* Senate committee to debate immigation bill on Thursday
* About 480,000 workers at 6,300 U.S. meat plants
* Plants struggle to find applicants for grueling work
By Charles Abbott
WASHINGTON, May 8 (Reuters) – Foreign workers could gain
visas for year-round work in U.S. meat processing plants under a
proposal by the meat industry and the meatpackers union for
immigration reform designed to create a steady supply of workers
for slaughterhouses.
The proposal, expected to be part of the Senate immigration
bill, would help assure a stable workforce, said industry and
union officials on Wednesday. The Senate Judiciary Committee was
to begin debate on the bill on Thursday.
There was no immediate estimate of how many jobs might be
filled by foreign workers. Around 480,000 people work at 6,300
meat and poultry plants nationwide, according to a trade group.
Over the past couple of decades, meat packers have moved
plants away from cities such as Chicago, and have drawn
foreign-born workers, especially Hispanics, to rural
communities. Industry officials say it is hard to recruit enough
workers. They would prefer three-year visas that can be renewed.
“These are not seasonal jobs. Many of these jobs take a lot
of training to do the job properly,” said Barry Carpenter of the
Food Manufacturers Immigration Coalition of livestock producers
and processors. “There’s a big safety-training factor as well.”
The initial version of the Senate immigration bill included
a provision for meatpacking and seafood workers. The language
was revised in recent days but would remain part of the bill,
said Carpenter.
Jill Cashen of the United Food and Commercial Workers said
the union and industry “have some over-lapping goals,”
especially on workplace stability, that led to the alliance on
immigration reform. A large portion of beef and pork plants are
unionized while poultry plants, concentrated in the southern
United States, often are not.
In a letter to the eight senators who took the lead on
immigration reform, the industry and union asked for more
flexibility in verifying that applicants can work legally. The
letter suggested deletion of a special allocation of visas
proposed for meat and seafood workers.
The largest U.S. meat companies are Tyson Foods, JBS
and Cargill.
