The union said Smithfield Foods is failing to protect them from COVID-19, but Judge David Gregory Kays of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri said the plant is regulated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Kays said he takes seriously the workers’ concern for their health and safety, but he can’t ignore the authority of OSHA and the USDA over coronavirus safety guidance at meat processing plants or “the significant steps Smithfield has taken to reduce the risk of a COVID-19 outbreak at the plant.”
U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered meat packers to continue operating.
