Frontline meatpacking workers are disproportionately people of color and immigrants

Workers who handle processing jobs in meat and poultry plants have less formal education than average U.S. workers and are more likely to be Black or Hispanic, born outside the country, and living in a home where English is not the primary language.

Frontline meatpacking workers are defined as people working in the “Animal Slaughtering and Processing Industry” in one of three classifications: Butchers and Other Meat, Poultry, and Fish Processing Workers; Packaging and Filling Machine Operators and Tenders; and Food Processing Workers, All other. Together these groups comprise approximately 194,000 people – over 40% of all workers in the industry.
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