Meat processing workers at Smithfield Foods in Milan, Missouri, were raising concerns about their working environment even before more than 400 employees of a Smithfield plant in South Dakota contracted COVID-19.
The South Dakota plant shut down indefinitely Sunday, and some workers in Milan fear it’s only a matter of time before the coronavirus overwhelms their community, too.
Seventy employees signed a letter to management March 29 alleging unsafe working conditions in the Milan plant and asking for increased measures to prevent coronavirus spread, according to Axel Fuentes, executive director of the Rural Community Workers Alliance.
Smithfield is taking steps to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 in its facilities. Workers say the company isn’t going far enough.
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