Union officials portray a day in the life of a meat worker

Covid-19 outbreaks attributed to substandard employment and living conditions

The Committee on Covid-19 Response heard of a poultry plant processing 45,000 chickens a day with 90 staff.

As nationwide serial testing for Covid-19 is introduced at meat processing plants this week, it has been revealed that many meat plant workers are petrified of contracting Covid-19 and in many cases attend work even if they are unwell, because there is no sick pay.

Union officials including Patricia King of SIPTU, representing workers, portrayed the difficulties of a day in the life of a meat worker, during last Thursday’s Special Committee on Covid-19 Response debate of ‘The Situation in Meat Processing Plants’.