Plagued by COVID outbreaks, the meatpacking industry could be forced to change under Biden

Advocates for American meatpacking workers, sacrificed during the pandemic by an industry that has President Donald Trump’s ear, offered tentative hope for a heavier hand under Joe Biden. Biden, who takes office Jan. 20, won the U.S. presidential election on a campaign promise to stop the spread of the coronavirus. The spread took hold in meatpacking plants this spring and since has infected more than 42,000 workers and killed at least 221 people. The Trump administration, meanwhile, weakened safety guidelines and signed an executive order to keep plants open at the request of industry officials, even as outbreaks ravaged the plants. Worker advocates, experts and former government officials said Biden could – and should – direct his agencies to implement and enforce strict safety measures to protect worker health. “As a candidate, Joe Biden was fairly critical and spoke of the need for greater protections for workers,” said Jill Krueger, Northern Region director for The Network for Public Health Law. “I think we can anticipate some potentially fairly significant changes from a new administration.” Those changes must start, those sources said, with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, which sits under the Department of Labor. “As a candidate, Joe Biden was fairly critical and spoke of the need for greater protections for workers,” said Jill Krueger, Northern Region director for The Network for Public Health Law. “I think we can anticipate some potentially fairly significant changes from a new administration.” Those changes must start, those sources said, with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, which sits under the Department of Labor. OSHA, which is tasked with protecting workers, has not enforced its own recommendations, allowing companies to continue crowding workers...MORE