Eddy Packing confirms employees have tested positive for COVID-19

Yoakum meatpacking plant Eddy Packing Co. has confirmed a “higher than normal percentage” of its employees are not working because of COVID-19.

“This absenteeism is primarily due to an increased number of positive test results, suspected cases, or a desire to follow our new attendance guidelines,” company CEO Jim Reed said in a statement Wednesday.

The announcement of employees who’ve tested positive for COVID-19 comes three weeks after the company first declined to answer questions about the presence of the disease among facility workers.

On Thursday, Reed declined to say the number of employees who are ill because of the virus or the number of employees who are in self-quarantine.

While the number of affected employees remains unclear, several current and former plant workers said Eddy Packing was so severely affected by the virus that whole lines of operation were periodically taken out of commission.

Fourteen employees have told the Advocate they have tested positive for COVID-19 during the past two weeks.

Mario Mejia, a former team lead at the plant, estimated 60 employees have tested positive, while at least 100 are staying home from work while they recover or remain in quarantine with sick household members.

Mejia tested positive on June 29, the same day he was fired because he appeared in a video taken inside the facility, a violation of the company’s rules about recordings inside the plant.

The company employees between 400 and 500 workers, said Yoakum City Manager Kevin Coleman.

Reed said the transmission of the virus is not occurring at the plant where, last week, the Texas Department of State Health Services Region 8 conducted an onsite survey.

Egon Barthels, Lavaca County Office of Emergency Management director, said the health agency’s survey was to help with response to COVID-19.

“They were talking about taking a team in for guidance and to see what they were doing and help them to slow the spread,” Barthels said. “After that, we’ll find out if they’re going to do a testing of the plant or not.”

Barthels said he thinks the Texas Department of State Health Services is investigating a possible outbreak at the facility. He said that during a June 26 meeting DSHS officials, including Colin Davis, a program specialist in the department’s Region 8 office, confirmed some employees at Eddy did have COVID-19.

DSHS officials did not respond to repeated requests for comment during the past two weeks.

Coleman also confirmed that an unspecified number of employees at the plant had tested positive for the disease caused by coronavirus, but he and Barthels declined to give a specific number or an estimate.

“As far as numbers, they (the DSHS) only mentioned that there were some employees that had COVID, but they didn’t have them all confirmed,” Barthels said on June 26. “It’s still a gray area. I didn’t get any complete numbers as to if we have any complete positives out of Yoakum that were related to Eddy.”

Coleman said Thursday that the extent of his knowledge of the presence of COVID-19 at Eddy was that DSHS conducted a walk-through at the plant last week and the company expects results sometime this week.

Regarding food safety, Coleman said, “I don’t pretend to know which regulatory bodies are in charge of that.”

Meatpacking facilities, including JBS in Amarillo, made national headlines in April after outbreaks of COVID-19 occurred in the facilities’ crowded conditions.

After the outbreaks, President Donald Trump signed an executive order April 28, declaring meat processing plants “critical infrastructure” that should stay open during the coronavirus crisis. Invoking the Defense Production Act, Trump said plant closures “threaten the continued functioning of the national meat and poultry supply chain.”

Because of the executive order, employees are required to continue showing up for work, otherwise they can be terminated.

In an emergency provision related to COVID-19 under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, workers at companies employing fewer than 500 people have the right to two weeks of paid sick leave if a doctor recommends quarantine because of COVID-19, or they have COVID-19 symptoms and are trying to get a diagnosis.

Eddy Packing is paying the employees who are ill or quarantined, Reed said.

“We pay everyone that has a reason to be off on paid time off,” Reed said. “Anyone that’s had a COVID test, they’re getting paid. We track that on a regular basis. If they say they’re not (paid), they’re either mistaken or there’s something we don’t know about.”

Mejia said he is frustrated about the way Eddy Packing officials have treated its employees throughout the pandemic.

Like Mejia, the 14 Eddy Packing employees whose positive test results the Advocate confirmed were all concerned about working conditions.

“The way they’re handling this is very wrong. Since the outbreak they’ve been handling it completely unprofessionally,” he said.

Mejia described conditions in the plant as close quarters, particularly in Pack 1 and Pack 2, where workers pack finished meat products.

“It’s basically an assembly line. You’re within inches, bumping into each other,” he said. “There’s some jobs where you’re basically hugging each other.”

Reed said the company has screened temperatures, required the use of masks inside the facility and discontinued a number of its cafeteria services.

“In the majority of our jobs, but not all our jobs, people are significantly social distanced,” he said. “We have people that do have proximity. We’ve tried a number of screens but it’s been impractical.”

The statement from Eddy Packing said the company is committed to helping their employees.

“Eddy is committed to assisting our valued people and their families during this challenging period. Appropriate quarantine and isolation protocols are being followed. We are also collaborating with the Lavaca County health department and City of Yoakum to share information and access as needed.”

Lavaca County Judge Keith Mudd did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.

In response to Eddy’s statement, Barthels said Wednesday that he’s frustrated by the lack of communication between the company and county officials.

“If we need to get a test site over there, I need to know something,” he said.