Poor conditions in meat plants fuel Covid-19 outbreaks, say unions

Sector faces calls for action after report reveals scale of infections among workers

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The coronavirus outbreaks that have struck workers in meat-processing plants around the world are due to poor working conditions and living quarters in a sector that is in a disastrous race to the bottom" in the quest for cheap meat, trade union representatives have said.

Meat plants have persistently been centres for outbreaks, with some of the biggest clusters in the US and Canada focused on slaughterhouses. According to the Food & Environment Reporting Network (Fern), which has been tracking the outbreaks, nearly 30,000 meat-plant workers across the US and Europe have been infected with the virus and more than 100 have died.