Claudia Payes: “Helping feed Nebraska families during the pandemic is something that made me proud to go to work throughout this crisis. With this new paid sick leave in our contract, my co-workers and I will never have to worry about choosing between our health and a paycheck. I’m thankful our union has always had our back and helped us achieve this strong contract that will keep me safe and help me continue to provide for my three kids. Every worker in Nebraska deserves to have a good-paying union job and I am hopeful that this contract will inspire even more workers to stand up for the good pay and benefits they deserve.”

BACKGROUND: 

UFCW has been a leading voice for Nebraska essential workers, including Wholestone Farms pork workers at the Fremont plant, which experienced multiple COVID-19 outbreaks which resulted in at least 170 COVID worker infections at the facility. Thanks to UFCW and Wholestone Farms working together to strengthen protections for workers, more than 280 employees were able to safely quarantine and return to work healthy. Improved workplace safeguards have helped to protect workers and significantly reduce additional cases since then.

Key Provision of Wholestone Farms UFCW Three-Year Contract Approved Today Include:

• First-Ever Paid Sick Leave provided by the company in historic win for workers
• Pay Increases of $2.85 per hour in recognition of extraordinary service in pandemic
• Healthcare Coverage strengthened as part of commitment to employees and families 
• Retirement Plan strengthened by increased contribution from company 
• Worksite Resources with visits from union stewards to help with any safety questions
• Higher Night Shift Pay for workers who take on evening shifts to support production
• Overtime Pay enhanced to recognize employees working beyond scheduled shifts

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UFCW is the union for over, 7,300 Nebraska frontline workers and is part of UFCW International, America’s largest food and retail union and represents 1.3 million professionals and their families in healthcare, grocery stores, meatpacking, food processing, retail shops and other industries that serve communities in all 50 states, Canada and Puerto Rico. Learn more about the UFCW at ufcw.org. 

SIOUX FALLS, SD — Today, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 304A, which represents nearly 3,000 South Dakota frontline food workers, announced a new agreement with Smithfield for workers at the Sioux Falls plant. UFCW 304A and the union’s members successfully secured pay increases and expanded benefits for workers at the Smithfield plant. The boost to pay represents a strong investment in these workers who are essential to protecting the food supply chain in South Dakota and across the country. 

UFCW Local 304A President B.J. Motley released the following statement:

“Today’s new contract for Smithfield meatpacking workers in Sioux Falls provides the strong pay and benefits that these brave men and women have earned on the frontlines of this pandemic. In the past year, these South Dakota essential workers put their own health at risk every day to keep our food supply secure. 

“With this new contract, meatpacking workers are sending a powerful message that it is time for every company in the industry to step up and recognize the incredible sacrifices made and danger faced by these frontline workers who helped millions of Americans put food on the table during this health crisis.

“As the union for these South Dakota frontline workers, UFCW Local 304A was proud to stand with our union’s members to secure this strong contract with the fair pay, good benefits, and critical safety protections they have earned and deserve. Ensuring these jobs continue to provide the good pay and benefits working families need is the best way for us to honor our country’s essential workers.”

BACKGROUND:

During contract negotiations and discussions between UFCW 304A and Smithfield, talks focused on wages for meatpacking workers, health care costs, and break times. At this time, UFCW reminded Smithfield that workers have risked their health and lives throughout the pandemic and argued the company should do more for its employees.

On June 3, 2021, the Sioux Falls chapter of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, UFCW Local 304A reported that 99% of union members voted to reject a contract offered by Smithfield. Following the rejection of the contract, on June 7, 2021, UFCW Local 304A members overwhelmingly approved a strike authorization with 98% of the vote total.

UFCW Local 304A then continued bargaining with Smithfield and on June 17, 2021, the union announced their members, who work at the Smithfield plant in Sioux Falls, SD, approved a new contract, which includes a base rate of $18.75; a $520 bonus; the option of a leave of absence of between 1-3 weeks, which many immigrant workers take advantage of to go back to their countries; and keeping a 15-minute break period.

In April 2020, a Sioux Falls Smithfield plant COVID outbreak revealed how vulnerable meatpacking plants were to the pandemic. As a result of the surge of infections, four Sioux Falls Smithfield workers died from COVID and nearly 1,300 were infected. Later that year, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited Smithfield for failing to protect employees from exposure to the virus at the plant.

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UFCW is the largest private sector union in the United States. UFCW International represents 1.3 million professionals and their families in healthcare, grocery stores, meatpacking, food processing, retail shops and other industries. Our members serve our communities in all 50 states, Canada and Puerto Rico. Learn more about the UFCW at ufcw.org. 

In 2007, the Minnesota Legislature passed the Packinghouse Workers Bill of Rights which requires employers to provide meatpacking workers with information about their rights as workers and adequate safety equipment. The Packinghouse Workers Bill of Rights was a positive measure; however, it has not proven adequate to protect the safety and rights of meatpacking workers before or during the time of COVID-19.

The Minnesota Safe Workplaces for Meat and Poultry Processing Workers Act creates a brand new “Workers’ Rights Coordinator” position housed within the Department of Labor and Industry dedicated to enforcement and compliance. This individual would be given the ability to investigate and prosecute violations of workers’ rights with the help of the attorney general, a district attorney, or any city or county attorney.

The proposed legislation also requires employers to provide personal protective equipment at no cost to employees; allow meat and poultry processing workers adequate break time to sanitize and wash hands; routinely clean and disinfect all frequently touched surfaces, workstations, and training rooms; and provide paid leave to all meat and poultry processing workers to recuperate from an illness, injury or to care for an ill family member. The proposed legislation also prohibits employers from discriminating or taking an adverse employment action against a worker, including the threat of reporting a worker’s current or suspected immigrations status, and requires employers to post all the rights, as well as training manuals, in the language of fluency for workers every year.

“When COVID-19 first hit Central Minnesota in the spring of 2020, I heard heartbreaking and horrifying stories from my constituents about the unhealthy working conditions at meat processing plants that were jeopardizing the health and financial well-being of their families,” said Rep. Wolgamott. “That’s why I’m introducing the Minnesota Safe Workplaces for Meat and Poultry Processing Workers Act, which provides comprehensive workplace health and safety protections, and ensures workers have access to the benefits and training needed to work safely during this pandemic and beyond.”

“Every day, me and my coworkers put our lives on the line when we go to work,” said Antonio Jimenez, a UFCW Local 663 member who works at JBS in Worthington. “I was here at the plant when the COVID-19 outbreak happened. No one ever wants that to happen again. This legislation is about safety, not just about me, but for all the meatpacking workers in the state.”

“Our local represents packing workers at Hormel and QPP in Austin,” said UFCW Local 9 President Rich Morgan. “I was involved in the 2007 Packinghouse Workers Bill of Rights legislation. At the onset, Matt Utecht and I, along with our staff members, had conversations and a meeting with the Minnesota Department of Labor, and they used parts of the Packinghouse Workers Bill of Rights to help formulate some of their guidelines for supplying personal protective equipment and other measures. But we realized more needed to be done to keep workers across the state safe since worker shortages are sometimes leading to short cuts, causing injuries and ergonomic issues. The Minnesota Safe Workplaces for Meat and Poultry Processing Workers Act is common sense legislation.”

“We represent meatpacking workers in Worthington and across the state in Minnesota,” said President of UFCW Local 663 Matthew Utecht. “Worker safety is the most important issue. It took a worldwide pandemic to pull back the curtain for the public to really see inside the packing plants and see the dangerous work that takes place in there. The workers have been long forgotten, not really given a second thought by the public until the pandemic struck and the media took notice.”

“These essential workers in Worthington, along with all meatpacking and poultry workers throughout the state, risk their health and expose their families to additional risk to be able to put food on the table for Minnesota families,” Utecht added. “The Minnesota Safe Workplaces for Meat and Poultry Processing Workers Act would provide comprehensive workplace health and safety protections and ensure workers have access to the benefits and training needed to work safely as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.”

Members at the two food processing plants formed a COVID-19 Safety Committee to address and find solutions to workplace safety concerns about protecting workers from contracting the coronavirus. The committee was formed in July, and the 200 members now have gained the authority to implement safety and health precautions, including stopping the line during a shift if they see safety and health violations.

The COVID-19 Safety Committee members will ensure that everyone entering the two Overhill Farms food processing plants follow health and safety measures, such as social distancing throughout the worksite, including in the parking lot, restrooms, at the time clock, walking to their lines and even at their workstation. They will also monitor compliance regarding hand washing and appropriate personal protective equipment.

“We’ve won improved protocols and we have established a reporting process to make sure that everyone in the plant is safe. The COVID-19 committee gives us the authority to refuse to start the lines until all the health and safety measures are in place,” said Gloria Lopez, a weight checker at Plant 1.

“We must ensure that our members at Overhill Farms are healthy and the company abides by all public health measures,” said UFCW 770 Packinghouse Division Union Representative Armando Espinoza. “Food processing workers know the operations of their plants. They know how to make them safe. With health and safety committees based at their workplaces, essential workers can ensure that their voice and knowledge are part of the safety protocol. This committee will help protect the workers and local communities.”

Overhill Farms employees produce frozen food items such as plated meals, soups, pastas, sauces and other specialties. These workers ratified a strong contract in 2019 and the COVID-19 committee is a separate extension of that agreement in the contract. Overhill Farms is owned by CPF, a Thailand based conglomerate.

When Deng was a child, there was a terrorist attack on her home in south Sudan. As an orphan, she fled the country and grew up in refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya. She often went days without any food or fresh water, and many of her friends died. She didn’t know if she was ever going to leave, and learned to take life one day at a time. “I would say it was just surviving because you don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow, you know?” said Deng.

In 2000, Deng was chosen for a program that relocated Sudanese orphans to the United States. When she got the news she would be leaving for America, she was so happy couldn’t sleep. She moved to Kansas City and started a new chapter in her life. She graduated high school, then went on to community college. After school, she started waitressing before working private security in her early 20s.

She ended up moving to Sioux Falls, South Dakota for the same reason many young people move- to pursue a relationship. “I always tell people I moved to Sioux Falls for a pretty stupid reason,” she laughs. “I was thinking I would find a man. So that was pretty much the reason right there. I moved in with my younger son’s father, then we broke up. “

With so many people dependent on her as breadwinner, Deng had told her ex she would need a job as soon as she moved out, and he told her about the job at Smithfield. Work there was hard, but paid well. “A lot of people came to Sioux Falls because of Smithfield and what it was offering people. I know a lot of Sudanese families came here because of Smithfield.”

Deng put in her application and started right away as a Whizard knife operator trimming the fat from the loin as it zooms past. More than 10,000 pigs are processed there a day, and production at her plant alone accounts for 4-5% of all pork that is processed in the United States.

“When I started? Hard work. Hard work is what I thought of it, but you’re not really thinking of how hard it is, you are thinking of money and everything. Once you get the paycheck, you are able to pay for the apartment. You are able to put food on the table. These are the things that I was thinking.”

“Once you start doing something for the first time, something that you’ve never done, your muscles are going to reject it. Your body is going to reject it. So I was always sore.”

Deng has held a number of jobs in the plant over the years. She became a shift lead and works about 11-12 hours days six days a week. With the overtime and her higher pay, she was even able to take her children to Disney World last year.

“My boys, all three of them, it means I can give them what I never had. Which is a better life at a young age. When I went there, I cried, but it was tears of happiness. I am American by papers. I can bring my kids here. And that was something I did. I was so proud of myself. “

Deng’s also uses her salary to support five family members who are still in Africa. “So this job, it allows me to take care of everybody else, not just my boys. So that’s why I pick up overtime, regardless of me being tired. Every morning when I go to work, I put everything that the company offered me in order to go to work this food that I’m making doesn’t have anything that can go and harm someone. Because this food is going to families. It’s going to children. It’s going to mothers. It’s going to fathers. Uncles. Aunts. Everyone around the world. Working at the meat factory, I’m making food for people around the world. I think of that every day. “

When she and her coworkers first heard about COVID-19, thought it was just something that was going to stay in China. Then as the virus spread to the United States, it was difficult to tell how big of a threat it would be. “Most of us as immigrants and refugees, it’s like, well, maybe people are just being extra about it, you know? Maybe it’s not that bad. For me personally, I’ve been through so much. If this is just like a virus, you’re talking to someone who had malaria, you know? I survived that. So it was like, if it’s going to be like malaria, I can go through it. It’s just going to be like any other thing that I’ve been through. “

But then things changed. Cleaning was stepped up in the plant, but with 150-160 people on each shift and many of them working side by side, Deng and her coworkers started to grow nervous.

Then on Saturday, March 28^th, her supervisor pulled her aside and asked if she had any fever or cough. One of the machine operators she had worked with that morning had tested positive, and Deng was sent home to quarantine for two weeks. “I didn’t say it out loud, but I’m thinking, ‘they are being silly.’”

“Monday night I went to bed feeling ok. I woke up about 2am with this sharp pain in my body that just feels like someone has stabbed me. So I went to the bathroom and said, maybe if I take a shower, it will be better. But when the water hit my body, it felt like a bunch of rocks were being thrown at my body.”

Her skin hurt, and by Thursday night her body was so exhausted, even walking was difficult and it felt like something heavy was sitting on her chest. The fear kicked in as she started having trouble breathing, and she refused to fall sleep because she was afraid of not waking up. The experiences from her childhood flooded back, along with the fear that her children would face the same ordeals she went through being an orphan and not having parents to support them. “If I die, my kids will go through the same thing I’ve been through. The loneliness. I’m thinking, I bring these kids to this world. I’ve been through everything I’ve been through and I never had a chance to tell them. They don’t know their mom. They don’t know what their mom went through. All they know is their mom is a work-a-holic, “she would do anything to give us a better life,” that’s all they know. It’s not a perfect world. I make it perfect for them. But if I die, this world is not perfect anymore.”

As more workers got sick, the situation in Sioux Falls started to get nation attention. The number of positive cases kept rising up to more than 800 workers, and the governor called on head of Smithfield to stop production. On April 12^th, Smithfield announced indefinite closure, while more and more plants around the country found themselves facing similarly dire circumstances.

An estimated 22 meatpacking plants have closed – including union and non-union plants – at some point in the past two months. These closures have resulted in over 35,000 workers impacted and a 25 percent reduction in pork slaughter capacity as well as a 10 percent reduction in beef slaughter capacity.

Because of the importance of these workers to our national food supply, President Trump issued an executive order compelling these plants to stay open. But UFCW International President Marc Perrone called on the White House not to treat these workers as sacrificial lambs. “To protect America’s food supply, America’s meatpacking workers must be protected,” said Perrone. “The reality is that these workers are putting their lives on the line every day to keep our country fed during this deadly outbreak”

The UFCW is urging the Administration to immediately enact clear and enforceable safety standards that compel all meatpacking companies to provide the highest level of protective equipment through access to the federal stockpile of PPE, ensure daily testing is available for workers and their communities, enforce physical distancing at all plants, and provide full paid sick leave for any workers who are infected. Additionally, to protect the food supply and ensure these safety standards for workers are enforced, these plants must be constantly monitored by federal inspectors and workers must have access to representation to ensure their rights are not violated.

On Monday, the Sioux Falls plant began to partially reopen with about 250 employees. Deng is still recovering, but cannot afford to stay home for a long time. “My focus is to try to take care of myself so that when the company opens back up, then I’m ready to go. So that’s where my focus is.”

“Thank you very much for at least giving me the voice. A lot of people don’t understand, but living in the refugee camp, I don’t take anything for granted. Because of what I’ve been through and because of what I see happening to other kids that did not make it. But I am pretty sure they are looking over me and watching over me and I’m going to make them proud. “

UFCW & COVID 19