Protecting America’s Meatpacking Workers Act of 2021
Latest action · Jan 4, 2022 Referred to the Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedDec 13, 2021
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Protecting America's Meatpacking Workers Act of 2021
This bill addresses workplace conditions and safety with a particular focus on meat and poultry processing establishments and makes other changes to agricultural programs and activities.
Generally, the bill provides funding through FY2027 for hiring additional Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspectors and related activities. It also restricts an employer's use of certain attendance policies under which a worker is assessed points for absences with progressive discipline imposed as points accumulate.
Additionally, the bill expands protections for workers who exercise their rights under occupational safety and health laws and regulations. This includes specific protections and procedures for workers of meat and poultry processing establishments.
The bill expands workplace safety and health requirements that apply to meat and poultry processing establishments, including by prohibiting waivers (subject to limited exceptions) related to line speeds and inspections. Additionally, OSHA must issue standards for these establishments that address, for example, ergonomic program management and preventing occupational exposure to COVID-19. OSHA must also (1) establish, within seven days, a process for establishments to report COVID-19 information; and (2) publish certain regulations regarding a workers' representative accompanying an OSHA inspector during inspections of an establishment.
The bill provides funding through FY2031 for, and imposes additional conditions on recipients of, grants to improve meat and poultry processing facilities. Further, the bill increases funding for a program that supports regional and local food systems. It also requires country-of-origin labeling of beef, pork, and dairy products.
Cosponsors 4
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Dec 13, 2021 to Apr 27, 2022; 1 is an original cosponsor, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-OR | Earl Blumenauer | Original | Dec 13, 2021 |
| D-DC | Eleanor Holmes Norton | Jan 3, 2022 | |
| D-CT | Jahana Hayes | Jan 3, 2022 | |
| D-CA | Tony Cárdenas | Apr 27, 2022 |
Committees 5
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Agriculture Committee | Referred Dec 13, 2021 |
| Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Subcommittee | Referred Jan 4, 2022 | |
| House | Education and Workforce Committee | Referred Dec 13, 2021 |
| House | Oversight and Government Reform Committee | Referred Dec 13, 2021 |
| House | Committee on House Administration | Referred Dec 13, 2021 |
| House | Judiciary Committee | Referred Dec 13, 2021 |
Actions 3
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jan 4, 2022Referred to the Subcommittee on Livestock and Foreign Agriculture.
- Dec 13, 2021Introduced in House
- Dec 13, 2021Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committees on Education and Labor, Oversight and Reform, House Administration, and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 167, no. 214, December 13, 2021, page H7643.
Related bills 2
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 798 | Protecting America’s Meatpacking Workers Act of 2023 | Reintroduced Bill | Mar 2, 2023 |
| S 3285 | Protecting America’s Meatpacking Workers Act of 2021 | Related bill | Nov 30, 2021 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To improve protections for meatpacking workers, and for other purposes.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- Protecting America’s Meatpacking Workers Act of 2021
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Labor and Employment.
- Administrative law and regulatory procedures
- Administrative remedies
- Agricultural conservation and pollution
- Agricultural marketing and promotion
- Agricultural prices, subsidies, credit
- Agricultural trade
- Air quality
- Animal protection and human-animal relationships
- Assault and harassment offenses
- Border security and unlawful immigration
- Cardiovascular and respiratory health
- Civil actions and liability
- Climate change and greenhouse gases
- Competition and antitrust
- Congressional officers and employees
- Congressional oversight
- Consumer affairs
- Corporate finance and management
- Correctional facilities and imprisonment
- Department of Agriculture
- Department of Labor
- Emergency medical services and trauma care
- Emergency planning and evacuation
- Employee leave
- Employee performance
- Employment and training programs
- Employment discrimination and employee rights
- Food industry and services
- Food supply, safety, and labeling
- Foreign labor
- Foreign language and bilingual programs
- Government employee pay, benefits, personnel management
- Government studies and investigations
- Hazardous wastes and toxic substances
- Health technology, devices, supplies
- Infectious and parasitic diseases
- Intergovernmental relations
- Judicial review and appeals
- Labor and Employment
- Labor market
- Labor standards
- Labor-management relations
- Legal fees and court costs
- Livestock
- Meat
- Mental health
- Minority employment
- Musculoskeletal and skin diseases
- Public contracts and procurement
- Public participation and lobbying
- Racial and ethnic relations
- Refugees, asylum, displaced persons
- Sex offenses
- Small business
- State and local government operations
- Temporary and part-time employment
- Wages and earnings
- Water quality
- Wildlife conservation and habitat protection
- Worker safety and health
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Dec 13, 2021Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
