A Tyson Foods Facility on the West End of Portland. Fifty-one Confirmed Cases of the COVID-19 Have Been Reported Here. The city of Portland Remains Voiceless on the Situation at this Frozen Poultry Packing Facility.
Attorney General Aaron M. Frey joined a coalition of 20 attorneys general calling for President Trump to ensure the health and safety of meat and poultry processing plant employees, who have been deemed essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 28, Trump signed an Executive Order invoking the Defense Production Act (DPA) in an attempt to keep meat and poultry processing plants open despite widespread outbreaks of COVID-19 in these facilities.
The attorneys general signed a five page letter addressed to President Trump dated today, Mday 12, 2020 outlining their concerns and ways in which to remedy them.
Over 10,000 cases have been tied to the plants and 45 workers have died. The Order purports to force employees to continue working without imposing adequate and enforceable mandates to protect their health and safety.
“The Trump Administration’s executive order did nothing to protect individuals who are working in dangerous conditions,” said Frey. “Given that there have been COVID-19 outbreaks at meat and poultry facilities across the country, including recently in Portland, it is essential that the Trump Administration mandate protective measures such as priority testing, PPE for all workers, appropriate physical distancing and quarantine with full pay for workers who test positive,” according to the press release issued today from the AG’s office.
The incidence of COVID-19 infections among meat and poultry industry workers is so severe that many plants are reporting hundreds of workers testing positive for the novel coronavirus. These clusters of infections are also devastating their surrounding communities. Yet the industry, with workplaces already considered among the most dangerous in the country, has continued to operate the plants without instituting adequate health and safety measures. Despite fast-moving dissembly lines requiring workers to stand shoulder to shoulder for hours, efforts to provide personal protection equipment (PPE) and enforce social distancing measures have been sporadic at best. some companies also continue to impose punitive measures for employees who fall ill and are unable to work. Rather than slowing line speeds to enable safer working conditions, plants have sought, and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has approved, new line speed waivers that force employees to work faster and closer to one another.
Adequate protective measures must include:
priority testing for workers in the processing plants, immediate access to adequate PPE, suspension of all line speed waivers and a halt to approval of any additional waivers, 6 ft. physical and social distancing where possible and plexiglass barriers where distancing cannot be achieved, and, isolation and quarantine of COVID-19 positive workers, with full pay.
The city of Portland spokeswoman, Jessica Grondin, has not responded to an inquiry as to where city leaders stand on workplace protections for the workers at Tyson Foods. Are city officials in agreement with the letter to Trumpy described above? The city remains silent on the subject. Mhn.com has tried to reach Tyson Foods several times, but no one from the company is answering the telephone.