Every time we purchase meat, dairy, or eggs at a supermarket or restaurant, we’re supporting an industry that flagrantly disregards workers’ rights and animals' rights.
Last week, President Trump issued an executive order banning governors from
closing meat processing plants, declaring them “critical infrastructure.”
Meat-processing plants around the US have been hotspots for the novel
coronavirus. Over 5,000 workers have tested positive for COVID-19 and at
least 20 have died. As a result, many workers are required to work longer
and more frequent shifts.
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), with more than 60
million members nationwide, along with a coalition of workers, community
groups, and elected officials, is supporting a Meatless May Mondays campaign
to draw attention to the deplorable conditions meat workers are facing. FFAC
stands in solidarity with LULAC and the workers.
Workers in meatpacking facilities, who held some of the country’s most
dangerous jobs before the pandemic, are now forced to work without
safeguards, including physical distancing policies, personal protective
equipment (PPE), and paid sick leave.
These are people who need to work and who don’t have options. Most are poor,
uneducated, and foreign-born. Half lack legal authorization to work in the
US. They’re desperate for any work they can get and willing to endure
horrific conditions.
Factory farm workers routinely inhale hazardous levels of ammonia and
hydrogen sulfide and particulate matter from feces, feed, and fur or
feathers. Seventy percent suffer from respiratory illness. Due to the
incredibly fast-paced and repetitive nature of the work, workers in meat
processing plants are seven times more likely than their counterparts in
other private industries to suffer from painful cumulative trauma disorders.
As well, there are at least 17 severe injuries a month in US meat plants.
These include amputations, broken bones, and head trauma. Most of these
workers don’t have health insurance or worker’s compensation, so when they
get hurt and can no longer work, they’re on their own.
Every time we purchase meat, dairy, or eggs at a supermarket or restaurant,
we’re supporting an industry that flagrantly disregards workers’ rights.
By reducing or eliminating our consumption of meat, dairy, and eggs, we can
help put an end to this abusive industry.
Amy, Director of Strategic Partnerships for FFAC, and Zach
Number of animals killed in the world by the fishing, meat, dairy and egg industries, since you opened this webpage.
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