, the daughter of Saul Sanchez, a former meatpacking worker at the JBS meatpacking plant in Greeley, Colorado.
“His work ethic was amazing. If he had to be in at 6:00 in the morning, he was parked in the parking lot by 4:30 in the morning, which we always make fun of him for that," Betty Rangel, Saul’s daughter said. Saul had neatly trimmed black and silver hair, a round, gentle face, and kind eyes that peeked out from beneath his bushy eyebrows.“Because you could tell his fingers were crooked or shaped just the way he had to hold his knife and everything. I mean, obviously, working there 30 years had to take a toll on his hands,” Betty said.
Just three days earlier, Colorado governor Jared Polis had declared a state of emergency. The NBA had just suspended its season. The nation was starting to take the pandemic seriously. Maybe JBS would, too. Betty said Saul had heard JBS management tell workers who wanted to wear masks they’d risk getting fired. Apparently, JBS didn’t want anyone creating “panic."”He trusted JBS, the company, that if they were in danger, they would take care of their employees," Betty said."‘I'm sure if it's really bad, JBS will make sure to let us know or we'll provide whatever we need,'” she said her father told her.
“And he was very embarrassed. He didn't really want to talk about it, you know. But I think, I mean, how humiliating. How awful of circumstances do you have to be working in for them, [to] not even allow you to take a restroom break?” At the same time, behind the scenes, the meatpacking companies were doing everything they could to prevent worried or sick employees from staying home.
“Given his age, we informed him he was a part of a high risk population while he was on vacation, and encouraged him to stay home, which he did," the statement read. ”Yeah, she told me. She's like, Betty, there's so many people. JBS is doing nothing and people are getting sick. And once they're getting out from the hospital, they're telling them they need to go back to work or they are going to lose their job, even though they're still with COVID,” Betty said.Saul wanted to alert his co-workers. He asked Betty to call JBS, to tell them that her father had the virus.
He was the first employee at the JBS meatpacking plant to die in the pandemic. Hundreds more workers were already sick. Nevertheless, the JBS plant did close temporarily on April 15. The company installed plexiglass dividers and hand sanitizers, increased social distancing and started a mask policy. The plant reopened on April 24, 2020.
CDC wasn’t the only compromised agency. South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn, chair of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, said the committee’s report also found that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration helped meatpacking companies skirt worker protections. Two weeks later, on April 28, 2020, Trump signed a Presidential Executive Order that required the meatpacking plants to stay open, and “adopted themes and directives laid out in the meatpacking industry’s draft,” according to the House report.“We are going to sign an executive order today ... that will solve any liability problems,” he told reporters. “They had certain liability problems. And we will be in very good shape.
OnPointRadio With Trump’s help
OnPointRadio The Trump White House.
OnPointRadio Horrible. So many people lost their lives to help Trump try to prop up his poll numbers.