Meatpacking union concerned about potential move allowing plants to increase speed

NINA MOINI: The USDA wants to allow pork and poultry plants to speed up the pace of work. The agency says existing speed limits are outdated. Some plants have waivers that allow them to exceed those rules. Industry groups have praised the move to loosen requirements across the board, but labor representatives say a faster pace puts greater strain on workers' health and safety.

Joining me now is Rena Wong, President of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 663. It represents several meatpacking plants across the state of Minnesota. Thanks for being with us, Rena.

RENA WONG: Good afternoon, Nina. It's so great to hear your voice and to be on with you.

NINA MOINI: Thank you so much for your time. I want to start with these safety concerns, because that is top of mind, I'm sure. What are the types of injuries that you become concerned about when it comes to this suggested faster pace, or speeds?

RENA WONG: The meatpacking work has just always been one of the most dangerous industries, and so increasing the speed just means that there is going to be more worker injuries. I remember the first time that I met meatpacking workers back in 2018, that first conversation with these two women who had worked for many years in meatpacking plants. The first conversation, within the first five minutes, they were rolling up their sleeves and showing me where they had had surgeries because of repetitive stress injuries. And it was just so heartbreaking because these are workers who work in meatpacking. It's your body. And once you're injured, even when you heal, you never are as you were before you got hurt. And so this is just something really important to know about this work.

NINA MOINI: Musculoskeletal injuries. Muscles, joints, arthritis, carpal tunnel, back pain. I'm sure that the list continues. The USDA, though, says studies published last year found that faster speeds do not increase the risk of injury. But the researchers who did those studies also said staffing levels are an important factor, which seems pretty obvious. Can you explain how the number of workers on the line fits in?

RENA WONG: [INAUDIBLE] the USDA last year did confirm increasing line speeds increases the risk of harm to workers in both poultry and pork plants. There was this whole study that took place, and part of what it describes is that piece rate is the more accurate way to think about how quickly meat is-- the line speed just [AUDIO OUT] how quickly the line is moving. Piece rate also takes into account crewing or the number of workers who are working on the line. And so if we were to increase line speed and also the total number of workers were increased, potentially, if there was enough space between people and you did all the other things to mitigate, that might be OK.

But what's currently being proposed is just talking about increasing line speed without making any guardrails or difference around the number of people who then also work those lines. And so without that means higher piece rates, and higher piece rates is directly correlated to an increase [AUDIO OUT] injuries, because when you increase the line, you don't put more workers, logically, then workers' bodies are put under even more physical strain because they're trying to keep up with that higher production or that higher number of pieces that they're going to have to cut.

NINA MOINI: And the USDA had a spokesperson who said in a statement that the agency doesn't have the authority to regulate how private companies staff their operations, and that its job is to oversee only the food safety aspect of things. What's your response to that?

RENA WONG: I think that it is incumbent on everybody to figure out how we keep food safe. And keeping food safe for the consumer also means keeping workers safe, because if we are running the lines faster, if workers are getting hurt, that means that the machinery is also working at higher rates and could actually lead to slower production because of those injuries and stress, that higher turnover, as well as the machinery just not being able to keep up. [? And this ?] doesn't make it better for the consumer. That leads to less production, because if you're speeding up the line because of all these things, means that there's less food available. That's not going to lower prices.

And also, just in this last year, with all of the attacks on the food inspectors, all of the cuts already that are existing, there's just fewer inspectors on the line. Thinking that fewer inspectors, more meat moving through the plants is going to be safer for the consumer, just feels a little naive.

NINA MOINI: So Republican and Democrat administrations have made moves to increase the speed limits in the past. During the first Trump administration, I understand your union sued over a similar proposal. Are you aware of any plans to sue this time? Or how are you all organizing around this?

RENA WONG: So that was back in 2019. So UFC Local 663, our [? local, ?] with other UFC locals and Public Citizen to file a lawsuit to stop that dangerous pork line speed, and we won. We won that lawsuit in 2021 because the USDA did not consider injuries to meat [? workers ?] [? and had ?] restrictions. And so we are very worried that without ensuring proper health and safety of workers, while increasing line speeds, that we might be in a similar situation.

NINA MOINI: And just lastly, what options would be available to the union and workers if this rule does become final and is accepted?

RENA WONG: Well, in union represented shops, workers do have more recourse. We do have labor management committees. We did in this last contract negotiations with one of the meatpacking employers, when joint employer and union training on line speed, on workers being able to understand piece rate and being able to raise issues that come up. Now, these are union representative plants. Obviously, in non-union plants, workers don't have the benefit of that representation, that ability to bargain, that ability to be able to have that backup when they're going to need. And so, even within meatpacking plants, it's the ability of workers to be able to stay safe and keep our food supply safe is just going to be different.

NINA MOINI: All right, Rena. Really appreciate you coming on and sharing your perspective with us. Thank you so much.

RENA WONG: Thank you.

NINA MOINI: Rena Wong is the President of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 663. Public comment on the USDA's rule is open until April 20. The National Pork Producers Council sent us a statement praising the USDA's proposal. It said it would provide, quote, "financial security and more stability to pork producers and allow them to produce meat more efficiently while protecting food and worker safety."