DeLauro Statement on Meatpackers Baseless Shortage Claims

House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) today condemned the U.S. meatpacking industry following reports that it pressed "baseless" claims of beef and pork shortages earlier in the pandemicto persuade the Trump Administration to keep operations running.

"The report released by the House Select Committee on the Coronavirus Crisis is damning," said Congresswoman DeLauro. "Not only does it highlight the meatpacking industry's baseless claims that jeopardized the health and livelihoods of hundreds of workers, it demonstrates their willingness to price gouge American consumers in the name of ‘inflation'. Meatpackers warned us in April 2020 that the closure of plants to protect workers' health would threaten the domestic food supply chain, but that same month U.S. pork exports were at an all-time high."

"At least 284 workers died across the meatpacking industry between 2020 and 2021. Americans continue to face rising costs at their local grocery store," DeLauro continued. "Meatpackers need to answer for this deception, be held accountable for endangering workers, and must immediately lower food costs for working families. We need an economy that works for all, not just the wealthy and richest corporations. We need to put people over profits – period."

Across the country, many meat processing plants have become COVID-19 hotspots. To date, more than 57,000 meatpacking workers have tested positive for COVID-19, and at least 284 have died this past year, according to the Food and Environment Reporting Network. According to a recent study conducted by the National Employment Law Project, there have been more deaths related to COVID-19 in meat and poultry plants in 2020 than other work-related deaths in the past 15 years in the same industry.

As Chair of the House Appropriations Committee and the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, Congresswoman DeLauro held hearings on best practices to protect the health and safety of meatpacking, poultry, and agricultural workers. She also introduced the Safe Line Speeds During COVID-19 Act, legislation that would suspend all current and future USDA waivers and regulations that allow companies to increase production line speeds at meatpacking plants during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Congresswoman DeLauro has urged the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to hold the meatpacking industry accountable for perpetuating unsafe conditions for workers.

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