“More workers have died from COVID-19 in the last 18 months in the meat and poultry industry, than died from all work-related causes in the industry in the past 15 years,” as one expert testified.

A year and a half after COVID-19 outbreaks tore through many of the nation's meatpacking plants, workers and their towns are still working on ways to enhance safety.

The meatpacking plants have pulled in thousands of immigrant workers over the past two decades. They’re the economic center of the town, employing around 3,000 workers.