By now, you\u2019ve probably heard that workers at the Cargill meat plant in High River recently tested positive for COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While there were only 38 cases connected with the plant on 13 April, just a week later, that number had climbed to 515, including households. A telephone town hall over the weekend identified 360 cases that were directly connected to Cargill workers<\/a>, and yesterday\u2019s COVID-19 pandemic update<\/a> had it at 401.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cargill had claimed, as of Sunday,<\/a> that they\u2019re implementing several measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19:<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, Cargill\u2014along with Alberta Health Services\u2014have encouraged workers to limit carpooling, citing that household transmission and carpooling have been connected to the outbreak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is problematic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Highlighting carpooling like this is a way for Cargill, in partnership with Alberta Health Services, to move blame for the outbreak away from the company and onto the workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Why, for example, are they increasing distancing between workers now? Does that mean they weren\u2019t far enough apart before?<\/p>\n\n\n\n On 28 March, Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the chief medical officer of health, advised Albertans to stay two metres apart<\/a> at all times. A little over a week later, she recommended that those who can\u2019t keep two metres apart from others should wear face masks<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fact that Cargill decided to increase distance between workers, install screening between workstations, and provide face masks shows that workers were too close together during shifts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n According to the CBC<\/a>, one worker claimed that \u201ceverybody\u2019s too close and standing.\u201d Another said that \u201cthe number of workers in my line, we were in full force. Elbow to elbow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Or why is Cargill only now increasing sanitation efforts? It\u2019s a meat processing plant. Surely they should\u2019ve already had strict, comprehensive sanitation practices in place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Three weeks have passed since the two-metre recommendation were established by the province, yet Cargill has only just started increasing workstation distancing and sanitation measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One worker started exhibiting symptoms on 7 April. It didn\u2019t take long before others did as well. After all, it can take up to two weeks for symptoms to emerge, during which time, you can be contagious. And within 6 days, there were 38 cases confirmed by the workers\u2019 union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The day before, over 250 residents called for the plant to be closed for two weeks to help prevent the spread of the virus. The residents were either Cargill workers or their families, and they were afraid the virus would infect other workers. The union joined in with the closure call the next day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Four days later, the number of cases directly connected to Cargill workers was at 200, with 158 others connected to the workers. Out of those 158 infected, 3 of them were married to Cargill workers and work for Seasons Retirement Communities, which operates a continuing care facility in town<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As noted above, the number of cases was at 401 yesterday, In 14 days, Cargill went from one possible case to over 400 confirmed cases\u2014all workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cargill\u2019s workplace practices are partly to blame. Their more than 2,000 workers worked too closely together. They had no masks. Clearly, sanitation practices didn\u2019t prevent the spread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But that\u2019s only part of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Workers who had tested positive for the virus felt pressure to not isolate for two weeks, that Cargill supervisors were trying to skirt Alberta Health restrictions and bring workers into work. Workers were told that\u2014even if they had tested positive\u2014they could come to work if they showed no symptoms<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The company also provided bonuses during the outbreak, which increased the pressure that isolating workers felt to come back to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cargill was never committed to reducing the introduction\u2014let alone the spread\u2014of COVID-19. Their workstation practices showed that. Their sanitation practices showed that. Their lack of respect for Dr. Hinshaw\u2019s distancing and isolation recommendations showed that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They weren\u2019t committed to preventing viral spread because they weren\u2019t concerned about workers. They\u2019re concerned about production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cargill\u2019s High River plant processes over 4,500 cows every day<\/a>. That\u2019s 2.25 cows per employee. If 400 employees are self isolating, that number increases to 2.81 cows per employee. Assuming, of course, that all 2,000 employees work every day, which obviously isn\u2019t the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Their meat isn\u2019t just shipped local. It also goes into the States. There\u2019s pressure to get that meat out the door and across the line. Pressure from CFIA\u2019s limited inspection hours. Pressure from clients. Pressure from head office in Minnesota. Pressure from the C-suite executives who saw the company hit $2.82 billion in profit in 2019, but which was down 12% over 2018. They don\u2019t want 2020 to drop, too. Especially with fewer restaurants buying meat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This past Monday\u2014nearly 2 weeks after the first worker started showing symptoms and a full week after High River residents demanded the plant shut down\u2014Cargill announced<\/a> they were temporarily ceasing operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n UFCW 401, which represents the workers, is glad the plant is shut down. It\u2019ll help prevent the spread from worsening, and it\u2019ll allow the company to thoroughly clean the plant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But worries about profit-driven exploitation of labour value have now been replaced with worries about worker pay. The company has been silent on whether they\u2019ll be paying their workers during the shut down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After all, if they\u2019re paying employees while those employees aren\u2019t producing revenue, it\u2019s going to be tough to top $2.82 in profits this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And to be clear, this isn\u2019t just a problem with Cargill, who also shut down their Pennsylvania plant<\/a>. JBS has 67 confirmed cases<\/a> at their meat packing plant in Brooks, and they\u2019ve shut down plants in Pennsylvania and Colorado<\/a>. National Beef Packing Co. cancelled operations at their Iowa plant<\/a>. Smithfield Foods closed their South Dakota plant<\/a>. United Poultry has 27 confirmed cases at their meat processing facility in Vancouver<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is bigger than just carpooling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Implying that carpooling is responsible for the outbreak is a way for Cargill to move blame for the outbreak away from the company and onto the workers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4774,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[106],"tags":[85,101,118],"class_list":["post-4773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-alberta","tag-covid-19","tag-food"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/calf-362170_1920.jpg?fit=1920%2C1280&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4NkW7-1eZ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4353,"url":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2020\/03\/25\/alberta-workers-ignored-during-covid-19-crisis\/","url_meta":{"origin":4773,"position":0},"title":"Alberta workers ignored during COVID-19 crisis","author":"Kim Siever","date":"25 March 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Recent measures announced by the provincial government are not designed to help workers. Very few workers will benefit from them.","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/working-1024382_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/working-1024382_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/working-1024382_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/working-1024382_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/working-1024382_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C799&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4288,"url":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2020\/03\/20\/capitalism-is-making-the-pandemic-worse\/","url_meta":{"origin":4773,"position":1},"title":"Capitalism is making the pandemic worse","author":"Kim Siever","date":"20 March 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"If there\u2019s one thing that\u2019s become clear during the COVID-19 pandemic, it\u2019s that neoliberal economic policies have failed our societies.","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/doctor-1149149_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/doctor-1149149_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/doctor-1149149_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/doctor-1149149_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/02\/doctor-1149149_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":194,"url":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2007\/02\/07\/lethbridge-carpooling-site\/","url_meta":{"origin":4773,"position":2},"title":"Lethbridge Carpooling Site","author":"Kim Siever","date":"7 February 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"I came across this website for carpooling. They even have a section on Lethbridge. Not surprisingly, not too many Lethbridge commuters have signed up yet.","rel":"","context":"In "Lethbridge"","block_context":{"text":"Lethbridge","link":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/category\/lethbridge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4557,"url":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2020\/04\/10\/alberta-lost-a-record-117000-jobs-in-march\/","url_meta":{"origin":4773,"position":3},"title":"Alberta lost a record 117,000 jobs in March","author":"Kim Siever","date":"10 April 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The Alberta government released their March 2020 job numbers yesterday, and\u2014unsurprisingly\u2014they don\u2019t look good. Last month, Alberta lost over 117,000 jobs: 73,600 part-time jobs and 43,500 full-time jobs. Since Jason Kenney introduced his so-called Job Creation Tax Cut in July 2019, we\u2019ve had 4 months with drops in full-time jobs,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/person-1821413_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/person-1821413_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/person-1821413_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/person-1821413_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/person-1821413_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C801&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4610,"url":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2020\/04\/14\/alberta-pledges-2-99-per-meal-for-food-banks\/","url_meta":{"origin":4773,"position":4},"title":"Alberta pledges $2.99 per meal for food banks","author":"Kim Siever","date":"14 April 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week, Alberta announced $5 million to \u201csupport food banks and community organizations in their food supply efforts\u201d. This sounds like a lot, but we must keep it in context.","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/dishes-938747.png?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/dishes-938747.png?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/dishes-938747.png?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/dishes-938747.png?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/04\/dishes-938747.png?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4095,"url":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/2020\/01\/22\/being-vegan-is-a-position-of-privilege\/","url_meta":{"origin":4773,"position":5},"title":"Being vegan is a position of privilege","author":"Kim Siever","date":"22 January 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Vegan food either requires more money than animal-based foods or more time. And that\u2019s assuming you even have access to a grocery store that carries plant-based alternatives to meat.","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/pear-2228918_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/pear-2228918_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/pear-2228918_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/pear-2228918_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/01\/pear-2228918_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4773"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4805,"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4773\/revisions\/4805"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4774"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siever.ca\/kim\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}