Trump to Force Workers Back to Unsafe Conditions
President Donald Trump announced today that he intends to invoke the Defense Production Act (DPA) to keep meatpacking plants open during the COVID-19 crisis. Meatpacking plants have become hotspots for the virus. According to the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting there have been at least 18 reported worker deaths due to COVID-19 in the meatpacking industry and at least 4,400 reported positive cases tied to meatpacking facilities at 80 plants in 26 states.
In response to Trump’s statement, the BlueGreen Alliance released the following statement from Executive Director Jason Walsh:
“Workers in the American food industry are vital to us all, but the terrible working conditions that already existed in that industry have only been exacerbated by the Covid-19 virus. Donald Trump is finally using the Defense Production Act, but not to ensure that American manufacturers produce the protective equipment that essential workers so desperately need to be safe. Instead, Trump is using the DPA to try to force workers back on the job in unsafe conditions. It doesn’t get more wrong than that.”