1/ Shockingly, not a single complaint that @NCDOL has received about #COVID19 safety concerns in meatpacking plants has resulted in an inspection, reports @ncwatchdognet. Over 90% of complaints have been deemed invalid or closed after a desk review. wfae.org/post/covid-19-…
2/ Yet as of last week, meatpacking plants in North Carolina were the source of some 3,200 confirmed cases of #COVID19 that originated in 37 distinct clusters, according to data from @ncdhhs. covid19.ncdhhs.gov/dashboard
3/ At the same time, concern about dangerous conditions in such plants, are not new. @propublica has detailed the dangerous conditions facing meatpacking workers all across the country & the refusal of firms to work with health officials. propublica.org/article/emails…
4/ Similarly, @NewYorker has detailed the extent to which Mountaire Farms (which has facilities in Chatham & Robeson counties) is using its economic and political power to prevent any meaningful enforcement of workplace health and safety standards. newyorker.com/magazine/2020/…
5/ The lack of action by @NCDOL is unfortunately par for the course for an agency that long has had little interest in actively enforcing workplace safety standards, even when, as @ncjustice has found, those failures result in the deaths of workers. ncjustice.org/publications/t…
6/ I personally don't see how it is possible to get a handle around #COVID19 so long as a major source of infection is exempted from any type of oversight while also refusing to work with public health authorities.
7/ As @TCFdotorg details, there are concrete steps that states and the federal government can take to both improve workplace safety and fight the pandemic. tcf.org/content/report…
8/8 A prerequisite for any change is recognizing that the individuals who work in meatpacking plants are people entitled to respect and dignity. The work may be hard and dirty and the pay (unfairly) low, but people still deserve safe conditions.
@threadreaderapp unroll
