Did you see my email below? This administration is endangering our food safety. They have suspended FDA food safety inspections, rolled back common-sense food safety rules and hindered basic food safety enforcement. These actions are endangering workers and consumers instead of protecting them.
Right now, sick workers are being forced to keep working in crowded facilities that process our food — and without adequate personal protective equipment.
The workers at these plants have been designated as essential employees because of Trump’s executive order requiring ALL meat processing plants to stay open (or reopen) even if workers are sick with COVID-19. Trump’s USDA has even ordered its own inspectors, who are considered to be in high health risk categories, to report back to work — without the necessary personal protective equipment.
It’s clear that Trump and his administration don’t care about the health and safety of workers or their families. We can change this. In order to protect workers in these food factories, Congress needs to implement an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) safety rule.
During this pandemic, Trump and his cronies have suspended FDA food safety inspections, rolled back common-sense food safety rules and hindered basic food safety enforcement. By taking these actions during a national public health crisis, they’re endangering workers and consumers instead of protecting them. Those actions are dangerous. Congress needs to step in now.
Congress can implement an OSHA safety rule to protect all frontline employees who are required to work by ensuring basic occupational safety standards — including the requirement that workers be provided with adequate protective equipment during the pandemic.
Our government should look out for the needs and safety of those who need it the most, not giant corporations trying to profit by threatening our food supply and sacrificing their workers. It’s time to demand Congress do its job and protect people, not big corporations. This is not a lot to ask for.
Tony Corbo
Senior Government Affairs Representative
Food & Water Action and Food & Water Watch
Food & Water Action and its affiliated organization, Food & Water Watch, are advocacy groups with a common mission to protect our food, water and climate. This email was sent to [email protected] - and we're glad you got it, because it's one of the most important ways you can reclaim political power, hold elected officials accountable and resist corporate control.
