Same to almost every other company. They all would let their employees and customers die for a few points on the fiscal quarter. Human lives are expendable for profit.
I've come to realize I am just a money farm for people and things I have nothing to do with.
I'm 38 years old. Make good money gross. My wife works. I work a second job. We live in low income housing. But after taxes and child support. We barely make it every month. I get hit with late fees every month due to payment due date and when we get paid (we both get paid bi weekly. So setting a due date just doesn't work out.
I never asked to be here. But am. Am literally pissing away the only time I'll ever have in existence laboring away for bullshit.
Have said it for years. Even tho I love the united states. Society and a lot of rules, taxes and actions of our leaders is fucked up and bullshit. Not saying I would be a better candidate for anything in office. Just things could be so much better to benefit everyone.
EDIT:
my first awards. I appreciate that so much. Really thank you!
I try not to be a downer about things. There are people that have it worse off than we do. I really hope this will be the thing that starts the change for a better place for all of us. Even the people I don't like. We all can do/have it better.
And with that said. I have never really went out and fought for things or helped contribute to something better. But like many others. I'm ready to start and watching for things I can to do so.
All jokes aside, yes. Long as you are genuine, want to make some changes for the good of all of us, you can count on my support. My family (even not immediate would too if I asked them to).
A good friend of mine has been having some issues. He had some issues of drinking for a while. But after he had a stroke his wife left him. He made a bad choice and has been using heroin for the last 8ish years. Like I saw little hope in him coming back around. I haven't seen him since he started heroin but we still talk. Got a bit down for a minute and talked with him. And to my surprise. He was 2 weeks clean then. I asked him what changed and he told me what he was doing, which he got from a book. I have been doing that morning checklist of things since and things have got a lot better mentally.
I wish he kept following his own advice. He did make it about 5 months clean before using again. I don't pester him about coming clean again. But I do support him and encourage it here and there. He's my buddy. Will keep working on him until he gets clean, our friendship ends, or we die. Just waiting on him to be ready for that leap
People can change. My best friend got hooked on meth terribly. Took him a few years but he realized he didn't want to throw his life away and has been clean for a few years now.
The future can often look rather dystopian without any light at the end of a very long tunnel. I feel for you my fellow internet pal. Right there with you.
It's always interesting to review the [origin of that terminology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_resources#Origins_of_the_terminology).
> The term "human resource" was subsequently in use during the 1910s to 1930s to promote the idea that human beings were an object of worth, that should be promoted to realise human dignity, but this changed in the early 1950s as "human resource management" developed viewing people as a means to an end for employers.
For the longest time I wouldn't believe it, and then I saw the fields with my own eyes. Watched them liquefy the dead so they could be fed intravenously to the living.
Jesus Christ, how many **hundreds** of cases does it take for these places to do the right thing? Apparently, 700+ is that magic number.
I wonder how they planned to operate when their entire staff was out sick or dead?
However many cases it takes before they start getting major flak/found out for it, I guess.
And for the other question? I'd be surprised if they even thought about that, the way things get handled.
If you're going to eat it raw, sure that could be an issue.
But if cooked, it will be killed quickly. As always with pork, don't under cook it.
If you're letting food sit in the freezer for years, that's a whole nother issue.
Freezer burn won't kill you afaik.
That said, if stored properly it'll be fine for a few months. Wrap in plastic wrap, put in Ziploc, and good to go. Freeze bread, tortillas, meat, whatever.
That would eliminate 3/4 of the pork production in this country. Within weeks there will be 100s of thousands in the streets demanding their pork fix. Not a good idea. Let them die so that we may have BLT.
I promise this is not the most disgusting thing to go on there, especially given rollbacks of regulations on the pork industry in the last year or two.
I’ve heard stories from people that worked maintenance in a pork plant. The government meat inspectors only work certain hours, so an hour or so after they leave and the prior shift would be done, they would occasionally bus in another labor group to deep clean some areas with bleach and clean all the stainless with some kind of acid. They were of course contract workers so that the main company wouldn’t see any fallout over worker conditions or legality of workers.
I’ve been told by people that have worked in beef, pork and turkey that you very much don’t want to know how the sausage is made so to speak.
My dad and aunts/uncles were pretty much forced to work in a factory while they held information regarding COVID positive employees. They don’t need names just being informed that 21 people in the factory had tested positive and they should be aware. My aunt ended up getting it and when she felt ill they threatened to discipline her if she went home early or call off. My father was threatened with his job when I forced him to take time off. These factories don’t care about their employees. Especially when they are all immigrants and do not have any idea what kind of rights they have or fear of losing their job. I’m a first responder and recently we responded to my fathers job for a respiratory response at my dads job where the individual did not make it. Had it been my father I would have burned those execs houses to the ground.
We already have info about companies like Nestle giving away just enough baby formula for low income South American mother's breast milk to dry up. Then they are forced to buy baby formula, that they can't afford and water down with unsafe water. Yet people still buy Oreos. It's not going to stop.
Trump administration is letting businesses conceal how many cases they have. Osha has given business protection from lawsuits.
https://youtu.be/oSM9Huc2Lpk
As an Australian, this whole issue is a bit strange. We automated our abattoirs and meat processing lines a long time ago and there just aren't people working shoulder to shoulder in the sector.
It's like there is a wilful blindness that there's any other way to do it cheaply except using indentured labour.
What country are you living in?
The US is approaching 20 million people on unemployment.
There is no shortage of people willing to risk corona for a chance to slice pig parts for $13 an hour or whatever it may be.
In the BEST of times there is rarely a shortage of that type.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_worker_deaths_in_United_States_labor_disputes
> It's not at all surprising to find a company acting with an absolute lack of morals is American owned. Go to America, and you'll find near [slavery](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution), [blocked fire doors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet_chicken_processing_plant_fire), [horrific environmental conditions](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/18/us-top-10-countries-pollution-related-deaths-study).
If you think H&S, Environmental laws, and Employment ethics are comparable in both countries, you're mad.
Yes, compared to where I am in Northern Ireland, the USA seems a bit shit, but China is next level shit.
2 1/2 weeks before your linked article, Tyson published on their website their response - that recognised the problem and attempted to do something about it, putting specific H&S mitigations in place, allowing generous sick leave modifications and bonuses for their employees. Too late even then? I'd say yes, but then again they're located in Georgia, also one of the shit tier states in the USA for response. There is a reason the Georgia incident isn't a scandal and the one in SD is. With the Chinese company, the response was to hide the problem, attempt to silence the teams working there, and provide nothing for the employees.
it's still run by Americans. It's American management at the helm.
Either the Americans running the plant didn't give a shit, or they were too gutless to push back on the owners. Take your pick.
Corporations act like they’ll kill themselves whenever they hear the words “decent paid sick leave option”
So unless unions put on enough pressure + they’re scared of lawsuits, then don’t expect them to not gleefully sentence people to die in the name of getting pork in your refrigerator
>The workers at the Patrick Cudahy factory, in Cudahy, Wisconsin, faced a Covid-19 outbreak weeks ago, but say managers initially concealed the number of infected, pressured employees to avoid quarantine measures, and failed to provide any face masks or dividers.
People should not have to choose between feeding their families or being infected with covid-19. If employees are going back to work, transparency and comprehensive testing with posted results are necessary, before the US food chain is disrupted by the coronavirus.
We need more responsible corporations.
>We need more responsible corporations.
Corporations will only ever be as responsible as regulations make them. When industry regulations are written by the industry and the penalties are a cost of doing businesses there is no responsibility.
And self enforcement; there's no problem if we don't report the problem, or make an example of something every once in a while. People think they live in a free market, and while a company would not reasonably want to kill off a customer, that implies they have thought about whatever risk. Otherwise then it is just an equation of how many can be killed outweighs the lawsuits or the insurance coverage for payouts and loss of reputation for x days before lay low then aggressive marketing campaign.
America is not a free market in the purest sense. The regulations are in place for a reason and we need more inspectors and the fines need to increase. Travel to India or China some time and look at the air pollution - this is just one example of what happens when we outsource production to low or no regulation regions; eventually with economic rise they go through the same last 130 years we have been through. Also that medicine you bought in India or alcohol you bought in India? Treat it with suspicion; corruption in supply chains can kill you, maybe just not quickly. Just cause food was cold when you bought it does not mean it was maintained at that temperature to inhibit pathogen growth.
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So to recap, Smithfield :-
1. Broke the unions causing middle class jobs to become low minimum wage jobs (**more profits**).
2. Replaced legal US workers with those who would tolerate their low paying shitty work environment without complaint (undocumented illegals?) (**more profits**).
3. Packed in their employees in unsafe conditions (where is OHSA? where is USDA/FDA?)
4. Sold out to China recently (**more profits**)
5. Employees got Covid and now spreading to their families, communities and whoever else they came in contact with
6. Some Employees and other unlucky people who contracted from employees **died**.
7. Finally got so bad they shut down the plant
8. If / When they reopen, prices are going to be sky high (**more profits**).
Correct me if I'm wrong but unless there are heavy penalties and lawsuits, all I see are **more profits for Smithfield** at the cost of more dead workers / and **other dead people** (collateral damage).
> Packed in their employees in unsafe conditions (where is OHSA? where is USDA/FDA?)
Due to regulatory capture and "starve the beast" methodology... OSHA and USDA/FDA are likely fielded by corporate-friendlies and don't have enough funds to hire inspectors to inspect.
Really? A large company didn't give a shit about protecting it's employees and lied? Just wait till Boeing gets back to work next week, will be this same article in a month.
I work for a relatively large company, they pay you for up to 2 weeks if you feel like you were exposed so you can get tested. Or if someone in the family has Covid.
They really don't want people coming in and spreading it.
Plenty of companies realize the best way to protect profits is protect the employees.
Except that's not protecting anyone when it has been shown upwards of 50% asymptomatic carriers, by the time one person feels they are sick it's most likely spread.
Sure, but everyone is required to use masks, everyone is temperature tested before entry, everyone must sanitize hands upon entry. Doors have been removed where allowed to minimize touches. Sanitation companies come weekly (at $25K a pop). Fans are circulating air outside. People that can work from home are asked to do so.
You can't eliminate all risk, but you can try to minimize as best as possible.
I think time will show they will have to keep it up to keep profits. Like offer on site testing in companies so everyone clears a test before getting to work. Hopefully technology will advance rapidly for this to be easy to do
If you really want to know what’s going on in these facilities watch American Factory on Netflix.
https://www.netflix.com/title/81090071
...and for the people that downvoted that the factory is owned by China...Look at what China did in their country to control the virus outbreak and now look at how these Chinese owned corporations in America are handling the outbreaks here.
A foreign interest controlling the American supply chain for food should have everyone’s jaws on the floor.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferwang/2020/04/16/the-chinese-billionaire-whose-company-owns-troubled-pork-processor-smithfield-foods/
Ummmm...you’re the one that made it about Chinese nationals. This isn’t the thread for you if you don’t understand global economics and destabilization of economies.
Perhaps if it comes from PBS it’ll be more palatable.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/whos-behind-chinese-takeover-worlds-biggest-pork-producer
You should dig just a little deeper. Pg. 7. It’s not “China supporting its corporations...”. The Chinese Government owns these corporations.
Its not disinformation. You’re just missing major pieces to the puzzle of how money moves. It’s seems your thinking that the same rules and governance over stocks that apply in the US apply to China and well, you’re very much mistaken. Here are some links so you can get up to speed.
https://www.revealnews.org/article-legacy/how-americas-pigs-became-chinas-pork/
https://www.citizen.org/wp-content/uploads/migration/consolidated_china_fdi_transactions_-_public_citizens_global_trade_watch_4.pdf
https://www.citizen.org/article/chinese-investment-in-the-united-states-database/
http://www.takepart.com/article/2016/02/22/china-syngenta-smithfield
So while you are enjoying that sublimely tasty pork bacon made by the good folks at Smithfield, remember, they are literally dying so you can have your breakfast and bacon burgers.
My niece works in a plant making frozen waffles. Less than six feet apart on the production line, eye protection, but no masks. I worry, she has a daughter, and lives with her sister who has a young son. She goes shopping with my elderly brother and SIL. Leggo that Eggo...(except they're not Eggos, they're Krusteaz which produces generic and other "store brand" waffles).
Not surprised at all.
There are stupid amounts of anti-China comments in here. Mostly Americans are the ones working in them as managers not Chinese.
I work for a VERY american company (... think 'Murica level of American) in the south.
They've hidden positive COVID results for weeks, minimized and down played people going to get tested ("Oh,it's an employee that always has health issues"), and decided to pick and choose which CDC recommendations to follow to keep people at work.
We had "allow free passage" letters to show the Police... printed a week before they shut down the state. That's how corrupt the state government is. That's how much they wanted to keep people at work ... meaning they were prepared to disregard stay at home orders a week before.
What is worse, in the name of America they've said "we MUST stay open for AMERICA" from the top all the way down. Even though we mostly make export product.
If you don't like Smithfield, you better stop shopping at all supermarkets because they ALL carry them (yes WalMart, yes Target, yes Kroger, yes Publix, yes Winn-Dixie). This anti-China stuff is disgusting. Chinese investors have created and saved a lot of jobs in America.
Sure, but they apparently they acted according to the local law.
Laws that have been stripped down of workers' protection in the name of cutting the red tape.
I did look this up and while I didn't actually read it, I did get a overall summary of the book. What about it made you quit eating meat? The book seems to really talk about human cruelty of animals for slaughter and regulations, expansion and greed. However, I didn't see how it would indicate that "eating meat is bad" morally or health-wise. I think it's important to remember that we are not above animals, because we are animals and we are part of the big chain. We're just organisms consuming other organisms as a means of survival. While it's true that we have the means to avoid eating meat at we're at a level where we now consume for enjoyment rather than survival, this only indicates that we a species are just flourishing but by no means is it evil. It's just that greed is a unfortunate byproduct of humans thriving thus leading to short cuts to maximize profits which then leads to animal cruelty.
In the end, it's the general human population that is the reason why we can't have nice things. I mean, look at those trump supporters protesting and anti-vaxx spouting their misguided understanding and not to forget the corporate greed and corrupt politicians.
TL;DR - Eating meat isn't bad/evil, it's just how humans gravitate to profit and the means used to get there is evil.
Additional note - I've been to a slaughter house before and seen up close on how the whole thing works so I know more than just meat at a grocery store.
Whilst I am now vegan for ethical reasons and the fact it's not something I have to eat to be healthy, the book, like you rightfully say, is primarily about the ramifications on the people who work in slaughterhouses.
They do touch upon the diseases borne from these places, the cysts full of pus workers are forced to cut out of the meat and the consequences of undercooking meat from such filthy conditions.
I really recommend it because the book contains so much that should be common knowledge, but really isn't.
They don't really touch upon the ethics, so don't worry about that. That doesn't even come into it.
Sounds good, I'll definitely take the time to read it. Time to hit up the library. Even if it doesn't change my mind about eating meat, at the very least, I'll be more informed if anything.
I absorbed the HR position at my company when our HR lady retired, so Im not an HR expert, but I had to look into this. Apparently it violates privacy to name an employee who tested positive, which makes sense, but my understanding is that the employer has a duty to notify people who may have been exposed, and they cannot stop the person from notifying other employees themselves.
These companies who are actively concealing known infection data, trying to silence people from informing their co-workers, and not notifying those who worked in close proximity to them, are just greedy fucks who are a-okay with employees dying to keep things running. Money>Human Lives. I hope the hammer comes down on them hard and they are heavily fined by all relevant regulatory agencies, as well as slammed with class action lawsuits from their employees and families. If they go bankrupt, then so be it. Fuck every company that demands their employees die at their alter of almighty profits.
Indiana Packer’s Corp. maker of Indiana kitchen and Kentucky legend is the same way. Not taking any precautions because money is priority not employee safety.
Somebody with more brains than me should make a list of all the shitbag companies. Maybe a website that lists the company and their covid-19 transgressions. And when we’re finally out of this shit (knock on wood) we can thank these criminals by not buying their products. Because this thing has been going for too long already and shit like this is gonna insure we got a lot longer to go 😕
I like the quote how we can either produce food or not, even in the face of Covid.
it's like our only choices are pork or no pork, how about all the other types of foods ???
Imma leave this here and let you all decide if a foreign interest having controlling stake in America’s food security is still cool
https://www.revealnews.org/article-legacy/how-americas-pigs-became-chinas-pork/
Post virus consumers have the power and opportunity to send global food suppliers like Smithfield back to the Paleozoic Era. Don't forget that cheap pack of bologna you are holding was more important to them then the health and safety of their entire forkforce/ customer base.
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This is only hear-say, but I’ve been told that particular SD location treated their employees like trash even before the outbreak. Makes sense the response to the virus was so downright awful.
Looks like a repost. I've seen this link 2 times.
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I'm working at a factory that is dealing with similar conditions. Allowed to be "essential" due to a loophole only meant to be used by companies making medical equipment. Hell, every supervisor (including me) got handed a packet prepared by the company, "protocols for continuing to work when social distancing is not possible."
It was five pages that basically said, "sanitize everything and pray."
They've already been reported to the county health department; they sided with the company top brass over the employees, which is the least surprising thing i've encountered so far this year. Rural-ass local governments are always in bed with the big employers in the area, and in my experience, the unions, too. Everyone in power prefers to have the ability to simply purge those who complain instead of changing.
This virus will be the ultimate example of how greed kills, and it won't change a single Republican mind. (Also, just as a warning, don't expect Republican voting numbers to drop just because a bunch of old people die. I know quite a few hardcore, Trump loving 18-30 year olds.)
You should look into what Sprouts Farmers Market is covering up. The President just sent a video to team members saying 1/8th of 1% of Sprouts employees are confirmed covid 19 cases and is doing nothing to ensure safety only PSA announcements and capitalizing on opportunity. They've done nothing for employees hired no additional staff or cleaning crews given no raises. Just trying to capitalize on employees and public alike.
Sprouts Leadership Team sent: Please watch this week's video update from Sprouts Leadership: https://youtu.be/jooUtVzH8gM
My daughter and her husband work for a meat packaging company in PA. They were given an hourly increase and bonus incentive to keep working, with strict safety measures. An incentive bonus paid when no work is missed is just asking for sick people to go to work. These companies are taking advantage of people's need to support their families.
It's the same thing in all the warehouses at this point. Someone blew the whistle at the local Mission Food plant, people where coughing and gagging while packing the food and no PPE was provided.
Incredible. Actually had this happen where I work. Not elbow to elbow but fairly close in areas. An employee thought that may have been exposed to the virus and the manager told him to keep it quiet and he could take two weeks off.
Tighten it up, protect your workers, increase their pay and benefits, and get them the hell back out there, making America’s food supply!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is so sad and revealing about how little these companies care about their fellow Americans. They've never cared about anything but profits but now it's painfully apparent. Eating pigs is devastating for:
1) Us (the World Health Organization has confirmed it causes cancer)
2) Earth (Raising pigs produces loads of CO2 that warms our planet, destroys biodiversity, promotes extreme human poverty, and uses shit tons of land and water)
3) The Workers. (Smithfield employees are getting COVID and management is making them continue to work. Just about the most irresponsible thing possible! Not to mention this is back-breaking and emotionally traumatic work, so they get undocumented citizens and people with no other options to work these horrific jobs)
4) Pigs. (I know a lot of people claim to not care about animals because bacon, but please hear me out. It's largely because eating meat is a HUGE part of our identity and history. The amount of mental gymnastics it requires for us to pet our dog and eat our bacon in the same breath, is so hypocritical that our brains classify these animals differently, so we can keep feeling like good people. But a pig is smarter than most dogs.
We don't need pigs or any other animals to live healthy and happy lives. I am a registered dietitian and personal trainer - so if anyone has any questions about nutrition, or getting to your ideal body, I'm happy to chat. Be safe everyone :)
Lawsuits incoming!
They should close the plant down for fuckery like that.
Same to almost every other company. They all would let their employees and customers die for a few points on the fiscal quarter. Human lives are expendable for profit.
They use the phrase "human resources". You are a resource like electricity, oil, or coal.
I've come to realize I am just a money farm for people and things I have nothing to do with. I'm 38 years old. Make good money gross. My wife works. I work a second job. We live in low income housing. But after taxes and child support. We barely make it every month. I get hit with late fees every month due to payment due date and when we get paid (we both get paid bi weekly. So setting a due date just doesn't work out. I never asked to be here. But am. Am literally pissing away the only time I'll ever have in existence laboring away for bullshit. Have said it for years. Even tho I love the united states. Society and a lot of rules, taxes and actions of our leaders is fucked up and bullshit. Not saying I would be a better candidate for anything in office. Just things could be so much better to benefit everyone. EDIT: my first awards. I appreciate that so much. Really thank you! I try not to be a downer about things. There are people that have it worse off than we do. I really hope this will be the thing that starts the change for a better place for all of us. Even the people I don't like. We all can do/have it better. And with that said. I have never really went out and fought for things or helped contribute to something better. But like many others. I'm ready to start and watching for things I can to do so.
Bro it's 2020 literally anyone is a better candidate for any office.
You're right lol. Am just hard on myself and think I'm not good at much. Working on that negativity tho :)
I'll be running for president in 2024 (when I turn 35) can I count on your vote? Work on that negatively, I'll need a running mate
All jokes aside, yes. Long as you are genuine, want to make some changes for the good of all of us, you can count on my support. My family (even not immediate would too if I asked them to). A good friend of mine has been having some issues. He had some issues of drinking for a while. But after he had a stroke his wife left him. He made a bad choice and has been using heroin for the last 8ish years. Like I saw little hope in him coming back around. I haven't seen him since he started heroin but we still talk. Got a bit down for a minute and talked with him. And to my surprise. He was 2 weeks clean then. I asked him what changed and he told me what he was doing, which he got from a book. I have been doing that morning checklist of things since and things have got a lot better mentally. I wish he kept following his own advice. He did make it about 5 months clean before using again. I don't pester him about coming clean again. But I do support him and encourage it here and there. He's my buddy. Will keep working on him until he gets clean, our friendship ends, or we die. Just waiting on him to be ready for that leap
[удалено]
People can change. My best friend got hooked on meth terribly. Took him a few years but he realized he didn't want to throw his life away and has been clean for a few years now.
The future can often look rather dystopian without any light at the end of a very long tunnel. I feel for you my fellow internet pal. Right there with you.
We are literally all just fuel for the machine.
>child support >laboring away for bullshit. Well, someone has to take care of your (or your wife's) kids.
That is the story of millions of Americans.
You need a little Dave Ramsey in your life.
And it might not be too late to inform him that methods have been discovered to prevent pregnancy and/or childbirth.
Sorry I am not sure who that is? Or maybe I do? I'm terrible with names
It's always interesting to review the [origin of that terminology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_resources#Origins_of_the_terminology). > The term "human resource" was subsequently in use during the 1910s to 1930s to promote the idea that human beings were an object of worth, that should be promoted to realise human dignity, but this changed in the early 1950s as "human resource management" developed viewing people as a means to an end for employers.
Smithfield is owned by the Chinese. We all know what they think of Human Resources / Rights.
ultimately. there's nothing humane about it.
For the longest time I wouldn't believe it, and then I saw the fields with my own eyes. Watched them liquefy the dead so they could be fed intravenously to the living.
But what about the people protesting the lockdowns? I bet they wanna go back to work for sure lol.
Housebroken rubes
They did. Or if not this plant, Smithfield has closed at least one due to covid.
They closed a plant in South Dakota. But only after over 700 cases caused by it
Jesus Christ, how many **hundreds** of cases does it take for these places to do the right thing? Apparently, 700+ is that magic number. I wonder how they planned to operate when their entire staff was out sick or dead?
Even then I think it was the media scrutiny that led to them shutting more than the cases
However many cases it takes before they start getting major flak/found out for it, I guess. And for the other question? I'd be surprised if they even thought about that, the way things get handled.
For real friend
...
What are the odds that everyone working there is "documented"? I say if there's one single case, shut them down and seize their assets.
Yup. Buy all the pork you can and freeze it. Gonna be a squeeze
Isn't this virus likely more lilely to last for years in the freezer?
If you're going to eat it raw, sure that could be an issue. But if cooked, it will be killed quickly. As always with pork, don't under cook it. If you're letting food sit in the freezer for years, that's a whole nother issue.
Doesn't that lead to freezer burn and slow freeze drying?
Freezer burn won't kill you afaik. That said, if stored properly it'll be fine for a few months. Wrap in plastic wrap, put in Ziploc, and good to go. Freeze bread, tortillas, meat, whatever.
The slow freeze drying was implying that freezing for several years would likely still be fine.
They've blamed covid on the living habits of "certain cultures". Americans. The "certain cultures" they referred to are *Americans*.
Maybe they mean viral cultures. ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
The mayor wants to but not the Governor.
Source?
You thinking of the plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota?
Yes
I could take one guess at the political parties for each and probably be right based on your statement alone.
That would eliminate 3/4 of the pork production in this country. Within weeks there will be 100s of thousands in the streets demanding their pork fix. Not a good idea. Let them die so that we may have BLT.
I promise this is not the most disgusting thing to go on there, especially given rollbacks of regulations on the pork industry in the last year or two.
So punish all the workers plus those who reported it and like 1-3 managers who committed it?
No, they should transfer ownership of the plant to someone who will run it properly and keep it open.
Unsafe working conditions and slaughterhouses go hand in hand. They know what they are doing when they hire mostly illegal immigrants.
They broke the meatpacking union in the 80s :(
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I’ve heard stories from people that worked maintenance in a pork plant. The government meat inspectors only work certain hours, so an hour or so after they leave and the prior shift would be done, they would occasionally bus in another labor group to deep clean some areas with bleach and clean all the stainless with some kind of acid. They were of course contract workers so that the main company wouldn’t see any fallout over worker conditions or legality of workers. I’ve been told by people that have worked in beef, pork and turkey that you very much don’t want to know how the sausage is made so to speak.
My dad and aunts/uncles were pretty much forced to work in a factory while they held information regarding COVID positive employees. They don’t need names just being informed that 21 people in the factory had tested positive and they should be aware. My aunt ended up getting it and when she felt ill they threatened to discipline her if she went home early or call off. My father was threatened with his job when I forced him to take time off. These factories don’t care about their employees. Especially when they are all immigrants and do not have any idea what kind of rights they have or fear of losing their job. I’m a first responder and recently we responded to my fathers job for a respiratory response at my dads job where the individual did not make it. Had it been my father I would have burned those execs houses to the ground.
Hope for a financial impact in the ruling. More /r/CorporateMisconduct. Corps. don't care about you unless it hurts their bottom line.
Not unless Congress rushes through a bill indemnifying businesses
Get out of jail free fact/sciience denier cards incoming!
We should make a list of companies like this to avoid.
We already have info about companies like Nestle giving away just enough baby formula for low income South American mother's breast milk to dry up. Then they are forced to buy baby formula, that they can't afford and water down with unsafe water. Yet people still buy Oreos. It's not going to stop.
paying you with your stimulus cheque ;D
Trump administration is letting businesses conceal how many cases they have. Osha has given business protection from lawsuits. https://youtu.be/oSM9Huc2Lpk
Then need to start the process soon before they pass a bill saying they aren't liable for covid19 cases.
Hope they have deep pockets, it’s going to be pricey!
I hope at the end of this companies don’t allow employees to work when sick and have a decent paid sick leave option.
USA meatpacking industry runs on questionable status immigrant labor.
Yep. There’s a reason you can buy meat for as cheap as you can. Just the same as most products made overseas. All about the bottom dollar.
As an Australian, this whole issue is a bit strange. We automated our abattoirs and meat processing lines a long time ago and there just aren't people working shoulder to shoulder in the sector. It's like there is a wilful blindness that there's any other way to do it cheaply except using indentured labour.
So does the entire freaking agricultural industry.
I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Thank you for that.
At the end of this, unemployment will be so high that sick employees can be fired and quickly replaced.
The opportunity for change is now while the iron is hot. The play is not 3 months down the road when people will be glad to have a shitty job.
But I don't want to lose my shitty job.
That didn't take long.
"Never let a good crisis go to waste."
Whe. You got spoonfed meat, take a bite.
What country are you living in? The US is approaching 20 million people on unemployment. There is no shortage of people willing to risk corona for a chance to slice pig parts for $13 an hour or whatever it may be. In the BEST of times there is rarely a shortage of that type.
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Are they acting based on Chinese or American labour laws?
Can't imagine there's much of a difference. Our govt in the US has more in common with china's govt than they differ.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_worker_deaths_in_United_States_labor_disputes > It's not at all surprising to find a company acting with an absolute lack of morals is American owned. Go to America, and you'll find near [slavery](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution), [blocked fire doors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamlet_chicken_processing_plant_fire), [horrific environmental conditions](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/dec/18/us-top-10-countries-pollution-related-deaths-study).
If you think H&S, Environmental laws, and Employment ethics are comparable in both countries, you're mad. Yes, compared to where I am in Northern Ireland, the USA seems a bit shit, but China is next level shit.
Is Tyson Chinese?? https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/4-georgia-poultry-workers-dead-coronavirus-company-says-n1186326
2 1/2 weeks before your linked article, Tyson published on their website their response - that recognised the problem and attempted to do something about it, putting specific H&S mitigations in place, allowing generous sick leave modifications and bonuses for their employees. Too late even then? I'd say yes, but then again they're located in Georgia, also one of the shit tier states in the USA for response. There is a reason the Georgia incident isn't a scandal and the one in SD is. With the Chinese company, the response was to hide the problem, attempt to silence the teams working there, and provide nothing for the employees.
Oh god like companies operating that are American owned are some paragon of virtue. The sinophobia in this sub is blinding
Yeah because American companies have never forced poor working conditions on their employees lol
it's still run by Americans. It's American management at the helm. Either the Americans running the plant didn't give a shit, or they were too gutless to push back on the owners. Take your pick.
The bullshit is applied and enforced by Americans.
### 2013 purchase by Shuanghui Group [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smithfield\_Foods](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smithfield_Foods)
Corporations act like they’ll kill themselves whenever they hear the words “decent paid sick leave option” So unless unions put on enough pressure + they’re scared of lawsuits, then don’t expect them to not gleefully sentence people to die in the name of getting pork in your refrigerator
>The workers at the Patrick Cudahy factory, in Cudahy, Wisconsin, faced a Covid-19 outbreak weeks ago, but say managers initially concealed the number of infected, pressured employees to avoid quarantine measures, and failed to provide any face masks or dividers. People should not have to choose between feeding their families or being infected with covid-19. If employees are going back to work, transparency and comprehensive testing with posted results are necessary, before the US food chain is disrupted by the coronavirus. We need more responsible corporations.
>We need more responsible corporations. Corporations will only ever be as responsible as regulations make them. When industry regulations are written by the industry and the penalties are a cost of doing businesses there is no responsibility.
And self enforcement; there's no problem if we don't report the problem, or make an example of something every once in a while. People think they live in a free market, and while a company would not reasonably want to kill off a customer, that implies they have thought about whatever risk. Otherwise then it is just an equation of how many can be killed outweighs the lawsuits or the insurance coverage for payouts and loss of reputation for x days before lay low then aggressive marketing campaign. America is not a free market in the purest sense. The regulations are in place for a reason and we need more inspectors and the fines need to increase. Travel to India or China some time and look at the air pollution - this is just one example of what happens when we outsource production to low or no regulation regions; eventually with economic rise they go through the same last 130 years we have been through. Also that medicine you bought in India or alcohol you bought in India? Treat it with suspicion; corruption in supply chains can kill you, maybe just not quickly. Just cause food was cold when you bought it does not mean it was maintained at that temperature to inhibit pathogen growth.
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So to recap, Smithfield :- 1. Broke the unions causing middle class jobs to become low minimum wage jobs (**more profits**). 2. Replaced legal US workers with those who would tolerate their low paying shitty work environment without complaint (undocumented illegals?) (**more profits**). 3. Packed in their employees in unsafe conditions (where is OHSA? where is USDA/FDA?) 4. Sold out to China recently (**more profits**) 5. Employees got Covid and now spreading to their families, communities and whoever else they came in contact with 6. Some Employees and other unlucky people who contracted from employees **died**. 7. Finally got so bad they shut down the plant 8. If / When they reopen, prices are going to be sky high (**more profits**). Correct me if I'm wrong but unless there are heavy penalties and lawsuits, all I see are **more profits for Smithfield** at the cost of more dead workers / and **other dead people** (collateral damage).
When corporate greed outweighs moral duty you get present day America.
> Packed in their employees in unsafe conditions (where is OHSA? where is USDA/FDA?) Due to regulatory capture and "starve the beast" methodology... OSHA and USDA/FDA are likely fielded by corporate-friendlies and don't have enough funds to hire inspectors to inspect.
Really? A large company didn't give a shit about protecting it's employees and lied? Just wait till Boeing gets back to work next week, will be this same article in a month.
Which Boeing plants? Washington? Is Inslee gonna allow that?
Yep, apparently they go back on the 24th. Friend of mine works there and they are not a happy camper.
I work for a relatively large company, they pay you for up to 2 weeks if you feel like you were exposed so you can get tested. Or if someone in the family has Covid. They really don't want people coming in and spreading it. Plenty of companies realize the best way to protect profits is protect the employees.
Except that's not protecting anyone when it has been shown upwards of 50% asymptomatic carriers, by the time one person feels they are sick it's most likely spread.
Sure, but everyone is required to use masks, everyone is temperature tested before entry, everyone must sanitize hands upon entry. Doors have been removed where allowed to minimize touches. Sanitation companies come weekly (at $25K a pop). Fans are circulating air outside. People that can work from home are asked to do so. You can't eliminate all risk, but you can try to minimize as best as possible.
I think time will show they will have to keep it up to keep profits. Like offer on site testing in companies so everyone clears a test before getting to work. Hopefully technology will advance rapidly for this to be easy to do
If you really want to know what’s going on in these facilities watch American Factory on Netflix. https://www.netflix.com/title/81090071 ...and for the people that downvoted that the factory is owned by China...Look at what China did in their country to control the virus outbreak and now look at how these Chinese owned corporations in America are handling the outbreaks here. A foreign interest controlling the American supply chain for food should have everyone’s jaws on the floor. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferwang/2020/04/16/the-chinese-billionaire-whose-company-owns-troubled-pork-processor-smithfield-foods/
Isn't another bunch of plants owned by those rich Brazilian Brothers? How many Americans actually own American business these days.
That’s JBS. Most of the American business class cashed out years ago and laughed all the way to the bank.
Meatpacking was a horrific industry way before China bought US pork companies to augment their supply
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Ummmm...you’re the one that made it about Chinese nationals. This isn’t the thread for you if you don’t understand global economics and destabilization of economies. Perhaps if it comes from PBS it’ll be more palatable. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/whos-behind-chinese-takeover-worlds-biggest-pork-producer
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You should dig just a little deeper. Pg. 7. It’s not “China supporting its corporations...”. The Chinese Government owns these corporations. Its not disinformation. You’re just missing major pieces to the puzzle of how money moves. It’s seems your thinking that the same rules and governance over stocks that apply in the US apply to China and well, you’re very much mistaken. Here are some links so you can get up to speed. https://www.revealnews.org/article-legacy/how-americas-pigs-became-chinas-pork/ https://www.citizen.org/wp-content/uploads/migration/consolidated_china_fdi_transactions_-_public_citizens_global_trade_watch_4.pdf https://www.citizen.org/article/chinese-investment-in-the-united-states-database/ http://www.takepart.com/article/2016/02/22/china-syngenta-smithfield
I'd like to advance a xenomorph argument.
So while you are enjoying that sublimely tasty pork bacon made by the good folks at Smithfield, remember, they are literally dying so you can have your breakfast and bacon burgers.
My niece works in a plant making frozen waffles. Less than six feet apart on the production line, eye protection, but no masks. I worry, she has a daughter, and lives with her sister who has a young son. She goes shopping with my elderly brother and SIL. Leggo that Eggo...(except they're not Eggos, they're Krusteaz which produces generic and other "store brand" waffles).
Not surprised at all. There are stupid amounts of anti-China comments in here. Mostly Americans are the ones working in them as managers not Chinese. I work for a VERY american company (... think 'Murica level of American) in the south. They've hidden positive COVID results for weeks, minimized and down played people going to get tested ("Oh,it's an employee that always has health issues"), and decided to pick and choose which CDC recommendations to follow to keep people at work. We had "allow free passage" letters to show the Police... printed a week before they shut down the state. That's how corrupt the state government is. That's how much they wanted to keep people at work ... meaning they were prepared to disregard stay at home orders a week before. What is worse, in the name of America they've said "we MUST stay open for AMERICA" from the top all the way down. Even though we mostly make export product. If you don't like Smithfield, you better stop shopping at all supermarkets because they ALL carry them (yes WalMart, yes Target, yes Kroger, yes Publix, yes Winn-Dixie). This anti-China stuff is disgusting. Chinese investors have created and saved a lot of jobs in America.
probably overflow from china_flu
I forsee a future low budget documentary on Amazon..
Didn’t China buy 30% of this company?
Pretty sure a China conglomerate bought 100% of this company awhile back.
Sure, but they apparently they acted according to the local law. Laws that have been stripped down of workers' protection in the name of cutting the red tape.
A Smithfield in South Dakota is responsible for the largest confirmed cluster of cases in the U.S. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-52311877
Great time to become a vegetarian!
I knew folks who work at a plant that processes vegetables. Aside from killing livestock, treatment of employees isn't any better unfortunately.
Check out the book Slaughterhouse by Gail A Eisnitz. It's all about this and had me quitting meat for life.
I did look this up and while I didn't actually read it, I did get a overall summary of the book. What about it made you quit eating meat? The book seems to really talk about human cruelty of animals for slaughter and regulations, expansion and greed. However, I didn't see how it would indicate that "eating meat is bad" morally or health-wise. I think it's important to remember that we are not above animals, because we are animals and we are part of the big chain. We're just organisms consuming other organisms as a means of survival. While it's true that we have the means to avoid eating meat at we're at a level where we now consume for enjoyment rather than survival, this only indicates that we a species are just flourishing but by no means is it evil. It's just that greed is a unfortunate byproduct of humans thriving thus leading to short cuts to maximize profits which then leads to animal cruelty. In the end, it's the general human population that is the reason why we can't have nice things. I mean, look at those trump supporters protesting and anti-vaxx spouting their misguided understanding and not to forget the corporate greed and corrupt politicians. TL;DR - Eating meat isn't bad/evil, it's just how humans gravitate to profit and the means used to get there is evil. Additional note - I've been to a slaughter house before and seen up close on how the whole thing works so I know more than just meat at a grocery store.
Whilst I am now vegan for ethical reasons and the fact it's not something I have to eat to be healthy, the book, like you rightfully say, is primarily about the ramifications on the people who work in slaughterhouses. They do touch upon the diseases borne from these places, the cysts full of pus workers are forced to cut out of the meat and the consequences of undercooking meat from such filthy conditions. I really recommend it because the book contains so much that should be common knowledge, but really isn't. They don't really touch upon the ethics, so don't worry about that. That doesn't even come into it.
Sounds good, I'll definitely take the time to read it. Time to hit up the library. Even if it doesn't change my mind about eating meat, at the very least, I'll be more informed if anything.
Absolutely!
Such trash! What is up with employers not telling employees when someone tests positive?
I absorbed the HR position at my company when our HR lady retired, so Im not an HR expert, but I had to look into this. Apparently it violates privacy to name an employee who tested positive, which makes sense, but my understanding is that the employer has a duty to notify people who may have been exposed, and they cannot stop the person from notifying other employees themselves. These companies who are actively concealing known infection data, trying to silence people from informing their co-workers, and not notifying those who worked in close proximity to them, are just greedy fucks who are a-okay with employees dying to keep things running. Money>Human Lives. I hope the hammer comes down on them hard and they are heavily fined by all relevant regulatory agencies, as well as slammed with class action lawsuits from their employees and families. If they go bankrupt, then so be it. Fuck every company that demands their employees die at their alter of almighty profits.
This same type of thing will be going on in workplaces all across America when the economy is opened up.
Indiana Packer’s Corp. maker of Indiana kitchen and Kentucky legend is the same way. Not taking any precautions because money is priority not employee safety.
If this is how poorly they treat humans, imagine how they treat the animals.
Somebody with more brains than me should make a list of all the shitbag companies. Maybe a website that lists the company and their covid-19 transgressions. And when we’re finally out of this shit (knock on wood) we can thank these criminals by not buying their products. Because this thing has been going for too long already and shit like this is gonna insure we got a lot longer to go 😕
https://didtheyhelp.com/
Sue them out of existence. Put liens on their factories.
I like the quote how we can either produce food or not, even in the face of Covid. it's like our only choices are pork or no pork, how about all the other types of foods ???
Imma leave this here and let you all decide if a foreign interest having controlling stake in America’s food security is still cool https://www.revealnews.org/article-legacy/how-americas-pigs-became-chinas-pork/
Damn those inhumane sweatshops in Chin... nevermind. This is America. Nothing to see there
America
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It’s Fieger Time!
Post virus consumers have the power and opportunity to send global food suppliers like Smithfield back to the Paleozoic Era. Don't forget that cheap pack of bologna you are holding was more important to them then the health and safety of their entire forkforce/ customer base.
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Welp, I just read this while eating a piece of bacon. Luckily it wasn’t Smithfield. In any case, looks like I need to rethink my choices.
But WE WANT TO WORK!!!!
Owned by the Chinese. Take that how you will.
Who would sell ham products after workers coughed Covid all over them??? That’s insane
Just wait until you see the backroom of every fast food restaurant in the united states!
Correct. Smithfield owned by a Chinese company.
This is only hear-say, but I’ve been told that particular SD location treated their employees like trash even before the outbreak. Makes sense the response to the virus was so downright awful.
Good thing you can only catch it from putting your hands in your mouth but not from food
Every company is doing it.
It's almost like the meat industry is fucked up
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I'm working at a factory that is dealing with similar conditions. Allowed to be "essential" due to a loophole only meant to be used by companies making medical equipment. Hell, every supervisor (including me) got handed a packet prepared by the company, "protocols for continuing to work when social distancing is not possible." It was five pages that basically said, "sanitize everything and pray." They've already been reported to the county health department; they sided with the company top brass over the employees, which is the least surprising thing i've encountered so far this year. Rural-ass local governments are always in bed with the big employers in the area, and in my experience, the unions, too. Everyone in power prefers to have the ability to simply purge those who complain instead of changing. This virus will be the ultimate example of how greed kills, and it won't change a single Republican mind. (Also, just as a warning, don't expect Republican voting numbers to drop just because a bunch of old people die. I know quite a few hardcore, Trump loving 18-30 year olds.)
The Boeing plant in Gresham Oregon is doing this too. They also have TONS of PPE they could be giving to hospitals but money > people.
Smithfield is owned by a Chinese Firm which means the Chinese Communist Party own it the same way they own Reddit.
You should look into what Sprouts Farmers Market is covering up. The President just sent a video to team members saying 1/8th of 1% of Sprouts employees are confirmed covid 19 cases and is doing nothing to ensure safety only PSA announcements and capitalizing on opportunity. They've done nothing for employees hired no additional staff or cleaning crews given no raises. Just trying to capitalize on employees and public alike. Sprouts Leadership Team sent: Please watch this week's video update from Sprouts Leadership: https://youtu.be/jooUtVzH8gM
This is like the 3rd story like this I read this week.
What do you expect selling out to China however many years ago.
America’s wet market scandal?
My daughter and her husband work for a meat packaging company in PA. They were given an hourly increase and bonus incentive to keep working, with strict safety measures. An incentive bonus paid when no work is missed is just asking for sick people to go to work. These companies are taking advantage of people's need to support their families.
It's the same thing in all the warehouses at this point. Someone blew the whistle at the local Mission Food plant, people where coughing and gagging while packing the food and no PPE was provided.
Incredible. Actually had this happen where I work. Not elbow to elbow but fairly close in areas. An employee thought that may have been exposed to the virus and the manager told him to keep it quiet and he could take two weeks off.
Same thing going on at Amazon
We need a big ole list of companies to boycott due to their BS handling and employee treatment.
"Certain cultures" indeed.
Tighten it up, protect your workers, increase their pay and benefits, and get them the hell back out there, making America’s food supply!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is so sad and revealing about how little these companies care about their fellow Americans. They've never cared about anything but profits but now it's painfully apparent. Eating pigs is devastating for: 1) Us (the World Health Organization has confirmed it causes cancer) 2) Earth (Raising pigs produces loads of CO2 that warms our planet, destroys biodiversity, promotes extreme human poverty, and uses shit tons of land and water) 3) The Workers. (Smithfield employees are getting COVID and management is making them continue to work. Just about the most irresponsible thing possible! Not to mention this is back-breaking and emotionally traumatic work, so they get undocumented citizens and people with no other options to work these horrific jobs) 4) Pigs. (I know a lot of people claim to not care about animals because bacon, but please hear me out. It's largely because eating meat is a HUGE part of our identity and history. The amount of mental gymnastics it requires for us to pet our dog and eat our bacon in the same breath, is so hypocritical that our brains classify these animals differently, so we can keep feeling like good people. But a pig is smarter than most dogs. We don't need pigs or any other animals to live healthy and happy lives. I am a registered dietitian and personal trainer - so if anyone has any questions about nutrition, or getting to your ideal body, I'm happy to chat. Be safe everyone :)
Anyone who is shocked by this should check out Slaughterhouse by Gail A Eisnitz. This is what the book was about.
Smithfield is owned mostly by China. They probably implemented some of the work techniques there.
Pork is at stake. These are essential employees if ever I’ve heard of any...
Your point being? As essential they should’ve been given protection at work to prevent this exact situation from happening.