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When the meatpacking industry in the U.S. saw a rise in COVID-19 cases, local officials in New Bedford, Mass., worried their city was next. Nadine Sebai of Rhode Island Public Radio explains how New Bedford, which is a major hub of the seafood processing industry, took action.
NADINE SEBAI, BYLINE: It was around mid-April when New Bedford's essential fish plant workers began complaining that fish houses lacked adequate PPE and disinfectants and facilities were overcrowded. The city's health department received two dozen workplace complaints and had to temporarily shut down several fish plants due to outbreaks. Mayor Jon Mitchell was on edge, in a city where nearly 15% of the population works in manufacturing and 20% are Latino.
JON MITCHELL: We looked at the experience of the meatpacking industry in the Midwest, and we wanted to make sure that we're doing everything we could to avoid an outcome or a set of outcomes like we saw there.
SEBAI: Businesses across Massachusetts were shutting down, and this essential fish plant worker, who requested anonymity because she didn't want trouble at work, was worried that she could infect her child and elderly parents with the coronavirus.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Through interpreter) I would come home from work and would fumigate myself, spray my clothes and shower quickly. Just the fear itself made those first days super stressful.
SEBAI: In early May, Mayor Mitchell issued two emergency orders for industrial facilities in the absence of strong federal or state pandemic guidelines for food processing workers. The first measure requires companies to report workers who have or may have the virus to the local health department. The second requires industrial facilities, like fish houses, to provide PPE, disinfect work areas and abide by social distancing rules, and every facility is mandated to have a health and safety officer who takes worker temperatures at the start of every shift. Companies that don't comply with the orders could face fines of up to $300 a day per violation and possible legal action.
Jodi Sugerman-Brozan is executive director at the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health, a nonprofit advocating for safe conditions for low-wage workers. She says no other American cities have passed such stringent emergency orders.
JODI SUGERMAN-BROZAN: I think this executive order is a great model for others around the state and across the country because it sets very clear standards that were created in partnership with workers and reflect their demands and voice.
SEBAI: New Bedford has already seen some positive changes. Working conditions are improving, and complaints are way down. But resources are a problem. In a city where Latinos account for nearly half of all COVID-19 cases, the health department is struggling to track positive cases of fish plant workers, many who don't speak English and some who are undocumented. And New Bedford has only eight inspectors who, during this pandemic, are now auditing fish processing plants and industrial facilities, in addition to restaurants and other health complaints. Gail Joseph is the lead health department inspector.
GAIL JOSEPH: I don't care how many people you give me; there is no way that we're going to get everything done, every week, in a routine manner. It's just impossible.
SEBAI: The health department is trying to teach fish plant managers and workers how to stay safe. The hope, health director Damon Chaplin says, is that facilities will slowly become more compliant. For now, it's all the city's got.
DAMON CHAPLIN: We can't wait for the calvary if we are the calvary. And that's just kind of been the mindset from the beginning.
SEBAI: The city has completed its first round of inspections, and ideally, it would want inspectors to do a follow-up visit every week. But they admit, with the current resources, it's not going to happen.
For NPR News, I'm Nadine Sebai in New Bedford, Mass.
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