Actions of meat factories during COVID-19 scrutinised by Dáil comittee

The HSE and HSA came under fire for their alleged response with regards to meat processors during the Coronavirus emergency.

Edel McGinley (pictured above), director of Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI) told the Oireachtas Special Committee on COVID-19 Response, which met on Friday afternoon, that employers had been informed that staff members had tested positive for coronavirus before individuals themselves had been told. She branded the occurrence as a "gross violation of people's confidentiality".

"This is a very serious breach of people's rights" she further asserted.

Cavan-Monaghan Deputy Matt Carthy (SF) read from an official report for NPHET which claimed the HSE practice was in line with legislation. The local Oireachtas representative asked Ms McGinley if she was aware of any other sector where this had happened. She said she wasn't.

Philip Carroll of Meat Industry Ireland (MII) - a representative body for meat factories - insists it was not at the factories' request that the employers were told of cases of infection before staff were notified. He insisted that the employer did not put the HSE under any pressure to provide such information.

"If the rights of individuals were undermined it wasn't by pressure applied by meat processors," he stated.

Ms McGinley paraphrased an explanation from the Director of Public Health which she claimed led to this breach: "Essentially it would take too long to talk to workers through an interpreter to tell them that they had COVID-19.

"Obviously state agencies are bound by public sector duty and have a duty to provide equality of access to services"

The HSA too came under criticism. Ms McGinley alleged that whenever inspections are carried out that processors are given advanced warning.

"One of the big problems is when inspections are carried out they are announced. Nothing is found. People can scarper across the floor, workers are told to make themselves scarce, and workers are in the dark in terms of the outcome from those inspections."

Responding to a query from Deputy Cormac Devlin (FF), Mr Carroll confirmed it was his understanding that advanced notice of site inspections was provided by the HSA.

"That, by the way, was the decision of the HSA," he said.

He also noted that veterinary inspectors were permanently based in meat factories.

But Ms McGinley continued to criticise the HSA, in particular for not acting faster in tackling outbreaks in meat factories.

"They received a number of complaints over the month of April yet no inspections were carried out until the week of the 19th. Indeed no sector specific guidelines were put in place until the 15th of May, for this sector - a sector which was deemed essential from the outset. Surely a risk assessment should have been carried out? Surely guidelines should have been put in place."

Calling for a taskforce to be established to look at the terms and conditions for workers in this sector, Ms McGinley also wants to measures introduced to examine where state funding goes to in the sector, as well as an increase in wages paid.

Ms McGinley finished her presentation to the committee by reading a statement from a meat factory worker in an unnamed “big meat factory” with over 500 employees.

At one stage in the statement the employee claimed: “If the disease was in the animals they would have to close the place, but for workers, the factories can do what they want.”

But MII defended the sector's record in protecting staff during the pandemic. They also noted the impact of asymptomatic cases in causing clusters of infections among staff within the industry.

Mr Carroll outlined that there had been 1,100 positive cases of coronavirus across 22 sites and stressed there are currently no active cases within the sector.

He further outlined an extensive suite of measures taken by the sector to ensure the health of staff were safeguarded.

"These composite measures," Mr Carroll told the committee, "numbering 60 or more, were implemented across plants some two months ahead of the interim guidance on COVID-19 provided by the HSE on the 15th of May. Which reinforced the robustness of the measures already put in place in meat plants. Where additional measures were recommended by the HSE guidelines, these have been fully complied with", he assured.

Survey

However, despite these measures to combat COVID-19, it was conveyed to the Oireachtas committee that a total of 40% of meat plant workers who took part in a survey still do not feel safe in their workplace.

Outlining the results of the survey conducted by MRCI over the last 10 days, of 68 staff members interviewed from plants across the State, Bríd McKeown of the MRCI observed that to date, only one meat processing plant had closed in response to coronavirus outbreaks.

"In terms of the employer response," Ms McKewon told the committee, "MRCI began to receive complaints from the 26th of March - workers were extremely worried, frightened and angry with the conditions they were being forced to work in and could foresee that without appropriate health and safety measures their family and their own health would be at risk.

"MRCI supported workers to raise their concerns with their employers however as we continued to receive ongoing complaints in to May it became clear that many factories were extremely slow to put in adequate health and safety measures."

The Committee discussion also covered working conditions in meat plants generally.

Ms McKeown told the chamber that there were issues regarding pay, bullying and health and safety.

"Almost a quarter of the workers said they are not paid overtime when they work extra hours, and shockingly 90% of respondents said that the employer does not provide a sick-pay scheme, which has been crucial during the COVID response.

"Almost 60% said they had been injured in the workplace, the majority of injuries include regular lacerations, bruises, repetitive strain from years in the same role, back pain - and they claimed that injuries were caused by a lack of protective measures or equipment, under.

"Almost a fifth cited injury as an expected occupational hazard. 23% of injuries went unreported, and over 60% of workers said they didn't even know who the health and safety officer was in the workplace."

Ms McKeown added: "We also asked if they felt valued in the workplace and 85% of respondents said they do not feel valued at work. 70% said they felt they had been bullied in some way and of the people who had been bullied a fifth of them felt too afraid to raise their concerns.

"Moreover, three fifths of the workers we spoke to felt they had been discriminated [against], mainly on grounds of nationality and race."