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Profit Over Lives At JBS: Covid, OSHA and Life & Death With UFCW 7 President Kim Cordova

by Labor Video Project
Kim Cordova, president of UFCW 7 talks about the deaths of eight JBS meat plant workers in Greeley, Colorado from Covid-19. She discusses the failure of OSHA to protect the workers and why her union, the workers and community are protesting at the Denver OSHA office.
sm_ufcw_osha_protest_shame_on_you.jpg
Eight workers have died at the Greeley, Colorado JBS meat plant from Covid-19 and UFCW Local 7 president Kim Cordova talks about the role of not only the company but OSHA.

On September 16, 2020 Cordova, workers and their families from the plant along with other labor and community supporters also rallied at the OSHA plant in Denver, Colorado.

OSHA has only fined the company $15,615 for failing to protect employees from exposure to the coronavirus in their meat packing facilities in Greeley, CO.

Cordova talked about the failure of the company to protect the workers and also the lack of action by OSHA to protect the workers from the pandemic.
She also connects systemic racism to the failure to properly protect these and other frontline workers throughout the United States.

UFCW Local 7 is demanding specific health and safety actions necessary to protect these essential workers and the nation’s food supply chain including:

1. Mandate meatpacking companies to provide the highest level of Personal
Protective Equipment (PPE) through access to the federal stockpile.
2. Ensure daily testing of workers and their communities.
3. Provide paid sick and family leave.
4. Ensure workers have access to quality and affordable health care, that includes long-term hospital coverage.
5. Mandate enforceable federal safety standards.
6. Mandate enforceable strong health CDC guidelines.
7. Ensure constant monitoring by federal inspectors to enforce safety standards.
8. Strengthen whistleblower laws for workers.
9. Protect workers’ health and safety by ensuring they have access to Union representation.
10.All workers receive a death benefit.
11. Mandate slower line speeds.
12. Ensure safe social distancing.
This interview was done by Steve Zeltzer of WorkWeek and Pacifica on 9/16/20.

Additional media:
Workers, Liability, The Hero's Act and Health and Safety On The Job With UFCW Local 7 President Kim Cordova
https://youtu.be/ezmEDOiR9s0

With No Safety, Covid Killing Colorado JBS Workers &
Memorial With UFCW Local 7 President Kim Cordova
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5kTkTdQLpg

UFCW 7 Memorial For 6 JBS Greely, Colorado Workers Who Did Died From Covid
https://www.facebook.com/572982989459766/videos/2875360759256585/?eid=ARB7Kpk3vssOExInbEyCJVx6tLPM7xbOBWPd4W87zE4GRdcpGGK_HclbTWQSPbkqPiGtrhdvdpMyWSFI

The Death March, Slavery, Meat Plant Workers & Covid-19
https://youtu.be/zZkwe4kkYMQ

Investigation: Counties With Meatpacking Plants Report Twice the National Average Rate of COVID-19 Infections
https://www.ewg.org/news-and-analysis/2020/05/ewg-map-counties-meatpacking-plants-report-twice-national-average-rate

America’s Largest Food & Retail Union Confirms Growing COVID-19 Impact on Frontline Workers
http://www.ufcw.org/2020/06/25/covidupdate/

WorkWeek
https://soundcloud.com/workweek-radio
Labor Video Project
http://www.laborvideo.org
§Shame On OSHA At Denver OSHA Office After 8 Deaths At JBS
by Labor Video Project
sm_ufcw_7_shame_on_osha.jpeg
UFCW 7 workers from JBS Greeley, Colorado along with labor and community members protested at the Denver OSHA office because of their failure to enforce health and safety regulations and pitiful fines against the company.
§JBS Worker Who Died From Covid-19
by Labor Video Project
sm_ufcw7_dead_worker_protest.jpg
The eight workers at JBS Greeley who died from Covid-19 had no protection from the company or OSHA. OSHA did not make physical inspections.
§JBS CEO Andre Nogueira
by Labor Video Project
sm_jbs_ceo_andre-nogueira-450x563.jpg
JBS CEO Andre Nogueira and his company have been accused of corruption in their operations.
"However, U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) recently challenged whether JBS’s entry into the U.S. market should have been allowed.
USDA pilot program fails to stop contaminated meat
Corruption scandals have engulfed JBS in Brazil, the senators wrote to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and company officials have “admitted criminal conduct to secure loans that were used for investment in the United States.” They’ve asked for a review of the purchases.
JBS said it received all “necessary regulatory approvals from the . . . antitrust authorities, including the Department of Justice” before purchasing each of the companies.
Small farmers and cattlemen are glad some politicians are listening. They say the federal government’s bailout — and JBS’s share of it — are reminiscent of the bank bailouts during the Great Recession. Even though many of the banks were under investigation by the federal government, they still received federal money." From the Washington Post
§Speaker At OSHA Rally on September 16, 2020
by Labor Video Project
sm_ufcw_osha_rally_speakers_9-16-20.jpg
Workers and family members spoke out at the protest at OSHA.
§Family Members Who Lost Their Loved Ones
by Labor Video Project
sm_ufcw_osha_protest_shame_on_you_1.jpg
Families who lost workers at the JBS Greeley plant are still traumatized by their losses.
§JBS Workers Lined Up At The Plant
by Labor Video Project
sm_ufcw7_jbs_workers_lined_up.jpg
Kim Cordova, president of UFCW 7 discussed the systemic racism in the treatment of frontline workers including those in the meat packing industry.
§Trump With Corporate Executives
by Labor Video Project
jbs_ceo___trump.jpg
Trump ordered workers at meatpacking plants back to work without requiring health and safety protection. The owners of these meatpacking plants wrote the back to work orders that have ended up killing the workers. Kim Cordova, president of UFCW 7 is calling for criminal prosecution of these executives and owners for the deaths of the workers.
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