Read on Twitter
Been working on COVID-19-related projects, and a recurrent theme is occupational sorting & risk stratification that falls along the axes of race, ethnicity, immigration status, & class.
e.g. employment in meat and poultry processing facilities (map from: https://www.bls.gov/oes/2018/may/oes513023.htm)
e.g. employment in meat and poultry processing facilities (map from: https://www.bls.gov/oes/2018/may/oes513023.htm)
What we know:
- efficiency in meat & poultry processing facilities is optimized by having floor workers in close contact (<6' apart)
- Black & Latinx workers are overrepresented in meat/poultry processing facilities
- efficiency in meat & poultry processing facilities is optimized by having floor workers in close contact (<6' apart)
- Black & Latinx workers are overrepresented in meat/poultry processing facilities
We also know:
- the risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in these facilities is stratified by occupational hierarchy, with the lowest risk among admin/managerial workers & highest risk among floor workers
- the risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in these facilities is stratified by occupational hierarchy, with the lowest risk among admin/managerial workers & highest risk among floor workers
We cannot reduce this unequal risk to "work conditions" or "characteristics of the facility as a place", because the devaluation of workers of color, of immigrants is literally structured in immigration regimes, workers compensation regulations. & workplace safety enforcement.
More to the point: capitalism
These "essential" workers are paid ~$12-14/hour for back-breaking labor, with few (or no) paid sick days. Even before the pandemic, the incentive structure encouraged workers to come to work sick.
These "essential" workers are paid ~$12-14/hour for back-breaking labor, with few (or no) paid sick days. Even before the pandemic, the incentive structure encouraged workers to come to work sick.
Since March, there has been a recurrent pattern of meat & poultry facilities as sites of COVID-19 clusters. The official stats are likely undercounts, b/c in most states, the owners of these plants are not required to report positive test results to local or state PH agencies.
See:
Waltenburg et al (2020). Update: COVID-19 Among Workers in Meat and Poultry Processing Facilities - United States, April-May 2020. MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 69(27), 887–892. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6927e2
Waltenburg et al (2020). Update: COVID-19 Among Workers in Meat and Poultry Processing Facilities - United States, April-May 2020. MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 69(27), 887–892. https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6927e2
And
(2) Steinberg et al (2020). COVID-19 Outbreak Among Employees at a Meat Processing Facility — South Dakota, March–April 2020. MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 69(31), 1015–1019 https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6931a2.htm
(2) Steinberg et al (2020). COVID-19 Outbreak Among Employees at a Meat Processing Facility — South Dakota, March–April 2020. MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 69(31), 1015–1019 https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6931a2.htm
Per the NC DHHS, there are outbreaks of COVID-19 associated with >23 meat processing plants across in Bertie, Bladen (home to the world's largest pork processing plant), Burke, Chatham, Duplin, Lee, Lenoir, Richmond, Sampson, Surry, Union, Wilkes, and Wilson counties
Nationally, workers in meat & poultry processing facilities accounted for 16,233 cases in 239 facilities across 23 states between April & May 2020, with disproportionate impacts among racial and ethnic 'minorities' (87% of cases). (source: https://doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6927e2)
Note, however, that any estimates of COVID-19 cases in meat & poultry processing facilities are undercounts. In NC, the owners of these facilities are not required to report to local or state agencies, & the state does not report these cases granularly https://twitter.com/Arrianna_Planey/status/1318670392089862149?s=20
Further, the disadvantages and inequitably allocated risks fall on (im)migrant workers. Marshallese workers in meat & poultry processing plants accounted for ~half of COVID-19 cases in NW Arkansas, despite comprising 3% of the pop in NW Arkansas. https://twitter.com/Arrianna_Planey/status/1221783358054838278?s=20
Here's reporting on that from @facingsouth
"COVID-19 pounded Arkansas poultry workers as government and industry looked on" https://www.facingsouth.org/2020/08/covid-19-pounded-arkansas-poultry-workers-government-and-industry-looked
"COVID-19 pounded Arkansas poultry workers as government and industry looked on" https://www.facingsouth.org/2020/08/covid-19-pounded-arkansas-poultry-workers-government-and-industry-looked
This point applies to the risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2/the degree of un-protected-ness among both meat & poultry processing workers & health care workers https://twitter.com/Arrianna_Planey/status/1298631807534010369?s=20
Meanwhile, in Delaware https://twitter.com/theurbanres/status/1318690418041683969?s=20
