President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday night requiring an adequate number of meat-processing plants to remain open during the coronavirus crisis to ensure Americans have enough beef, poultry and pork.
Mr. Trump took the action under the Defense Production Act, declared the plants part of the critical U.S. infrastructure and giving Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue the authority to order plants to remain open.
The president’s order said outbreaks of COVID-19 among workers at some plants “have led to the reduction in some of those facilities’ production capacity.” He also said some states have completely closed large processing plants.
“Such closures threaten the continued functioning of the national meat and poultry supply chain, undermining critical infrastructure during the national emergency,” the president stated. “Given the high volume of meat and poultry processed by many facilities, any unnecessary closures can quickly have a large effect on the food supply chain.”
The virus has spread among workers at some plants, resulting in closures. The chairman of Tyson’s Foods, the country’s second-largest meat producer, said he expects meat shortages soon.
The president’s order said the closure of a single large beef-processing plant can result in the loss of more than 10 million individual servings of beef in a single day.
The president said some states’ actions to close plants “may differ from or be inconsistent with interim guidance recently issued by” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Domingo Garcia, National President of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), criticized the president’s order, saying Mr. Trump’s “decision to force essential workers to risk their lives so pork chops can keep coming to the White House is wrong and immoral.”
“Thousands of essential workers in meat processing plants are sick with COVID-19, and many have died because of the Trump administration, and the governors and health officials where these plants are located, who failed to protect them despite many calls for help,” Mr. Garcia said. “We’ve spoken to CEOs and union leaders to get voluntary testing for all workers, but that still hasn’t occurred.”
LULAC is calling on Americans to observe “Meatless May Mondays” next month to highlight the need to protect workers.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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