A report from the CDC about safety procedures at a meatpacking plant whose workers were falling ill at an alarming rate early on in the pandemic is raising new questions about political interference at the agency.
Georgia's first large outbreaks, took place in its rural southwest counties, mainly affected Black people, who are the majority of poultry workers in that region. Pres. Trump's executive order declared processing plants "critical infrastructure."
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Exploitation and predatory pricing drove the transformation of the US beef industry – and created the model for modern agribusiness.
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The Trump administration has made a point to eviscerate regulations of all types.
Ten years ago nearly 400 immigrant workers at a meatpacking plant in Postville Iowa were detained and subject to deportation. Trump, with bipartisan support, pardoned the plant's owner Sholom Rubashkin, who had been jailed for financial fraud. The victim's of the raid received no justice.
Organizing in Omaha and small towns with meatpacking plants is altering politics in this reddest of states. At the top of the city's power structure sit representatives of large corporations. The corporate elite has transformed the downtown, now brimming with office towers, condominiums and a redeveloped Old Market tourist mecca. Corporate domination has failed to transform the lives of Omaha's working-class families for the better, however.
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