Meatpacking workers file lawsuit against OSHA, accusing agency of failing to keep them safe

By Eli Rosenberg
7/24/2020, 10:53:20 a.m.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is failing to do its job properly, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday by three meatpacking workers, who say the agency’s inaction has left them in danger.

The lawsuit accuses OSHA of leaving the workers in imminent danger due to what they say are hazardous working conditions at the factory where they work, run by Maid-Rite Specialty Foods in Pennsylvania, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

Maid-Rite Specialty Foods did not respond to multiple emails and telephone requests for comment.

Representatives for OSHA and the Labor Department did not respond to a request for comment. But OSHA officials have said that they believe its existing regulations, along with the updated guidelines put out during the pandemic, are sufficient to keep workers safe.

The lawsuit is one of several legal challenges seeking to compel OSHA, as well as private businesses, to act more forcefully to uphold protections around worker safety.

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