GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) — An immigrant rights group is speaking out against conditions at area meat plants linked to the ongoing spike of the COVID-19 coronavirus in Brown County.
Voces de la Frontera (Voices from the Border), based in Milwaukee, says at least one local worker was fired for speaking out against conditions at American Foods Group in Green Bay.
Filiberto Reyes-Martinez has worked at American Foods Group for two years, but he hasn’t been to work since April 22nd.
“While we were working we were sweating so hard that it made our masks wet and our sweat was falling on the meat,” Reyes-Martinez said through a translator Wednesday.
Reyes-Martinez says they’ve had to work without replacement masks and don’t have enough personal protective equipment. He says when he supported another worker who said conditions were dangerous, he was let go by his manager.
“He said that if we didn’t like it, there was the door, and we could leave” Reyes-Martinez claimed.
An OSHA complaint has been filed on Reyes-Martinez’s behalf.
Group spokesperson Christine Neumann-Ortiz says they’re asking American Foods Group to implement changes, including allowing Reyes-Martinez to return to work.
“We see the need for personal protective equipment, comprehensive testing for symptoms, and policies and compensation that encourage people not to come to work sick,” said Neumann-Ortiz.
Voces de la Frontera claims that several area meat packing plants have paid workers bonuses for coming to work during the pandemic, which Neumann-Ortiz says has only encouraged workers to work their shifts while sick.
Many employees at area meat packing facilities are immigrants, and employees say social distancing messaging has been limited in languages other than english.
“They might speak english, but some may not know how to read or write,” said AFG employee Raquel Sanchez, who has tested positive for COVID-19. “I think that’s where the confusion may come. The [communication] needs to be more verbal.
Calls made to American Foods Group were not returned as of Wednesday.
