The union’s sentiment comes after more than 390 infections and 8 deaths from COVID-19 among workers at the poultry plant
The Union of Farmers (UFW) expressed this week the possibility of carrying out a boycott against the Foster Farms poultry processing plant (chickens and turkeys, located in Livingston, California, if the company does not comply with the recommendations of the health authorities after an outbreak deadly coronavirus.
So far, at least 392 employees have tested positive for COVID-19 since April and at least eight infected workers have died. The number of infections represents almost 10% of the 3,800 workers at that plant.
“My husband just passed away from COVID-19, he worked 27 years at Foster Farms. He was a driver, ”Martha Vera said during the press conference – held online. “He had told me that there were people infected but they asked them to continue working.”
Visibly shaken and her voice cracking with tears, she concluded, “What does Foster Farms want? We are not interested … How many more deaths do they need to do something? “
They allege negligence
“There is evidence that the company ignored warnings from health authorities,” said Sheng Xiong, representative for the Leadership Council for Justice and Accountability in Merced.
“After they ordered to close [el 26 de agosto]They gave the company 48 hours to do it and they still did not close ”.
For Xiong and other activists, the company acted negligently, buying time to maintain its productivity, risking the lives of its employees.
In June, the Merced County Health Department inspected that plant and made precise recommendations to avoid contagion.
“We asked that the plant be closed to disinfect it and test all workers, and three days later repeat the tests since sometimes it can be negative but the person has the virus,” explains Dr. Salvador Sandoval, from the county Health Department of Merced.
“Later we noticed that the infections increased, so we visited the plant again – like CalOSHA – and we returned to issue recommendations for massive tests and temporarily shut down operations of the company.”
However, it alleges that Foster Farms did not implement these recommendations.
For example, in July the company had tested fewer than 100 workers; of them, 25 were positive (that is, infected).
According to health authorities, it took the company another three weeks to increase the number of tests.
The excuse for not complying with the order to close the plant is that millions of birds would be lost, creating an even greater health crisis — Foster Farms processes about 2 million birds per day.
“Of course the fate of the birds is concerned, but the lives of the workers should be the priority,” says Xiong. “If the company had implemented the recommendations when they were made, the situation would not be so serious.”
Find a culprit
Faced with the outbreak, 30% of permanent workers stopped showing up or asked for vacations. And what the arrival of temporary workers did was damage the control of infections, authorities indicate.
“The main source of contagion is in the rest places of the workers, so we made strict recommendations in this regard,” says Dr. Sandoval. “Keeping your distance and doing the tests is crucial in these cases.”
He adds that Foster Farms received 5,000 COVID-19 test kits from the federal government, and has a contract with a private San Francisco company that produces test results in 24-28 hours.
However, the company says that the infections occur outside the workplace, repeating the argument of most companies and employers: “It is not our fault but that of the workers.”
The Foster Farms company has other processors in different cities in California and in states like Oregon, Washington, Alabama and Louisiana with a total of approximately 12,000 workers.
Only days to comply
Finally, Foster Farms accepted the recommendations of the Department of Health and this Tuesday closed its Livingston plant for a week to disinfect it and test its employees.
On its web portal, the company explains the measures it will implement; to see them visit: bit.ly/31OIeqD
According to the Sacramento Bee newspaper, the company will pay workers who undergo tests twice this week for each day the facility is closed.
“We want security, to avoid infections and deaths,” says Dr. Sandoval. “There are many older employees, they face greater risks if they get sick.”
The worker José Piña Tovar assures that he was infected at Foster Farms in July, as was his wife, also an employee of that company.
“I’ve been working there for 15 years, this disease is very strong,” he said during this week’s virtual conference.
“The company has to worry about its workers, provide the protection we need,” he added.
With information from EFE.
