Donate NowThe Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting and USA TODAY Network are collaborating on a project to examine COVID-19's impact on the underpaid and exploited agricultural workforce, particularly those in the meatpacking industry and the migrant workers in the fields. The reporting will go beyond spot news and, over the next six months, dig into the fundamental and systemic flaws in an industry that has historically imperiled its labor force.
December 30, 2020 | Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting
How We Did It: ‘They Think Workers Are Like Dogs.’ How Pork Plant Execs Sacrificed Safety for Profits
Grantee Sky Chadde discusses reporting on one of the largest COVID-19 outbreaks at a meatpacking plant in the country — Triumph Foods in St. Joseph, Missouri.
November 12, 2020 | Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting
‘They Think Workers Are Like Dogs.’ How Pork Plant Execs Sacrificed Safety for Profits.
From City Hall to the White House, our investigation found, officials let Triumph Foods stay open as hundreds of workers got coronavirus. Four died.
October 21, 2020 | Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting
Meatpacking Workers Say Attendance Policy Forces Them To Work With Potential COVID-19 Symptoms
Under the policy, workers usually receive a point or points for missing a day. If they gain enough points, they’re fired.
September 01, 2020 | Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting, USA Today
Arkansas Poultry Plants Are Struggling With COVID-19. Hispanic Workers Are Facing the Worst of It.
At least 4,627 Arkansas poultry workers have been infected by the novel coronavirus since the start of the pandemic. More than half of them are Hispanic.