American meat
corporations have bad reputations, and for good reason.
These companies have reached near-supervillain status
for their inhumane treatment of cattle, pigs, and
chickens. Not only do animals that suffer in
meat-packing plants — these corporations abuse their
workers, too. New reports indicate that this
industry quite literally doesn't care if its workers
live or die, and it is time Congress did something about
this. In fact, a new report by the
U.S. Congress reveals that even when meat companies knew
their workers were at extremely high risk of catching
COVID-19, they lobbied to keep their plants open
anyway.
These
corporations even went so far as to fabricate
letters that falsely claimed America's meat supply was
at dire risk if plants temporarily shut down.
As a result, former President Trump signed an executive
order classifying meat plants as critical
infrastructure, forcing their doors open amidst grave
danger. Given what we know so far, upwards of
59,000 meat-packing workers caught COVID-19, and nearly
300 died. That's not even counting the family,
friends, and community members they spread COVID to
after contracting it at the plants. On top of that, many
meat-packing workers are immigrants, low-income,
uninsured, or some combination of the three. These are
communities that are already at an extremely high risk
of contracting severe COVID, yet the industry decided
profit was more important than human lives. The
government must never allow this deadly manipulation to
happen again. Sign the petition now to put
pressure on Congress and tell it: all workers deserve
dignity and protection! We must stand up to the meat
industry
now!
