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Pork, chicken plants allowed to run faster under waivers

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USDA says faster speeds improve efficiency

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Agency plans rulemaking to formalize speed increases

By Tom Polansek and Leah Douglas

CHICAGO/WASHINGTON, March 17 (Reuters) - The Trump administration said on Monday it plans to permanently allow U.S. poultry and pork processing plants to operate more quickly, raising concerns among advocacy groups about worker health and food safety.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture decision is a victory for meat companies and industry associations such as the National Chicken Council, which have advocated for faster processing line speeds.

However, it adds to health concerns about slaughterhouse workers, who often perform repetitive tasks with sharp knives and toil in extreme heat or cold.

USDA will start a process to make permanent higher speeds that it allows at some facilities under waivers, according to a statement. Chicken plants with waivers can process up to 175 birds per minute, compared to a previous limit of 140 birds.

The agency also will extend waivers, allowing facilities to "meet demand without excessive government interference," the statement said.

USDA's announcement cited a lack of direct links between processing speeds and workplace injuries, but research shows that meatpacking workers face a greater risk of serious harm.

Worker unions and other advocacy groups have long argued that greater speeds threaten food safety and pose a higher risk of stress injuries and accidents for workers. Immigrants and undocumented workers often fill meatpacking jobs.

"Increased line speeds will hurt workers - it's not a maybe, it's a definite," said Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which represents 15,000 poultry workers.

In his first term, President Donald Trump in 2019 issued a rule that allowed pork plants to run processing lines as quickly as they wanted. A federal judge blocked the rule in 2021 after a challenge from worker unions.

The Biden administration in 2023 allowed six pork plants to operate faster in a trial program for which USDA collected data on worker injuries.

Making the higher speeds permanent will increase stability for pork producers, the National Pork Producers Council industry group said.

USDA-funded data, released in January, found pork and chicken plant workers face higher risks than other manufacturing workers for musculoskeletal disorders, such as carpal tunnel syndrome.

Among six pork plants, higher line speeds were associated with greater risks for workers at one plant and lower risks at another, while line speeds did not make a statistically significant difference at four facilities, according to the data.

There was no association between greater speeds and higher risks for poultry workers, the data showed.

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate occupational illness cases reported in the animal slaughtering and processing industry were six times higher than the average for all industries in 2022. (Reporting by Tom Polansek in Chicago and Leah Douglas in Washington; Editing by Richard Chang)