The Labor Day holiday will be a welcome respite for those of us who are fortunate enough to have good, safe jobs. But not everyone is so lucky. I feel for all the people who've had to go on unemployment because of COVID-19, but I'm even more concerned about people who are still working in slaughterhouses. As the pandemic has shown us, employees in certain industries _ namely those that kill animals for food _ are especially vulnerable to the coronavirus. Between the virus and the physical and psychological health problems that afflict people who are expected to kill, cut up and package once-sentient individuals, slaughterhouse workers _ and those around them _ must feel as if the Grim Reaper is looking over their shoulders.
I went vegan primarily out of concern for the cows, chickens, pigs and other animals who are killed because humans like the taste of their flesh, but the treatment of slaughterhouse workers _ most of whom are immigrants or people of color _ isn't ethical, either.
They toil in crowded, filthy conditions _ often without sufficient safety gear _ and typically aren't given sick pay, so many of them feel compelled to work when they're ill. An Arkansas poultry slaughterhouse worker pointed out that slaughterhouse employees are considered "expendable," not essential.
Three slaughterhouse employees are suing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for failing to protect them from the hazardous working conditions at a slaughterhouse in Pennsylvania, which they say is not providing adequate protective gear and social distancing measures and is not handling sick employees safely in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Even before the pandemic, slaughterhouse employees had to worry about workplace safety. U.S. slaughterhouse employees are three times more likely to sustain serious injuries than the average American worker, and about 17 "severe" accidents occur each month in slaughterhouses, according to OSHA records. Approximately two slaughterhouse workers lose a limb to machinery each week. Others lose an eye, break a finger, or incur second-degree burns or head trauma.
That's largely because workers have to rush to keep up with slaughter line speeds that have animals whizzing by so fast that only Superman would be able to detect diseased body parts. Slaughterhouse employees have complained that production lines move so quickly that they don't even have time to cover their mouths when they cough or sneeze. It's no wonder that more than 34,000 slaughterhouse workers have tested positive for COVID-19 and at least 163 have died.
Yet, according to the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting, 15 poultry slaughterhouses in the South were granted permission to increase slaughter line speeds from 140 birds per minute to 175. Several pig slaughterhouses have also implemented a higher-speed slaughter program, which largely relies on slaughterhouse employees to eyeball carcasses as they fly by.
Food Safety and Inspection Service staff have warned that, under this program, pork will be "more likely to contain feces, sex organs, toenails, bladders and unwanted hair," and the Office of Inspector General concluded that the USDA didn't thoroughly evaluate the worker safety data it used to implement the program.
Faster line speeds also increase the likelihood of severe animal suffering. When workers are required to slaughter as many animals as possible in the shortest possible time, animal welfare becomes a low priority. As things stand now, animals are already hung upside-down, scalded and bled to death, often while they're still conscious.
The meat industry isn't likely to change, but we can _ by going vegan. And slaughterhouse workers can be retrained to enter the growing vegan food industry so they won't be left dying for a paycheck. This Labor Day and beyond, let's all prioritize the many delicious vegan foods now available.
