State Looks to Update Meatpacking Plant Worker Rights Laws

(KNSI) — When the Minnesota Legislature reconvenes on Tuesday, they’ll have quite a bit of work to do, including looking at prioritizing worker safety at meatpacking plants around the state.

The bill would update a 2007 law, calling on companies to provide more disclosure to those they hire about their rights and has new language about providing information on matters such as workers’ compensation requirements. There are also updated standards for providing details in multiple languages, with many of these plants hiring migrant workers.

Representative Aisha Gomez sits on the House Ways and Means Committee and says anyone concerned about the bill should look at images captured inside a JBS plant in Worthington at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There was no way to ensure the safety of these workers at the point, and yet, there they were – side by side with each other – no personal protective equipment.”

Opponents of the bill say it unfairly goes after job creators.

JBS and other processors drew the ire of the federal government after COVID outbreaks and deaths linked to their facilities. JBS says it made substantial upgrades to protect workers as the pandemic worsened.

A separate bill, co-authored by Representative Dan Wolgamott, is in committee specifically addressing worker safety at larger plants. In November, JBS was accused of contracting with Packers Sanitation Services, Inc. out of Wisconsin after it was discovered minors were working in dangerous conditions and on overnight shifts at food processing plants in Minnesota and Nebraska.
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MNC reporter Mike Moen contributed to this story.

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