Two of the nation's largest meat companies are targeted in a racial discrimination complaint filed this week with the U.S. Department of Agriculture by a group of worker advocates.
According to the complaint, meatpackers Tyson Foods Inc. and JBS S.A. did not follow the federal guidance that would have mitigated the spread of coronavirus among minority workers.
Although 60% of all meatpacking workers in the U.S. are Black, Hispanic or Asian, people of color accounted for almost 90% of those infected, according to federal data released this week.
This is due in part to corporations not fully enforcing a 6-foot minimum of social distancing among workers, the complainants said, which has led to a surge in covid-19 cases and temporary plant closures.
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Spokesmen for Tyson and JBS disagreed, saying they have made strides in protecting their workers during the pandemic and have followed or exceeded guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"We're still reviewing the filing, but can tell you our top priority is the health and safety of all our team members, their families and the communities where our plants are located," Tyson spokesman Worth Sparkman said in an email Friday.
JBS spokesman Cameron Bruett said JBS's diverse workforce, including refugees and immigrants, is "the true strength of our company."
Despite efforts to keep workers safe, a mix of advocates claim the corporations' policies currently do not comply with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Title VI regulations, which protect individuals from racial discrimination by recipients of financial assistance.
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Tyson and JBS have received more than $150 million in federal contracts this fiscal year, USDA data shows.
"USDA must enforce our basic civil rights laws," said Suzanne Adely, co-director of the Food Chain Workers Alliance, one of several complainants.
According to a CDC disparity report, the data shows a "disproportionate burden of illness and death" among racial and ethnic minorities. Of the 21 states that offered data for the report, about 39% of meatpacking workers were white, 30% were Hispanic, 25% were Black and 6% were Asian.
However, among 9,919 meatpacking workers infected with coronavirus, the data shows approximately 56% were Hispanic, 19% were Black, 13% were white and 12% were Asian.
"These policies that endanger workers are a deliberate choice by companies to put profit over the lives of workers and their communities," Adely said.
In the 49-page complaint, advocates recommended increasing the space between workers to a minimum of 6 feet, increasing the number of shifts in a day and operating shifts on weekends and federal holidays. They said this alternative would help Tyson and JBS meet their processing capacity objective while eliminating the risk of coronavirus exposure.
Efforts to control the spread of the virus are already underway in the plants, according to the companies. Tyson has conducted coronavirus testing at several facilities, supplied masks to employees, appointed social distance monitors and installed workstation dividers and scanners that check workers' temperatures.
"We have transformed the way our plants operate to protect our team members," Sparkman said.
Plant workers nationwide continue to test positive for the virus. At least 43,077 workers across 490 meatpacking and food processing plants have confirmed cases of covid-19, according to the Food and Environmental Reporting Network as of Friday. At least 162 have died.