{"id":61644,"date":"2025-03-18T18:00:59","date_gmt":"2025-03-18T18:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/?post_type=press_releases&#038;p=61644"},"modified":"2025-03-18T18:01:00","modified_gmt":"2025-03-18T18:01:00","slug":"ufcw-responds-to-usda-decision-to-allow-higher-line-speeds","status":"publish","type":"press_releases","link":"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/press-releases\/ufcw-responds-to-usda-decision-to-allow-higher-line-speeds\/","title":{"rendered":"UFCW Responds to USDA Decision to Allow Higher Line Speeds"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>WASHINGTON, D.C.<\/strong> \u2013 Today, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/\">UFCW<\/a>), which represents 1.2 million workers in meatpacking, food processing, grocery, retail, and other essential industries across North America, released a statement in response to the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s (USDA) announcement that it will instruct the Food Safety and Inspection Service to extend waivers allowing pork and poultry facilities to operate at higher line speeds. Earlier this year, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ufcw.org\/press-releases\/ufcw-responds-to-usda-studies\/\">USDA released two studies<\/a> that showed the adverse impact of line speeds on poultry and pork workers.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">UFCW International President Marc Perrone said:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"quote\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cOur members work tirelessly every day in America\u2019s pork and poultry plants, helping families put food on the table. They know firsthand that these jobs are already physically demanding and high-risk. Extending these waivers without additional safety measures will only lead to more injuries, more workplace accidents, and a greater risk of food contamination.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cWe are again calling for a full range of safety measures to include additional staffing, improved reporting of workplace injuries, expanded access to early and adequate medical treatment, and job modifications that minimize ergonomic stressors.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>\u201cThe safety of our food depends on the safety of the workers who process it. The decision to allow facilities to operate at higher speeds without any additional safety measures only puts workers and consumers at risk.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"># # #<br><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"tw-max-w-217 tw-m-auto tw-px-6 rich-text contained-block\" data-module=\"paragraph\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><em>The UFCW International is the largest private sector union in the United States, representing 1.2 million workers and their families in meatpacking, food processing, grocery, health care, cannabis, retail, and other essential industries. UFCW members serve our communities in all 50 states, Canada and Puerto Rico. Learn more about the UFCW at\u202f<\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/ufcw.org\/\"><em>ufcw.org<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), which represents 1.2 million workers in meatpacking, food processing, grocery, retail, and other essential industries across North America, released a statement in response to the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s (USDA) announcement that it will instruct the Food Safety and Inspection Service to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":416,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[449,10,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61644","press_releases","type-press_releases","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-official-statements","category-packingprocessing","category-press-releases"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>UFCW Responds to USDA Decision to Allow Higher Line Speeds - The United Food &amp; 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