Congress has launched an investigation into widespread COVID-19 infections and deaths at meatpacking plants across the United States, the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis announced in a press release on Monday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st February, 2021) Congress has launched an investigation into widespread COVID-19 infections and deaths at meatpacking plants across the United States, the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis announced in a press release on Monday."Today, Representative James Clyburn, Chairman of the Select Subcommittee ... sent letters to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Tyson Foods, Smithfield Foods and JBS USA launching an investigation into coronavirus outbreaks at meatpacking plants nationwide, which have resulted in the deaths of more than 250 employees," the release said.
Tyson, Smithfield, and JBS are three of the largest meatpacking companies in the United States and have each had multiple outbreaks. Yet despite these hundreds of outbreaks, the Trump administration issued just eight citations, with fines as low as $11 per infected worker, the committee said.
"Public reports indicate that under the Trump Administration, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) failed to adequately carry out its responsibility for enforcing worker safety laws at meatpacking plants across the country, resulting in preventable infections and deaths," Clyburn wrote to the OSHA.
The Select Subcommittee's investigation follows reports that nearly 54,000 workers at 569 meatpacking plants in the United States have tested positive for the coronavirus, and at least 270 have died. More than two-thirds of employees at meatpacking plants are Black or Hispanic, and almost half of employees live in low-income families, the release noted.
