Meatpacking workers to get extra aid

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is announcing that meatpacking workers and farm workers who were affected by the coronavirus pandemic will be eligible for grants of up to $600 per person as part of a $700 million aid program.

Officials say the grants are meant to defray some of the costs workers bore as many of them bought their own protective equipment or took unpaid leave as the virus tore through their industries even as they were required to keep showing up for work.

Marc Perrone, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers union, says meatpacking plants saw some of the deadliest outbreaks and their workers deserve support.

“While the rest of America could work from home,” Perrone said, “these brave men and women continued to show up for work every single day to ensure that we all food on our tables that we could eat.”

The union estimates that at least 132 meatpacking workers died of COVID-19.