Meatpackers welcome Trump order; others question virus risks

Big meatpacking companies that have struggled to keep plants running during coronavirus crisis said Wednesday that y welcomed President Donald Trump’s executive order requiring m to stay open, but unions, some employees and Democrats questioned wher workers could be kept safe.

Trump used Defense Production Act to classify meat processors as critical infrastructure to prevent supermarket shelves from running out of chicken, pork and or meat. Meatpacking plants across country have closed as COVID-19 infections spre rapidly between workers, who often stand shoulder to shoulder on production lines .

Trump, who consulted with industry leers before issuing order, said it would relieve “bottlenecks” that largest companies faced as workers fell ill and some died.

“y are so thrilled,” Trump said Wednesday after getting off a call with meatpacking executives. “y’re so happy. y’re all gung-ho, and we solved ir problems.”

executive order was widely seen as giving processors protection from liability for workers who become sick on job. It came soon after a lawsuit accused Smithfield Foods of t doing eugh to protect employees at its plant in Milan, Missouri. A federal judge in that case ordered Smithfield to follow federal recommendations.

United Food and Commercial Workers union said it would appeal to goverrs for help, asking m to enforce rules that workers be kept 6 feet apart and that employees be provided with N95 masks and access to virus testing.

“Does it make sense to have meat in markets if it takes blood of people who are dying to make it every day?” asked Menbere Tsegay, a worker at Smithfield Foods plant in South Dakota, where more than 800 workers have confirmed cases of COVID-19. Two people have died, and plant has been shut down since mid-April.

threat of virus has caused workers like Tsegay, a 35-year-old single mor of four children, to weigh wher to risk ir health by working. Tsegay said she’s t willing to do that.

“I’d rar starve and wait this out than go back to work,” she said.

Companies have alrey been moving to change ir operations to reduce worker risks by providing personal protective equipment, installing plexiglass shields between workers and reducing congestion by staggering shift start times, among or changes.

union said plexiglass barriers should t be used as a substitute for putting workers at a safe distance from one ar. Union officials also want to slow down meat processing, including getting rid of waivers that allow plants to operate at faster speeds.

Smithfield Foods, which is working on a plan to reopen Sioux Falls plant, said in a statement welcoming Trump’s order that it should make for easier access to protective equipment and testing for employees.

Faced with thinning workforces as workers become infected or stay home in fear, meatpacking companies have also put millions of dollars towards boosting pay and giving workers bonuses to encour healthy workers to stay on job.

But Jim Roth, director of Center for Food Security and Public Health at Iowa State University, said meatpacking plants will likely continue to have problems finding eugh workers operate at full capacity.

“re’s a short of workers to begin with, and n with illnesses and need to self-quarantine for 14 days after exposure, I’m t clear where workers come from to keep plants open,” Roth said.

Twenty meatpacking workers have died nationwide, and ar 5,000 have been infected by virus or shown symptoms of COVID-19, according to union, which represents roughly 80% of beef and pork workers and 33% of poultry workers nationwide.

Trump promised Wednesday that a report on protecting workers would be coming soon.

Federal ncies have alrey issued recommendations for operating plants that largely track with steps many companies say y have alrey taken.

Wendell Young, president of Philelphia chapter of union, described Trump’s order as an attempt to appeal to voters rar than to ensure protections.

Marshall Tanick, an employment lawyer in Minneapolis, said order “does t necessarily immunize” meatpackers from lawsuits.

Legislation to give employers immunity in se situations has been proposed, but it’s “very unlikely that anything like that will be enacted soon at federal level,” Tanick said. He said such measures might be easier to achieve at state level, because it’s less burdensome. Without specific legislation immunizing employers, y act at ir own risk.

In Worthington, Minnesota, where a JBS pork plant closed last week because of virus, U.S. House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Wednesday that y hope plant can reopen soon — but only if workers are protected.

“ executive order is going to get those hogs processed if people who kw how to do it are sick, or do t feel like y can be re,” Walz said.

Marisol Avelar, who works at Worthington plant, said she dres call from manment telling her to come back. But she said her three children depend on her, and she has or job prospects in town.

“At moment y tell me I’m going to work, I’m going to need money,” she said.

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Associated Press writers Amy Forliti and Steve Karwski in Minneapolis; David Pitt in Des Moines, Iowa; Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska; and Darlene Superville in Washington also contributed to this report.