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Elbow to elbow:' North America meat plant workers fall ill, walk off jobs
Reuters ^ | 4/13/20 | Tom Polansek, Rod Nickel

Posted on 04/13/2020 1:06:49 PM PDT by LibWhacker

CHICAGO/WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - At a Wayne Farms chicken processing plant in Alabama, workers recently had to pay the company 10 cents a day to buy masks to protect themselves from the new coronavirus, according to a meat inspector.

In Colorado, nearly a third of the workers at a JBS USA beef plant stayed home amid safety concerns for the last two weeks as a 30-year employee of the facility died following complications from the virus.

And since an Olymel pork plant in Quebec shut on March 29, the number of workers who tested positive for the coronavirus quintupled to more than 50, according to their union. The facility and at least 10 others in North America have temporarily closed or reduced production in about the last two weeks because of the pandemic, disrupting food supply chains that have struggled to keep pace with surging demand at grocery stores.

According to more than a dozen interviews with U.S and Canadian plant workers, union leaders and industry analysts, a lack of protective equipment and the nature of “elbow to elbow” work required to debone chickens, chop beef and slice hams are highlighting risks for employees and limiting output as some forego the low-paying work. Companies that added protections, such as enhanced cleaning or spacing out workers, say the moves are further slowing meat production.

(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: coronavirus; meat; plant; workers
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1 posted on 04/13/2020 1:06:49 PM PDT by LibWhacker
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To: LibWhacker

Got venison?


2 posted on 04/13/2020 1:07:54 PM PDT by Sirius Lee (They are openly stating that they intend to murder us. Prep if you want to live.)
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To: LibWhacker

Very sad same protections given to employees seen by the public are denied those who are in the depth of the worst jobs, unseen.


3 posted on 04/13/2020 1:08:19 PM PDT by Yaelle
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To: LibWhacker

The next phase.


4 posted on 04/13/2020 1:09:08 PM PDT by facedown (Armed in the Heartland)
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To: LibWhacker
Smithfield Foods (owened by the CCP) announces indefinite closure of Sioux Falls plant amid COVID-19 outbreak

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2020/04/12/smithfield-foods-announces-indefinite-closure-of-sioux-falls-plant-amid-covid19-outbreak

"As of Saturday, more than 230 employees had tested positive for COVID-19, out of a workforce of about 3,700 people — part of a growing coronavirus hotspot in Sioux Falls. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken on Saturday asked the company to close down the plant for two weeks."

5 posted on 04/13/2020 1:11:21 PM PDT by Paladin2
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To: LibWhacker

Time to add hunger to the list of inconveniences in Americans lives


6 posted on 04/13/2020 1:12:34 PM PDT by Sybeck1 (Trump 2020)
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To: LibWhacker

Round three of panic buying.


7 posted on 04/13/2020 1:14:29 PM PDT by ealgeone
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To: LibWhacker

Can’t help but wonder if the breakout at the Smithfield facility has anything to do with it being China-owned.


8 posted on 04/13/2020 1:14:36 PM PDT by AAABEST (NY/DC/LA media/political/military industrial complex DELENDA EST)
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To: LibWhacker

Until someone documents what proportion are illegal aliens, I’ll suspend my tears.


9 posted on 04/13/2020 1:15:05 PM PDT by Uncle Miltie (BOYCOTT CHINA! - spread the word....)
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To: Uncle Miltie

Bingo!


10 posted on 04/13/2020 1:17:17 PM PDT by Bruiser 10 (Will you Boogaloo?)
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To: LibWhacker

At least the TP manufactures were able to increase their output by ~ 40%, so that shortage should be over in a month or two.

Just wait until all the meat in the supermarkets disappear while part of the manufacturing process is shut down.

The zoos will need to up their security.


11 posted on 04/13/2020 1:18:11 PM PDT by Paladin2
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To: All

Off topic: Can someone tell me how to make my screen text a little larger?


12 posted on 04/13/2020 1:19:37 PM PDT by JBW1949 (I'm really PC.....Patriotically Correct)
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To: Paladin2
Just wait until all the meat in the supermarkets disappear while part of the manufacturing process is shut down. The zoos will need to up their security.

I can go shoot a deer to eat, but I'll still have to use birch bark for TP.

13 posted on 04/13/2020 1:20:15 PM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: LibWhacker

I’m sure Rooters would, like every childless nag in the media, love to shut down every single food plant in the United States, and bring them back under communist rule direct from China. I’ve had it with the media and their complicity.


14 posted on 04/13/2020 1:21:37 PM PDT by backwoods-engineer (Politics is the continuation of war by other means. --Clausewitz)
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To: Uncle Miltie

Meat processing seems to have a large percentage of illegally employed workers.

The owners of such place need to be locked up and have their businesses confiscated.


15 posted on 04/13/2020 1:22:13 PM PDT by FewsOrange
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To: JBW1949

Hold the control key down, then press + key as needed


16 posted on 04/13/2020 1:23:20 PM PDT by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn....)
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To: JBW1949

“Can someone tell me how to make my screen text a little larger?”

In most browsers hold down the CTRL key and press the + key


17 posted on 04/13/2020 1:24:27 PM PDT by FewsOrange
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To: LibWhacker

“At a Wayne Farms chicken processing plant in Alabama, workers recently had to pay the company 10 cents a day to buy masks to protect themselves from the new coronavirus, according to a meat inspector.”

Not sure if this is true but this kind of penny-pinching makes me wanna hurl.


18 posted on 04/13/2020 1:24:51 PM PDT by plain talk
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To: central_va; FewsOrange

Thanks...I got it...


19 posted on 04/13/2020 1:25:36 PM PDT by JBW1949 (I'm really PC.....Patriotically Correct)
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To: Paladin2

Smithfield Foods owned by China?


20 posted on 04/13/2020 1:26:45 PM PDT by tired&retired (Blessings)
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