Meatpacking roundup: Packers get lower pay despite higher risk; OSHA fines companies nearly $1M after plant deaths

Here's a one-two about the meatpacking industry: 

"Several poultry processing companies operating a Gainesville, Ga., plant are facing nearly $1 million in fines from the Occupational Health and Safety Administration after a liquid nitrogen leak caused the death of six workers and injured dozens more," Ximena Bustillo reports for Politico's Weekly Agriculture. "The federal workplace safety watchdog on Friday said that Foundation Food Group, Messer LLC, Packers Sanitation Services Inc. and FS Group Inc. 'failed to implement any of the safety procedures necessary to prevent the nitrogen leak,' and didn't provide workers with training or equipment 'that could have saved their lives.'"

The workers died of asphyxiation after entering a room in the plant with a malfunctioning freezer that leaked liquid nitrogen into the air. "The agency wants the companies to pay $998,637 for 59 violations of worker safety rules," Bustillo reports.

Average meatpacking worker hourly wage by state, May 2020.
Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting map; click image to enlarge, or here for interactive version.

Meatpacking workers experience higher illness and injury rates compared with other manufacturing jobs, but their average wage is lower than the average wage for all manufacturing employees," Eli Hoff reports for the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting.

According to newly released data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average meatpacking worker was paid an average hourly wage of $15.53 in May 2020. The average wage for all manufacturing employees was $20.08 an hour, Hoff reports.