COVID-19 Safety Concerns Prompt Walkout at Perdue PlantCOVID-19 Safety Concerns Prompt Walkout at Perdue Plant

About 50 workers at the Perdue Farms poultry plant in Kathleen, GA staged a walkout on Monday morning in response to growing concerns about the safety of employees in the facility during the novel coronavirus outbreak, a local CBS News affiliate reported. 

“We’re not getting nothing – no type of compensation, no nothing, not even no cleanliness, no extra pay – no nothing,” Perdue employee Kendaliyn Granville told WMAZ. “We’re up here risking our life for chicken.”

Granville said in the news broadcaster’s report that some workers who have been exposed to COVID-19 remain at their production line posts and that the company has failed to sanitize the building after shifts.

Deputies from the Houston County Sheriff’s Office were called to the Kathleen plant to disperse workers who remained outside after the walkout to protest.  

A statement to television news station WGXA said the company is now deep cleaning the plant every two hours and cleaning procedures have been intensified in high traffic areas of the plant, like locker rooms and break rooms. Perdue has provided four weeks of paid leave to the workers at the Kathleen plant and it is also working to make its leave policies less rigid. 

“We know that many are feeling anxious during these uncertain times, and we’re doing everything we can to take good care of our associates while continuing to produce safe and reliable food,” Perdue said in a statement to the Salisbury Daily Times. 

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