Outbreaks at meat processing facilities have sickened workers and stalled production throughout the Midwest. Side Effects reporters Natalie Krebs (Iowa Public Radio) and Sebasti谩n Mart铆nez Valdivia (KBIA, Missouri), and reporter Liam Niemeyer (WKMS, Kentucky) joined engagement specialist Brittani Howell on Facebook Live to talk about how the story has unfolded in their states.
Here's a recap of the conversation.
When thinking of 鈥渨hy鈥� these outbreaks have gotten so bad in these facilities, it鈥檚 important to talk about the layout and the working conditions. These are pretty close quarters, right? Can you describe the physical conditions in which these workers work, and how that might be conducive to the spread of the virus?
Reports of cases at meat processing facilities began cropping up in mid to late April, 鈥渁nd since then it鈥檚 really been a series of bursts in cases,鈥� Valdivia said.
And while conditions may vary from plant to plant, there are some factors that seem consistent among plants across several states: Many employees work on the meat packing lines, and have few breaks in which they can go to the bathroom to wash their hands. During break times or shift changes, workers still find it difficult to reach six feet of distance from their fellow employees.
In many cases, the facilities are not built to accommodate social distancing.
鈥淐onsidering that the virus spreads so easily from close contact, it just makes it the ideal condition to pass it on, especially as there are hundreds of people working in these plants,鈥� Krebs said.
So what have these facilities done to try to mitigate the virus spread?
Many are implementing a mix of several different strategies, such as putting up plastic barriers between workers who stand close together on the line, handing out masks or taking workers鈥� temperatures at the door. Some facilities are staggering breaks to reduce the number of people in the hallways and the break rooms, or even setting up additional break spaces like tents outside the building.
Some facilities have been slow to respond. Workers at the Smithfield Foods plant in Milan, Missouri, . The lawsuit was eventually thrown out 鈥� but shortly after it was filed, the plant began to make changes.
鈥淪mithfield said this wasn鈥檛 in response to the lawsuit, but these were things workers had been asking for since the end of March, and they suddenly happened after the lawsuit was filed,鈥� said Valdivia, who has been covering the lawsuit for KBIA.
But as far as mitigating strategies go, 鈥渋t鈥檚 very piecemeal. It鈥檚 not like every plant is following the exact same guidelines in the exact same way.鈥�
What challenges have you encountered in the reporting of these stories? It sounds like the plants aren鈥檛 being forthcoming about the numbers of cases in their facilities.
For the most part, the meat processing facilities in the reporters鈥� coverage areas have been communicating through statements rather than interviews. In the case of the Triumph Foods plant in Milan, Missouri, Valdivia hasn鈥檛 received even that much 鈥� at least, not from the plant itself.
鈥淭he only statements I鈥檝e been able to get are statements that workers at the plant have forwarded to me, that they鈥檝e gotten internally,鈥� Valdivia said. 鈥淎ny time I鈥檝e sent an email to their press person, I get no response.鈥�
Luckily, Niemeyer said, the state of Kentucky through its health department. Missouri has been less so, and Valdivia has had to do some detective work in order to piece together what鈥檚 happening.
To get a grasp of Missouri鈥檚 plant-related outbreaks, Valdivia started by identifying the counties with the biggest meat processing facilities in the state. When county cases spiked, he reached out to local health departments and asked them to estimate how many were connected to the meat processing plant.
In Iowa, a plant is considered to have an outbreak if 10% of its workforce has COVID-like symptoms or tests positive for the virus. Plants have to report their outbreak status to the state, but if their numbers fall below that threshold, it can be hard for journalists to confirm how many cases they have.
And it鈥檚 not always straightforward with the plants that do have to report their numbers. Iowa state officials reported in early May 444 employees at a Tyson plant in Black Hawk County had tested positive for the virus. 鈥� a number that included more kinds of testing than the state did, according to reporting by Iowa Public Radio鈥檚 Kate Payne.
What does President Donald Trump鈥檚about meat processing facilities mean for the way these facilities operate?
The prevailing impression is that the executive order outright banned plants from closing 鈥� but that鈥檚 not accurate, Valdivia said.
鈥淭he way that it鈥檚 reported or properly understood doesn鈥檛 necessarily line up with the text of the document,鈥� Valdivia said.
Essentially, the executive order delegates decision-making power to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue. Perdue sent letters to governors of states with large meat processing industries laying out the expectation that plants had to keep operating in order to keep the food supply chain going, Niemeyer said.
鈥淚t implied, it indicated, that state and local health officials wouldn鈥檛 have that ability, that authority would be given to the federal government. It鈥檚 unclear, in terms of what state and local health officials can do if these outbreaks linger or resurface,鈥� Niemeyer said.
Many of these plants are located in rural areas, which often have limited health resources. What kind of a toll does an outbreak of this size take on a rural health department?
The problem of resources goes beyond ventilators and hospital beds, Valdivia said.
鈥淎 key part of this and keeping track of this is contact tracing,鈥� he said. 鈥淎 lot of these rural health depts will have five workers, six workers on staff, but they鈥檒l have to contact-trace hundreds of people, which is very work-intensive.鈥�
It鈥檚 why you鈥檙e seeing calls for volunteers to help out with contact tracing, and requests for more money to fund the work.
Meat packing facilities across the US have a lot of immigrants and refugees in their workforce. What difficulties do these communities experience in connection with the virus in their workplace?
Immigrants and refugees have long been attracted to meat processing facilities because of the relatively high wages and the fact that the work doesn鈥檛 require English proficiency. But that language barrier has been particularly challenging for workers during the pandemic.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been really hard to get them information,鈥� Krebs said.
That difficulty is compounded by the sheer number of different cultures, and languages, represented among the workers: Central Africa, Central America, Micronesia, the South Pacific, Cuba and Tibet, to name just a few in the reporters鈥� coverage areas.
Outside the plants, some resources do exist for non-English speakers. The Refugee Alliance of Central Iowa has a hotline that can connect callers with translators or resources for a number of different languages, and it has become a big resource for coronavirus questions, Krebs said. Some of those questions are as simple as 鈥淗ow can I call in sick to work?鈥� and 鈥淲hat symptoms should I look for?鈥�
The language barrier also isn鈥檛 the only hurdle.
鈥淚n these rural areas when you don鈥檛 have a lot of access to healthcare, and you have restrictive sick leave policies--which a lot of these processing plants have--you have a lot of room for chronic illnesses to pop up that aren鈥檛 treated because people can鈥檛 take the time off work to get them treated,鈥� Valdivia said. 鈥淪o then you have a more vulnerable population. We鈥檝e seen comorbidities and underlying conditions are a huge risk factor when it comes to COVID, so that鈥檚 another thing that kind of makes these communities more at risk.鈥�
Many of your stories, or your station鈥檚 stories, have included anonymous sources speaking from within the plants. For audience members who might have questions about that, could you talk about how you decide when to let a source stay anonymous? Why might someone want to stay anonymous in this situation?
In this case, Valdivia said, his station has been allowing anonymous sources when talking to the press could have a substantive impact on their livelihood.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a major fear for people who work at these plants. Because they control information so tightly, there鈥檚 a big fear of reprisals and of people losing their jobs if they talk to the press,鈥� he said.
Because the meat-processing facilities are so tight-lipped in communicating to journalists, an anonymous source might be the only opposing viewpoint to the narrative companies put forward, Krebs said.
But that doesn鈥檛 mean journalists don鈥檛 verify their source鈥檚 claims. One tactic Valdivia uses is asking sources to send him a photo of their work ID.
鈥淪o that鈥檚 information that I have and I can confirm, with the guarantee that I won鈥檛 share that,鈥� he says.
Niemeyer recently spoke to a plant worker who was the sole breadwinner for her home during a time of great economic uncertainty.
鈥淔or her to speak to me as a member of the press when other people decided not to out of fear of reprisal, that took a lot of courage for her to do, given her household, she鈥檚 the only income,鈥� he said.
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