U.S. Is Falling Further Behind Rivals in Meat-Worker Safety (1)

The U.S. government is falling behind global rivals when it comes to protecting meatpacking workers from Covid-19 infections, even though the nation’s <-bsp-bb-link state="{"bbDocId":"QAPRSODWX2PS","_id":"00000174-b2e7-deb2-a3fd-fbef24260000","_type":"0000016b-944a-dc2b-ab6b-d57ba1cc0000"}">plants were among the first to confront rampant cases across factories.

In Germany, the government is ready to upend a labor contracting system that left poorly paid immigrant workers vulnerable. Australia’s second-most populous state, Victoria, slashed slaughterhouse staffing capacity to enforce strict spacing requirements. In Brazil, the federal government has set safety rules, though unions have said they’re not strong enough.

Employees remove internal organs from pigs at a meat processing facility in the U.S.

Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

Meanwhile, the U.S. has yet to impose any mandatory safety measures on meatpackers to contain infections, ...