Mourners remember Foster Farms workers who died of coronavirus, express frustration
In front of grieving and frustrated community members at the Max Foster Sports Complex, Naindeep Singh echoed a familiar sentiment heard Thursday night about the treatment of workers at the nearby Foster Farms facility.
“They call us essential, but treat us as expendable,” said Singh, the executive director of Jakara Movement, a statewide community and youth organization. “I’ve seen through letters and talking with others about what is happening inside.”
The vigil was held to honor the victims of one of the largest coronavirus outbreaks in the San Joaquin Valley. Merced County health officials report eight people have died and another 400 have been infected with COVID-19 at the Livingston plant.
The county ordered the facility to shut down Aug. 27 and the company closed its main chicken processing facility on Tuesday. Other facilities on the site have remained open.
Many of the roughly 50 people attending on Thursday night complained about the working conditions.
They talked about the lack of N95 masks, close working quarters and the risk of being exposed to the virus.
Lety Valencia, who is the co-director of organizing for Faith in the Valley, which put on the event, said her parents worked at Foster Farms for a long time and her mother is recovering from knee surgery from her time at the plant.
“They break their bodies,” Valencia said. “I am tired of hearing someone blaming someone.”
Foster Farms sends home 1,400 employees
About 1,400 employees were sent home with pay until at least Sept. 7 and they will be tested before they return to work. Workers were to undergo two rounds of testing, the company said in a statement.
Those at the vigil questioned whether they will actually be tested, and one said some of those infected have already returned to work.
“People are afraid to speak, so we have to speak for them,” said Blanca Ojeda, a community organizer for Faith in the Valley, a faith-based grassroots organization that represents families in the San Joaquin Valley. “We have to stay united and if we don’t do it, no one else will.”
One worker who spoke at the vigil said he was thankful for the United Farm Workers, which represents about 2,000 Foster Farms Livingston employees and has threatened to boycott if the conditions don’t improve.
“If not for the union, this would still be going on,” said the 29-year employee, who declined to give his name for fear of retribution. “Brothers and sisters, we have to speak up and support each other.”
Another Foster Farms employee said her heart was “broken” because a friend she ate lunch with was one of the eight workers who died.
“She was so young,” the worker said.
Thursday’s vigil was about unity and mourning as a community.
“When the pandemic hit California in March, we all asked what corporations like Foster Farms would choose to do in this moment,” Valencia said. “Would they drag their feet and make everyone look the other way in hopes that this virus would not hurt their bottom line? Or would they take this chance to honor the sacrifices their essential workers have made for decades by protecting them and respecting them, so that we can all be here for the recovery that will be needed in years ahead?
“While I am grieving the lives unnecessarily lost since and what it says about how Foster Farms decided to answer that question, I truly pray that this shutdown week will serve as a call to the conscience of leadership and that they will choose now to honor the lives of those we have lost by valuing all those left who will reenter the plant next week.”
This story was originally published September 4, 2020 at 5:17 AM.
