GET ME REWRITE: Four years ago, Mason City Iowa declined opportunity to become coronovirus hot spot

Plans for the pork plant were scrapped 3 months after the original RGD post was published.'

And now look where Kim Reynolds' coronavirus dithering left the City of Waterloo.

Reported in Pork Chops vs. People: Battling Coronavirus in an Iowa Meat Plant.    (The New York Times, 5/10/2020)

As a result, the Waterloo Tyson plant became a coronavirus hot spot with 1,031 confirmed cases.  

Heckuva job, Kimmy!

Don't tell us you didn't see it coming.

Violation Tracker

Original 3/22/2016 post, "Massive pork plant in Iowa likely to provide low-paying jobs and dangerous working conditions for Hispanics", starts here.

Massive pork plant to bring 2,000 jobs to Mason City.  (Des Moines Register, 3/21/2016)

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for slaughterers and meat packers:

Source:  Bureau of Labor Statistics

Related reading:

Meat-Processing Firms Attract Hispanic Workers to Rural America.  (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 6/1/2006)

Between 1980 and 2000, the Hispanic share of meat-processing workers increased from under 10 percent to almost 30 percent, while the Hispanic workforce itself became mostly foreign born. While the rapid population growth and geographic dispersion of Hispanics since the 1990s has helped meet the labor needs of rural-based meat-processing plants, Hispanic settlement has also had social and economic implications for rural communities.

Demographics of the Meat Industry.  (Housotn Chronicle)

Immigrants.   Immigrant laborers joined the meatpacking workforce in the 1980s and their numbers continue to grow. In the 1980s, about 10 percent of the meatpacking workforce was Hispanic. By 2003, that figure rose to nearly 41.5 percent. About 4.1 percent are Asian and 12.7 percent are black. Workers who don't speak English are at a higher risk of injury because of language barriers, according to Human Rights Watch. Many are undocumented and are not aware of their rights. In meatpacking plants, workers often are dismissed when injured, so many injuries go unreported.

Slaughterhouse Workers.  (Food Empowerment Project)

Historically, a significant percentage of the workforce has been African American. In recent decades, an influx of Latin American workers has been seen across the country, partially due to active recruiting by the corporations. Today, approximately 38% of slaughterhouse and “meat”-processing workers were born outside of the U.S.