Posts Categorized: Poultry

On August  3, the UFCW, in partnership with the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), released the results of a year-long study on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on UFCW essential members.

This study is the largest longitudinal survey of essential workers and union members during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly 20,000 UFCW essential workers across all 50 states in nearly every industry represented by our union participated in the survey.

Among the key findings of the year-long study of essential workers were:

• UFCW members who reported having COVID infections before May 2021 were twice as likely to be reinfected in the past year.
• Of those UFCW members who contracted COVID, 59 percent said that they believed it was likely they contracted the virus in their workplace.
• Six percent of respondents that contracted COVID needed to be hospitalized, which is a significantly higher rate than the nationwide 2 percent rate of hospitalization.
• Four percent of workers reported being unable to return to work after contracting COVID.
• In May of 2022, half of respondents reported that their lives were still deeply impacted by COVID.

“This UNMC study makes clear that COVID-19 has – and continues to have – a serious and significant impact on America’s essential workers,” said UFCW International President Marc Perrone. “The UFCW is calling on Congress, the Biden Administration, and states and localities to take bolder steps and policy actions to better address the impact of the pandemic, and to help protect workers from future pandemics. These essential workers paid a hefty price for continuing to do their jobs, which kept food on American families’ tables and our economy moving throughout the pandemic. They deserve immediate action as they continue to confront ongoing risk and the nation’s recognition for their service.”

“The unique partnership with UFCW has recorded the full scope of the markedly increased risk of COVID infections among union essential workers,” said Ali S. Khan MD, dean of the College of Public Health, UNMC. “Policies to protect these essential workers are critical to weathering the current surge of COVID cases nationwide and being ready for the next pandemic.”

In light of this groundbreaking study, the UFCW is calling for the following immediate actions to protect the health and safety of our essential workers:

• Ensure essential workers in every industry have access to dedicated paid sick leave that protects their employment status when dealing with infection;
• Immediately move on legislation, like the America’s Meatpacking Workers Act, to protect some of the most vulnerable workers in the hardest-hit industries;
• Implement a nationwide Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) infectious disease standard, and hold employers accountable who do not take steps to protect essential workers during pandemics.

More information on the survey can be found on the ufcw.org website here and a social media toolkit for Locals to promote the survey and key findings can be found here. 

The UFCW recently responded to news that the U.S. Department of Justice filed suit against multiple poultry industry employers regarding their decades-long illegal collusion to suppress wages.

“Today, the Department of Justice is finally shining a light on decades of illegal collusion by some of the poultry industry’s largest employers,” said UFCW International President Marc Perrone in a statement. “For far too long, these companies have been using every tool at their disposal to engage in what the DOJ itself calls a ‘brazen scheme’ to increase profits off the backs of hard-working Americans by intentionally keeping wages low. These companies treated their employees as if they were merely an expendable budget line item, not essential, hard-working people deserving of dignity. As the largest union in the nation representing food processing, packing and manufacturing workers, we fight to ensure our members, and every worker that keeps American families fed, is paid fairly and protected in their workplace. These companies desperately need to be held accountable for their crimes.”

“While it is heartening to see this Department of Justice moving swiftly, it is imperative that workers and their representatives are part of the process and can share what really goes on inside these plants,” Perrone added. “Proposing an $85 million penalty is a start, so long as the workers who were denied the salary they rightfully deserve actually see the restitution.”