The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
April 29, 2020

Trump Orders Meat Plants to Remain Open as Worker Coronavirus Deaths Mount
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

President Trump on Tuesday invoked the Defense Production Act to order
meatpacking plants around the United States to remain open. Trump's
executive order comes as U.S. beef, pork and poultry processing plants
are linked to areas with the highest rates of coronavirus transmission
in the country.

President Trump's order declaring meat plants "critical infrastructure"
came on Workers' Memorial Day, an international day of remembrance and
action for workers killed or disabled on the job. At least 20
meatpacking workers have died from COVID-19, and thousands have fallen
ill from the disease.

Unions say President Trump's order fails to require on-the-job safety
measures that will prevent further illness and death. In a statement,
Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department
Store Union, said, "We only wish that this administration cared as much
about the lives of working people as it does about meat, pork, and
poultry products."

This comes as some states, including Iowa and Texas, are warning workers
they'll lose unemployment benefits if they refuse to return to the job
when recalled after a layoff or furlough - even if those workers are
concerned about contracting the coronavirus on the job.


.