Watch: John Oliver Attacks U.S. Meat Companies For “Disgusting” Treatment Of Meatpackers

The ‘Last Week Tonight’ host says meat companies recruit the most vulnerable members of society, in an industry where serious workplace injuries occur on a daily basis, and over 57,000 workers have already contracted COVID-19.

John Oliver used his popular ‘Last Week Tonight’ show to launch a blistering attack on major meat companies for their increasingly inhumane, and largely unregulated, treatment of U.S. meatpackers.

In the episode, which recently aired on HBO and already has over 6 million views on YouTube alone, Oliver criticizes the likes of Tyson Foods and JBS for targeting immigrants, ex-prisoners, and refugees for the dangerous and poorly-paid work.

And Oliver showed how COVID-19 highlights the desperate reality for many workers, with nearly 60,000 people in the meatpacking industry having contracted the virus since the start of the pandemic.

While corporate employees at the meat companies were allowed to work from home, meatpackers were not, even though social distancing is impossible. 

Following an outbreak at Tyson Foods’ pork processing plant in Waterloo, IA, managers entered into a betting pool, wagering on how many meatpackers would catch COVID-19. While seven managers were sacked following the incident in December last year, “it does speak to a larger problem in this industry … the treatment of workers has been very bad for a very long time”, says Oliver.

At a processing plant in Greeley, CO, run by JBS, six workers died from COVID-19. The company, whose annual profits exceeded $50 billion, was found guilty of failing to provide adequate protection, but fined just $15,000.

“That fine amounts to 0.00003% of JBS’s profits last year and if you fine a company a fraction of a percent of their profits, don’t be surprised when they carry on only giving a fraction of a f*** about the welfare of their workers”, says Oliver.

Oliver also attacked the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which he claims is so “woefully understaffed” that it would take 165 years for staff to inspect each meat plant. And even then, OSHA has very limited powers - the average fine for a serious health and safety violation is $3,717.          

Oliver referred to an Oxfam report that found workers are regularly denied toilet breaks, with some forced to wear diapers during their shift. He also showed a video of one worker urinating under the plant line, in Smithfield, VA.

Workers must forego toilet breaks in order to hit the “relentless” new targets set for them, of processing around 40 chickens per minute.

This rate of processing translates to spending less than two seconds chopping and deboning each bird, says Oliver, and unsurprisingly workers are suffering agonizing repetitive stress injuries, as well as cuts from colleagues’ knives, all while covered in the birds’ blood, urine and faeces.

Oliver explains how meat companies target prisoners, refugees, and especially immigrants, for these meatpacking jobs. Around 175,000 immigrants are employed on U.S. plants, many of whom are scared to report any injuries or mistreatment. 

Over a three-year period, “about every other day” a poultry worker either lost a body part or was sent to hospital, says Oliver, referring to a 2019 report by Human Rights Watch. 

Injured packers are often denied hospital treatment, and instead referred to an onsite nurse who administers basic first aid. One worker, who developed muscular skeletal disorder, was sent for onsite treatment on 90 separate occasions, while another worker was threatened with the sack for asking to see a doctor. 

Tyson, which is one of four companies controlling 85% of the meat production in the U.S., has recently made it even harder for workers to receive payments in the event of injury. 

Concluding the episode, Oliver called for OSHA to be “rebuilt and strengthened”, while urging intervention from USDA to ensure safer line speeds. 

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