2LT International News

WASHINGTON D.C.: A recently released report from the U.S. House of Representatives found that no fewer than 59,000 workers in the meat packing industry had contracted Covid, with 269 employees dying in 2020.

Among the initial hotbeds of the COVID-19 pandemic was the meat packing industry, where employees worked close to each other on factory floors. According to the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis that reviewed internal documents from five of the major meat packing firms, the workforce could have been better protected if more efforts were made industry-wide.

Of note, the infection figures in the meat packing industry used by the US House are almost three times higher, compared to the United Food and Commercial Workers’ estimates of 22,400 workers having contracted Covid.

When the pandemic peaked in the March-June period in 2020, the American meat packing industry saw a 60 percent decline in production, as plants were temporarily shut down to conduct thorough sanitizations and improve safety procedures.

“Instead of addressing the clear indications that workers were contracting the coronavirus at alarming rates due to conditions in meatpacking facilities, meatpacking companies prioritized profits and production over worker safety, continuing to employ practices that led to crowded facilities in which the virus spread easily,” according to the report.