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President Trump issued an executive order on Tuesday night forcing US meatpacking plants to remain open, despite Covid-19 outbreaks at facilities leading to the deaths of plant workers across the country. The order comes after many of the nation’s largest meat processors closed or slowed production due to the rise in infections. As Human Rights Watch reported last week, workers are enduring the pandemic amid fewer safety protections due to rollbacks implemented by the Trump administration before the pandemic. 

In issuing his executive order, Trump cited the Defense Production Act in order to deem the plants "critical infruastructure." The president announced no new protections to protect employees.

Experts from Human Rights Watch, which has done extensive research on the dangers facing meatpacking workers, sounded off on the order.

“This is a terrible decision that puts the lives of meat and poultry plant workers at even greater risk,” tweeted Komala Ramachandra, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch. “At the same time, the Trump admin is rolling back protections, like line speed limits. How does this keep our workers or food supply safe?”

"The order requires plants to stay open; it does not require plants to follow CDC/OSHA guidance to keep workers safe,” tweeted Human Rights Watch senior researcher Grace Meng, referring to the US Centers for Disease Control and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Under the Trump administration, OSHA is operating with the fewest safety and health inspectors in its 48-year history.

In her Human Rights Watch article last week, Ramachandra emphasized that the rollbacks of safety rules in meatpacking plants can be undone. "Reinstating protections should be a priority of candidates seeking voters’ trust in the 2020 elections," she writes. "Protecting all workers – especially those at the front lines who are risking their lives to feed the country– should be a priority for all branches of government."

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