Alejandro Murguia-Ortiz speaking at a Worker Solidary Procession in Des Moines May 2020 Jon Krieg / AFSC
UPDATE: Tyson suspends Waterloo plant supervisors named in wrongful death lawsuit.
AFSC Iowa and other groups recently joined the ACLU of Iowa in filing a complaint against Iowa OSHA charging a failure to protect workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Alejandro is an organizer with AFSC Iowa and Iowa Justice For Our Neighbors, soon to be Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice.
This issue is very personal to me. My parents and much of my extended family came to Iowa to work here in this industry and many of them still work there to this day. It’s work that they are very proud of. So for much of my life I’ve been familiar with the conditions of the plants, the disregard for safety, and the lack of worker power. For many reasons, workers don’t feel they have a voice in the company, and they fear retaliation for speaking up. It’s a culture where safety information is not adequately communicated, and internal complaints are largely ignored.
When the COVID-19 outbreaks started to pop up, there was little to no transparency from these companies, so it was up to us to be talking to workers and determining what was even going on. Workers were scared, and many were struggling to get helpful information from their employer. Workers didn’t get masks until it was far too late. Over 10 people in my family, including my mother and sister, tested positive with the virus. Thankfully nobody in my family has passed away from the virus, but some of my childhood friends and classmates lost a parent.
Throughout the summer, this coalition, in collaboration with other partners in the state, did Iowa OSHA's job of talking to workers and determining the conditions of the plant; but unfortunately there is only so much we can do. As I mentioned, workers dont have many avenues where they feel heard--Iowa OSHA should be just that. But it seems that they have refused to play that role.
For media coverage, visit Iowa Public Radio, KWWL-TV, Des Moines Register, and the Marshalltown Times-Republican. Alejandro shares more thoughts starting at the 20-minute mark of this Facebook discussion.