COVID-19 among Undocumented Immigrant Workers in the Meatpacking Industry

Presenter

Alison Virginia Hughes

Campus

Massasoit Community College

Sponsor

Panteha Sanati, Department of Humanities, Massasoit Community College

Schedule

Session 3, 1:30 PM - 2:15 PM [Schedule by Time][Poster Grid for Time/Location]

Location

Poster Board A24, Campus Center Auditorium, Row 2 (A21-A40) [Poster Location Map]

Abstract

The 2020, COVID-19 pandemic greatly impacted meatpacking plant workers who faced significant illness and death tolls compared to other industries. This research seeks to identify the working conditions in meatpacking plants during COVID-19 and why companies failed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among their workers. The socioeconomic impact of COVID-19 on the meatpacking industry reveals the disproportionate rate of acquired cases among immigrant meatpacking workers. A third of US meatpacking workers are foreign-born non-citizens and over half of the workers reported with COVID-19 were Hispanic immigrants. This data suggests that undocumented immigrant workers were disproportionately harmed by COVID-19 in the workplace. The death toll of undocumented meatpacking workers during the Coronavirus shed light on undocumented worker exploitation and the need for policy change in the meatpacking industry. Additionally, this research explores the ethics of the hiring of undocumented immigrant workers and the subsequent treatment of undocumented workers in the US. Through the examination of academic databases and official US government websites (CDC, CRC, NLM), this paper identifies the controversies regarding the meatpacking industry, its undocumented immigrant workforce, and the effect of COVID-19 on meatpacking workers. This paper highlights the health disparities among vulnerable populations and brings much-needed accountability to the meatpacking industry.

Keywords

Labor/Worker Rights, COVID-19, Undocumented Immigrants, Meatpacking Industry, Ethics

Research Area

Migration and Refugees

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