The presidential order that American meatpacking plants remain open should mean help with securing an ongoing supply of face masks and other personal protective equipment for workers, Smithfield Foods said Wednesday.
The company said it believes the order also will help it secure more coronavirus testing for its employees.
“This action helps ensure the American people will not experience protein shortages,” Smithfield said in a statement.
Coronavirus outbreaks forced Smithfield to close two large fresh meat plants in South Dakota and Illinois. Because they supply two plants producing ham, bacon and sausage, those plants also have closed..
Its plant in Smithfield is running, and while the company hasn’t said if any workers there have the virus, state health officials’ tracking reports the only outbreaks in the area are in five long term care facilities and an unnamed correctional facility.
But the Centers for Disease Control has dispatched teams to work on containing outbreaks among chicken processing plant workers on the Eastern Shore and Shenandoah Valley.
At least 20 packinghouse workers nationwide have died from the virus, while more than 5,000 others have fallen ill, the United Food and Commercial Workers union reported. The union represents 250,000 meatpacking workers, though it has no local at Smithfield’s hometown plant.
“While we share the concern over the food supply, (the) executive order to force meatpacking plants to stay open must put the safety of our country’s meatpacking workers first,” UFCW International President Marc Perrone said in a written statement.
He said the government needs to enact clear, enforceable safety standards at meatpacking plants, provide access to the highest level of protective equipment through access to the federal stockpile and make sure that daily testing is available for workers and their communities.
Meatpacking plants have been hotspots for coronavirus because employees often work shoulder to shoulder.
Smithfield meatpacking plant workers routinely wear items that cover their faces, hands, heads and bodies, the company has said, adding that in response to the virus it has enhanced cleaning and disinfecting beyond what federal food safety regulations already require. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says there is no evidence COVID-19 is transmitted by food or food packaging.
The Rural Workers Community Alliance, an advocacy group, sued Smithfield last week, alleging that the company did not provide protective equipment to workers at its Missouri plant until mid-April, and discourages them from taking sick leave. In its court filing in response, Smithfield has workers are required to wear masks, are provided with new ones every day on entering the plant, while workers on the production floor are required to wern plastic face shields and gloves. It said nobody at the plant, or in the county in which it is located, has tested positive for the virus..
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