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1 of largest COVID-19 clusters in US is at factory owned by Smithfield Foods, company with long history of labor violations. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/south-dakotas-governor-resisted-ordering-people-to-stay-home-now-it-has-one-of-the-nations-largest-coronavirus-hot-spots/2020/04/13/5cff90fe-7daf-11ea-a3ee-13e1ae0a3571_story.html
The breakout is likely due to Smithfield giving inadequate protective gear to workers and requiring them to work so closely together that it was impossible to social distance
Here's when a NLRB judge found that Smithfield committed "egregious and pervasive'' labor law violations during two unionizing campaigns. https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/04/us/judge-finds-labor-law-broken-at-meat-packing-plant.html
Here's when a federal appeals court found Smithfield culpable for "abusing and intimidating workers who supported forming a union at the company's plant in Tar Heel, North Carolina." https://www.pilotonline.com/business/article_875f2a6c-f1fe-5952-be87-fa77eefddced.html
Here's when the state of South Dakota found Smithfield at fault for dumping massive amounts of waste water into a river. https://www.dakotanewsnow.com/content/news/Smithfield-Foods-fined-for-water-violations-in-the-Big-Sioux-River-565171812.html
This is about how Smithfield factories have a history of being extremely dangerous workplaces, with widespread injuries, lost limbs, and even deaths. https://www.facingsouth.org/2006/10/facing-south-report-at-smithfield-work-hurts.html
A large proportion of Smithfield's employees are Latinx and have been targeted in raids by ICE since at least 2006. Smithfield has endured almost no penalty compared to the many immigrants who were arrested and likely deported. https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/12/us/12smithfield.html
Updating this thread because of today's news that Smithfield workers have sued the company for failing to protect them at a Missouri plant and requiring them to work "shoulder to shoulder" despite the danger of coronavirus infection. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/smithfield-foods-sued-over-working-conditions-missouri-during-coronavirus-n1191796
