“Here was a population, low-class and mostly foreign, hanging always on the verge of starvation, and dependent for its opportunities of life upon the whim of men every bit as brutal and unscrupulous as the old-time slave drivers; under such circumstances immorality was exactly as inevitable, and as prevalent, as it was under the system of chattel slavery. Things”
― Upton Sinclair, The Jungle
At first, President* Trump (I like that Charlie Pierce uses the * after President every time he refers to the poser in the White House) refused to use his powers under the Defense Production Act. Finally, after much cajoling by Democratic lawmakers, in late March he invoked the Act to force General Motors, General Electric, Hilll-Rom, Medtronic, ResMed, Royal Phillips, Vyaire Medical, and 3M to ramp up production of protective gear needed by health professionals. It took him way too long. But, finally, he did something to help. From all the talk about the Act, you’d have thought, though, that he didn’t really like using that power. You’d have thought wrong. He actually has used it a lot.
As the New York Times set forth here, the Trump Administration knew how to use the Act. It has used it to prioritize defense contracts. What does that mean? Well, the defense department can tell someone “Don’t build that thing you want to build for Client A, build my thing first.” The Department of Defense invoked the Act to obtain rare earth metals needed to build lasers and jet engines and armored vehicles. You know, the things of war. But, when the coronavirus came calling, Trump asked for volunteerism to lead the way. Why? I don’t know, but my guess is if Trump had invoked the Act that would have been recognizing the seriousness of the issue and heaven forbid he do that. Admit he might have screwed up.
Which makes his most recent use of the Act to designate meat-processing plants as critical infrastructure that must maintain operations during the pandemic a thing that is not like the others. Why? Well, many meat packing plants were closing because of the virus. Smithfield had closed plants in Wisconsin, Missouri, Illinois, and South Dakota. Tyson had closed plants down in Washington, Iowa, and Indiana. All these facilities it seems were hotspots for coronavirus. Well, let’s be completely honest, Smithfield only closed its South Dakota plant after Governor Kristi Noem formally requested that they suspend operations. Now, though, such a request from a governor would be illegal, as pointed out by Mother Jones. Trump’s invocation of the Act may limit meat processor liability from future lawsuits. Maybe. Maybe not. But, the maybe will give the industry something to hang its hat on when a plaintiff comes complaining.
Highlights from the above Mother Jones article:
“The food supply chain is breaking,” said John Tyson. You know, the Tyson of Tyson Foods. He took out a full page ad in the Times and Washington Post to warn of the impending shortages. Truly, his concern is for the country right, not his bottom line? In fact, when asked what he would do about the food supply concerns, Trump told a Bloomberg reporter that “he will do an executive order to help Tyson Foods with a ‘liability’ problem.” What liability might that be? Maybe the fact that 20 meatpacking workers have died already from the virus and 5,000 more have contracted the virus? One worker filed a lawsuit claiming that management was not sufficiently protecting workers from the virus. Heck, Walmart got sued for wrongful death of an employee who died of the virus.
Which brings me back to The Jungle, written in 1906. You read that right, more than 100 years ago, Upton Sinclair laid bare the horrible conditions in the Chicago meat industry. The book was rejected by five publishers because it was considered too shocking and horrific. You know the book is so old that its copyright expired and you can read it for free here.
I’m pretty confident that Tyson and Smithfield will put worker safety and health first and foremost, aren’t you? Of course not. Here is a quote from a Washington Post article:
On Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and OSHA released interim guidance for meatpacking and processing facilities. It outlined procedures for cleaning shared equipment and reconfiguring workstations. It also included information on how companies can use physical barriers to put at least six feet between employees, who typically stand shoulder to shoulder in the plants.
It also called for the use of personal protective equipment and revising attendance policies to ensure employees are not penalized for taking sick leave because of the coronavirus. But like previous CDC and OSHA guidance for workplaces during the pandemic, it is voluntary and not enforceable.
Yeah, I put that last part in bold. Voluntary. Not enforceable. Trump is not invoking the Act to protect workers. He is doing it to protect American corporations. He is telling his corporate donors to keep operating but pretty please put some safety measures in place that I won’t enforce. He is only following up on his previous actions toward meat packing workers. In 2019, the Trump Administration authorized faster “line speeds” for poultry plants. Worker protection, right? Nope.
Back in 2006, PBS did a story on the meat packing industry. Back then it was the largest industry in the country, employed half a million workers and paid them about 30 percent less than the average manufacturing job. And guess who the industry mainly employed? Immigrant laborers. But, we knew that right?
Have things changed in the past 15 years? No. OSHA data from 2015-2017 showed an average of two amputations a week in the industry. Instead of cutting up meat, workers were cutting off their limbs. Immigrant workers were cutting off their limbs, to be precise. In August of 2019, ICE raided seven poultry packing plants in Mississippi. No, I didn’t mean the FBI raided the offices to arrest executives for flaunting immigration laws. I meant ICE. You see, ICE sent 600 agents to arrest 680 undocumented immigrants. Workers, who needs them? Well, it turns out, the meat packing industry and thus all of America needs them to put their limbs at the ready.
Toss the immigrants out! Make the immigrants work! Don’t let them sue! What a world.