{"id":32303,"date":"2019-10-10T22:47:21","date_gmt":"2019-10-10T22:47:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/?p=32303"},"modified":"2020-09-08T17:24:01","modified_gmt":"2020-09-08T17:24:01","slug":"swinerule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/swinerule\/","title":{"rendered":"The UFCW sues the federal government over dangerous line speed rule"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This week, the UFCW International\u202ftogether<\/span><\/b> with<\/span><\/b> <\/span><\/b>UFCW Locals 663, 440 and 2\u202ffiled\u202f<\/span><\/b>a federal lawsuit<\/span><\/b><\/a>\u202fin the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota seeking to stop the United States Department of Agriculture\u2019s (USDA) new swine slaughter modernization rule<\/span><\/b>,<\/span><\/b> which\u202f<\/span><\/b>eliminates the line speed limits in pork slaughter plants and <\/span><\/b>reduces the number of Federal inspectors important <\/span><\/b>for ensuring the safety of our food by 40%. <\/span><\/b>Public Cit<\/span><\/b>izen Litigation Group represents the UFCW<\/span><\/b> and local unions<\/span><\/b> in the lawsuit.<\/span><\/b> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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In a press release, UFCW International President Marc Perrone said the following:<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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\u201cThousands of our members work hard every day in America\u2019s pork plants to help families across the country put food on the table. Increasing pork plant line speeds is not only a reckless giveaway to giant corporations, it will put thousands of workers in harm\u2019s way. This new rule would also dramatically weaken critical protections that Americans depend on to be able to select safe, healthy food to feed their families every day. The safety of America\u2019s food and workers is not for sale and this lawsuit seeks to ensure this dangerous rule is set aside and these companies are held accountable.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n

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What is “line speed?”<\/span><\/b> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Mark Nemitz, Assistant to Director of the UFCW’s Food Processing, Packing, & Manufacturing Division, and a former kill floor worker who knows what it’s like to be on the line firsthand, explained:<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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A line is basically a chain that is up above you in the air about fifteen feet. On that are these trolleys, and the hog will hang on that and go past you. Currently, with inspectors there we’re running about eleven hundred and six hogs per hour, and if we were to increase that, it would cause them to go faster and we’d have to just hurry through.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>

If we were to allow the line speeds to go up, we’re just putting more strain on workers’ bodies. More stressors. And it’s just not good.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>

Along with the food safety aspect, when you go faster, you have less time that you can see a piece of meat to detect any foreign material or any imperfections in it. I used to work on the line on the kill floor myself and you say ‘well, I can’t add more people to a lot of places because we’re pretty squeezed tight,’ so you put another person in a tight spot, you have knives in your hands, you’re moving faster. The animals have gotten bigger over the years, too, so there’s more cutting. There’s just a lot to this other than ‘we’re just going to speed this up and it’s going to be fine.’ It’s going to cause a lot of issues. Many times, we’re working around 95% of our capacity anyway as it <\/span>is, and<\/span> increasing the speed would just make it so hard. I can only imagine being on the line today.”<\/span> <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Taking legal action<\/span><\/b> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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In May 2018, more than 6,500 UFCW members who work in pork plants submitted comments to the USDA in opposition to the proposed rule that would “increase the line speeds where they work, threatening both them and the consumers they serve.” But the USDA chose to ignore those concerns.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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“We have <\/span>been <\/span>objecting <\/span>as the USDA <\/span>prepared<\/span> to promulgate this rule <\/span>that<\/span> allows companies to completely eliminate line speed<\/span>s<\/span>,” said Sarai King, Assistant General Counsel for the UFCW International. “In addition to line speed<\/span> limitations<\/span>, it also <\/span>reduces the number<\/span> of federal inspectors on the line by forty percent. <\/span>W<\/span>hen this rule came out, we were ready to challenge it immediately because we knew how <\/span>badly <\/span>it would affect <\/span>our workers.”<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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The UFCW <\/span>represents the largest number of workers in the meatpacking industry in the country. The three local unions who joined with the UFCW International <\/span>to bring<\/span> <\/span>the lawsuit all have major packing plants and represent a significant number of workers impacted by the rule.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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\u201cWe urged the USDA to consider how unsafe this rule would make our workplaces, but they refused,\u201d\u202f<\/span>said<\/span><\/b>\u202f<\/span>UFCW Local 663 President Matt <\/span><\/b>Utecht<\/span><\/b> in Minnesota<\/span><\/b>. \u201cWe had no choice but to go to court to stop a rule that will endanger the health and livelihoods of thousands of UFCW members.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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\u201cWe have a lot of pride in the products our members produce,\u201d\u202f<\/span>said<\/span><\/b>\u202f<\/span>UFCW Local 440 President Leo <\/span><\/b>Kanne<\/span><\/b> in Iowa<\/span><\/b>. \u201cThis rule will erode the quality and safety of the food we make and feed to our own families.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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\u201cThe USDA claims that this rule will make our food safer,\u201d\u202f<\/span>said<\/span><\/b>\u202f<\/span>UFCW Local 2 President Martin Rosas in Kansas<\/span><\/b>. \u201cBut our members, who have worked in the industry for years, know firsthand it makes both the food they make and the plants they work in less safe. Let\u2019s listen to the <\/span>experts who work in these plants every day<\/span> instead of big corporations just looking to make even more money.\u201d<\/span>\u202f<\/span><\/b> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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The complaint<\/span><\/b> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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\u201cShockingly, USDA admitted in its rule that it simply ignored the mounds of evidence that showed its actions will harm workers, while bending over backwards to help businesses. That violates basic principles of administrative law,\u201d\u202f<\/span>said<\/span><\/b>\u202f<\/span>Adam Pulver, an attorney with Public Citizen<\/span><\/b>, which represents UFCW and the three locals in the case.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Under the <\/span>Administrative Procedure Act<\/span>, <\/span>f<\/span>ederal agencies like the USDA have to <\/span>provide<\/span> reasons for what they do that are supported by logical evidence. In this case, in the face of overwhelming evidence that injuries increase when line <\/span>speeds increase, <\/span>the USDA ignored the evidence and went instead with what big companies wanted, <\/span>allowing<\/span> them to increase the line speeds with no limits at all. The <\/span>lawsuit <\/span>objects to the fact that <\/span>the USDA <\/span>ignored the<\/span> risks to<\/span> worker safety<\/span> and reduced the number of federal inspectors, which<\/span> means that food may not be<\/span> <\/span>adequately appraised <\/span>or<\/span> <\/span> properly inspected. <\/span>T<\/span>he <\/span>lawsuit asks the court to<\/span> declare the rule <\/span>against the law as <\/span>“arbitrary and capricious,” which <\/span>means that it was done without reasoned decision-making<\/span>.<\/span> <\/span>It also asks<\/span> the court to set aside th<\/span>e<\/span> rule and prevent the USDA from further implementing it.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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BACKGROUND\u202f<\/span><\/b> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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