BALDWIN, SENATE COLLEAGUES: TRUMP DECISION TO REOPEN MEAT PROCESSING FACILITIES WITHOUT CLEAR SAFETY STANDARDS PUTS WORKERS, NATION’S FOOD SUPPLY AT RISK

President Trump Used Defense Production Act to Compel Meat Processing Facilities to Reopen Despite Poor Health & Safety Record; Without Comprehensive Efforts to Ensure Health & Safety of Workers, Plants will Remain Significant Vector of Infection

Senators: Facilities Should Reopen Only After they have Met All Health & Safety Guidelines Issued by OSHA and CDC

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin is urging President Trump to take immediate action to amend his Executive Order and mandate that meat processing facilities closed down by state or local health authorities or of their own accord are permitted to reopen only after they have met all of the health and safety guidelines issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

President Trump recently used the Defense Production Act (DPA) to compel meat processing facilities to remain open despite poor safety and health standards at those facilities, which have led to documented COVID-19 infections and worker fatalities. This is particularly troubling in light of the administration’s persistent refusal to issue and enforce vital safety standards from the OSHA to protect workers from exposure to COVID-19.

The grueling work of the industry already makes meat processing one of the most hazardous work environments in the country. Its workers, who are predominantly Black and brown – groups that are already disproportionately impacted by this pandemic – experience some of the highest injury rates. Coronavirus has made this work even more dangerous. In a letter to President Trump led by Sherrod Brown (D-OH), the Senators demanded the Trump administration do more to protect these workers, the public health of their communities, farmers and livestock producers, and the nation’s food supply chain.

“Without immediate, comprehensive intervention by the federal government to ensure the health and safety of workers at these plants, workers in the meat processing industry will remain at extremely high risk of contracting the virus and the plants will continue to be a major vector of significant infection. Failure to take action to protect these workers is not only a threat to their lives, but also to the public health of their communities,” the Senators wrote.

The Senators continued, “Despite urgent calls from worker advocates and Members of Congress, your Administration has refused to use its existing authority to issue enforceable OSHA safety standards that employers are required to meet to keep their workers safe. In light of the woeful lack of federal standards and enforcement, state and local officials have recently taken action to close several unsafe meatpacking plants that put workers and their communities at risk. Your use of DPA to mandate the reopening of these plants could prevent State and local authorities from compelling companies to provide workers with essential protections, and thus being able to keep their communities safe. In doing so, you have effectively signaled to the meat processing industry that they can continue business as usual, without taking further action to protect their workers or public health.”

Baldwin and Brown were joined on the letter by Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Bob Casey (D-PA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jack Reed (D-RI), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT).

Baldwin, and her colleagues Senators Duckworth, Murray and Brown, have introduced legislation to protect U.S. workers from COVID-19 in response to disturbing, widespread reports of unsafe workplaces leading to preventable illnesses and deaths. The COVID-19 Every Worker Protection Act would require OSHA to issue an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) that establishes a legal obligation for all workplaces to implement comprehensive infectious disease exposure control plans to keep workers safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite repeated calls, including in this letter, the administration has failed to issue the needed ETS.

According to the CDC, more than 9,000 U.S. health care workers have been infected with COVID-19. Outbreaks have been reported at a wide range of workplaces across the country, including one meat processing plant where more than 500 workers were infected with the virus.

The COVID-19 Every Worker Protection Act directs OSHA to issue an Emergency Temporary Standard within 7 days that sets requirements for how workplaces must safeguard workers against the spread of the coronavirus. The legislation expands on a previous proposal, the COVID-19 Workers First Protection Act (S. 3584), by requiring OSHA to issue a standard covering all U.S. workers, including workers in health care facilities, warehouses, grocery stories, and food processing plants.  

The Occupational Safety and Health Act gives the Department of Labor the authority to issue an Emergency Temporary Standard if employees are exposed to grave danger from new hazards. However, despite repeated calls from Committee Democrats to issue an Emergency Temporary Standard, the Trump administration has made no effort to establish enforceable safety standards to protect workers from COVID-19.

A copy of the letter can be found below and HERE.

April 30, 2020

Dear President Trump:

We write to express our serious concern about your use of the Defense Production Act (DPA) to compel meat processing facilities to remain open despite poor safety and health standards at those facilities, which have led to documented COVID-19 infections and worker fatalities.  Your action is particularly troubling in light of your Administration’s persistent refusal to issue and enforce vital safety standards from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to protect workers from occupational exposure to COVID-19.   Using DPA authorities to force plants that process America’s meat to stay open, reopen or operate without requiring compliance with health and safety standards jeopardizes the lives of the workers at the facilities, risks further spread of the virus in our communities, harms farmers and ranchers, and puts consumers and our country’s meat supply at further risk. 

Irresponsibly fast line speeds, physically grueling work, and extremely dangerous machines make the meat processing industry one of the most hazardous in the country, which is why these workers, who are predominantly Black and brown workers, experience some of the highest injury rates.   During the coronavirus pandemic, jobs at meat processing facilities have become markedly more dangerous due to employers’ refusal to listen to the needs of their workers and implement health and safety guidelines to protect them.  Workers in plants across the country report they have not been given the proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to use on the job.   In addition, workers continue to complete their tasks in very close proximity to other workers for the duration of their shift because employers have not made adjustments to the line speeds or factory layouts to provide workers with the extra space called for by public health officials.  In fact, your administration just this month approved faster line speeds at chicken processing plants, and at pork processing plants last fall , which means workers are clustered closer together on the line.   Workers also continue to be crowded in break rooms and locker rooms, without being given additional space or other leeway to practice social distancing.   

As a result of insufficient worker protections, according to the United Food and Commercial Workers union, more than 6,500 meat industry workers have contracted COVID-19, and at least 20 have died.   In addition, more than 100 inspectors with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have tested positive for the virus, and at least two food inspectors with the agency have died from the virus.   Without immediate, comprehensive intervention by the federal government to ensure the health and safety of workers at these plants, workers in the meat processing industry will remain at extremely high risk of contracting the virus and the plants will continue to be a major vector of significant infection.  Failure to take action to protect these workers is not only a threat to their lives, but also to the public health of their communities.

Despite urgent calls from worker advocates  and Members of Congress, your Administration has refused to use its existing authority to issue enforceable OSHA safety standards that employers are required to meet to keep their workers safe.  In light of the woeful lack of federal standards and enforcement, state and local officials have recently taken action to close several unsafe meatpacking plants that put workers and their communities at risk.  Your use of DPA to mandate the reopening of these plants could prevent State and local authorities from compelling companies to provide workers with essential protections, and thus being able to keep their communities safe.  In doing so, you have effectively signaled to the meat processing industry that they can continue business as usual, without taking further action to protect their workers or public health. 

We urge you to take immediate action to amend your Executive Order to mandate that meat processing facilities closed down by State or local health authorities or of their own accord are permitted to reopen only after they have met all of the safety guidelines issued by OSHA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and to require OSHA to enforce that guidance under the General Duty Clause of the Occupational Safety and Health Act. All facilities that have continued to operate must also be required to meet all OSHA and CDC guidance, including social distancing requirements on production lines and in break and locker rooms.  In addition, your Administration must immediately issue and enforce an OSHA Emergency Temporary Standard that requires employers to protect their workers from the spread of the coronavirus at work.  We further urge you to immediately disburse sufficient PPE to all USDA food inspectors to protect the workers who are tasked with keeping our food supply safe.

Americans need access to food during these challenging times.  Farmers and ranchers need to be able to sell their products to processing facilities.  Without the proper health and safety standards in place at processing facilities, workers will continue to be infected with COVID-19 which will hurt production and lead to food supply shortages for consumers and continued low commodity prices for farmers and livestock producers.  Requiring all employers, particularly those in the meat processing industry, to meet worker safety standards is critical to protecting workers and stopping the spread of the coronavirus.  It is also essential to preserving our country’s food supply chain and reopening the economy safely.

Sincerely,