Trump Says Meat Plants Are ‘Critical Infrastructure,’ Signs Executive Order To Keep Them Open

TOPLINE

President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday that invoked the Defense Production Act to keep meat plants open as industry leaders sound the alarm about possible shortages—and critics say is executive overreach that compromises workers’ safety.

KEY FACTS

Big numbers

At least 5,000. That’s how many meatpacking workers have been impacted by coronavirus, according to the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. At least 20 have died.

Chief critics

“The workers who provide our nation’s food supply are essential to our survival during the COVID-19 pandemic—just like workers in health care, sanitation, groceries, transport and other sectors,” said Marcy Goldstein-Gelb, co-executive director of the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, in an emailed statement to Forbes. “Essential workplaces should never be required to stay open unless they are safe—for the sake of workers on site, and to prevent the spread of a deadly disease to co-workers, families and the public at large.”

“Using executive power to force people back on the job without proper protections is wrong and dangerous,” A.F.L.-C.I.O president Richard Trumka wrote on Twitter.

“We only wish that this administration cared as much about the lives of working people as it does about meat, pork and poultry products,” said Stuart Applebaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, to Bloomberg. The union has been critical of the Trump administration for not developing protections for workers that would have prevented disruptions in the food supply.

What to watch for

What happens with America’s food supply. Tyson Foods
TSN
chairman John Tyson said in a Sunday blog post that the nation’s food supply chain is “breaking” as crops rot, dairy farmers dump milk and livestock is culled, but not sold.

Key background

The Defense Production Act of 1950 was passed during the Korean War. It allows the federal government to compel companies in the private sector to produce supplies and resources to support national defense. Trump first invoked the Defense Production Act March 18 in the country’s fight against coronavirus, but was initially reluctant to enforce it⁠—despite pleas from states unable to obtain ventilators and protective equipment for frontline workers. By March 27, Trump under the Act ordered General Motors
GM
, 3M
MMM
, Royal Phillips and others to manufacture equipment. Since then, the world’s largest pork processing plant, Smithfield Foods, emerged as a coronavirus hotbed after 600 employees were diagnosed. (An additional 135 close contacts of Smithfield workers were also confirmed to have COVID-19).

Further reading

President Trump Invokes Wartime Law ‘The Defense Production Act’—Here’s What That Does (Forbes)

President Trump Says ‘We Don’t Need’ The Defense Production Act As States Struggle With Supply Shortages (Forbes)

President Trump Invokes The Defense Production Act, Orders General Motors To Make Ventilators (Forbes)

Trump Ordered These Companies To Make Medical Supplies Under The Defense Production Act (Forbes)

Smithfield Foods Becomes Largest Coronavirus Hotbed In United States, South Dakota Governor Yet To Mandate Stay Home Order (Forbes)

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