Latino groups said that the $5 Million donation from JBS to three Iowa cities should be given to workers struggling in their medical bills due to COVID-19. 

Meatpacking Plant
(Photo : Reuters Connect)

The state of Iowa has meatpacking plants in its three cities that employ nearly 5,000 workers. These cities are Ottumwa and Marshalltown, where it has pork processing plants. The third city is the Council Bluffs, where it has two facilities that make bacon and deli meats. 

JBS, the leading processor of beef, pork, and prepared foods in the U.S., will donate these three Iowa cities an amount of $5 million. Moreover, the company plans to give $50 million across the country to help communities where it has plants. This is part of their initiative called "Hometown Strong."

For the President of the Latino group League of United Latin American Citizens' Des Moines council, Joe Enriquez Henry said that the money should go first to the workers who are struggling in their medical expenses after they have fallen ill due to COVID-19. 

Specifically, these are migrant workers, particularly Latinos and Hispanics, who continue to work even amid the global pandemic to ensure that the country's food chain was sustained when the country was in lockdown. 

Thousands of Meatpacking Plant Workers Test Positive for COVID-19 

According to a published article in Des Moines Register, around 3,340 meatpacking plant workers in Iowa have tested positive for COVID-19. While seven other individuals died. 

In data released by the Iowa Department of Public Health, it was found that the state's cities and towns with meatpacking plants have the highest per-capita rates of people who tested positive for COVID-19. However, it was not reported as to how many of them are Latinos and Hispanics. 

Meanwhile, 16 percent of the total meatpacking workers of Tyson Food in Storm Lake tested positive for COVID-19. It can also be remembered that Latin Post reported previously that nearly a thousand of its employees in Logansport, Indiana tested positive for COVID-19.

The heath threat of COVID-19 is severe most notably for the meatpacking plant workers who work shoulder-to-shoulder. 

Some Latino groups and Unions accused meat processing companies of not addressing the needs of the workers, such as providing them personal protective equipment and failing to provide enough space for workers where social distancing can be observed. 

JBS Clarified that they Support Their Workers 

Despite the accusation against the JBS, they clarified that they have spent more than $200 million for both the safeguards of the employees and to their bonuses and even increased wages to make sure that their workers continue to work amid COVID-19. 

They also said that they had expanded health screenings, added barriers to the production line to make sure that social distancing is observed, and has increased workers' access to personal protection equipment. 

Migrant workers, particularly Latinos and Hispanics, remained as the primary workforce in agriculture in the country. They work night and day to sustain the food chain. However, they are disproportionately affected by COVID-19 that led to many of them dying without receiving treatment. 

 

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