Trump says he’ll order meatpacking plants to stay open despite coronavirus outbreaks
Facing a possible meat shortage during the coronavirus pandemic, President Donald Trump says he will sign an executive order Tuesday requiring meat processing plants to stay open.
Trump confirmed he’ll use the Defense Production Act to order companies, including Tyson Foods and Smithfield Foods, to keep large meat production plants operating as critical infrastructure.
The president said he planned to sign the order within about an hour of an afternoon press conference.
“With the meatpacking and the transportation, we have had some difficulty where they’re having a liability where it’s really unfair to them,” Trump said.
Tyson and Smithfield, two of the country’s biggest meat producers, have had to shutter plants after coronavirus outbreaks among workers.
In April, Smithfield shut down its Sioux Falls, South Dakota, facility indefinitely because of an outbreak. The Sioux Falls plant accounted for 4 to 5 percent of U.S. pork production and led to the closing of other processing plants that relied on Sioux Falls for pork, according to the company.
United Food and Commercial Workers, the union that represents many workers in the meat processing industry, estimates 22 meat packing plants have closed at some point during the pandemic. The closures mean pork slaughtering has dropped 25% and beef processing is down 10%, according to the union.
The union said 20 workers in the industry have died from the virus and at least 6,500 employees in meat packing and processing have either tested positive, had to self-quarantine or had symptoms of the virus.
“America’s meatpacking workers and our nation’s food supply are in greater danger every day that companies and leaders fail to act during this outbreak. It is clear that our food supply chain is threatened, and that is why our country’s elected and corporate leaders must act now,” UFCW International President Marc Perrone said in a statement.
“Tyson and every company across this vital industry, must immediately join with UFCW in calling for federal and state elected leaders to designate these frontline workers as first responders. Temporary first responder status ensures these workers have priority access to the COVID-19 testing and protective equipment they need to continue doing these essential jobs,” he said.
Bloomberg News first reported that the executive order was coming on Tuesday, citing an unnamed source. The order will cover plants producing pork, chicken and eggs, according to Bloomberg.
The order will help protect the processing companies from liability for keeping the plants running during the pandemic, Reuters reports.
This story was originally published April 28, 2020 at 1:07 PM with the headline "Trump says he’ll order meatpacking plants to stay open despite coronavirus outbreaks."
