We need to keep pressure for a 14 day closure with widespread testing upon reopening. 3 days is not enough time to ensure this doesn’t continue to be a hotspot for spread.
Smithfield Foods will close its Sioux Falls plants for three days, the company announced Thursday.
The decision to close comes less than 24 hours after Health Secretary Kim Malsam-Rysdom confirmed that more than 80 employees had tested positive for the new coronavirus.
The company will suspend operations in a large section of the plant on April 11 and completely shutter the Sioux Falls facility on April 12 and April 13.
“Smithfield is taking this action out of an abundance of caution for its 3,700 employees in Sioux Falls, a portion of whom have tested positive for COVID-19,” said a news release sent to the media Thursday morning.
This move is anything but “an abundance of caution” and weeks too late to protect our local community here in Sioux Falls.
“I’m not a fool,” said one employee when asked about the bonus that was being offered before the temporary closure. “Five hundred dollars isn’t worth our lives.” https://bit.ly/2Rqy3To
Lets make our voices heard and help protect our community members and ourselves!
Dakota Rural Action urges everyone to please call and demand a 14 day closure with full pay for hourly workers. These employees are our community’s most vulnerable and they are depending on the collective community voice to help protect their health and wellbeing. This is 190 out of 352 or 54% cases in Minnehaha county. (These numbers from Smithfield don’t include family members or close contact related to workers. DOH officials said they’re working on contact tracing. Six of the 190 patients have been hospitalized.)
Screening processes should be implemented upon reopening. We cannot allow our most at risk community members to be collateral damage for profit by large multinational corporations with the blessing of our local South Dakota leaders.
This is from our friends at SD Voices for Peace:
We urge concerned community members to act and make their voices heard:
- Contact Smithfield EVP of Public Affairs and Compliance, Kiera Lombardo at
757-365-3000 or emailklombardo@smithfield.comand respectfully ask for the following:
- Assure that the plant in Sioux Falls, SD suspend operation for 3 weeks, offer full wages to all employees during this suspension of operations and fully sanitize the plant to assist in flattening the curve at Smithfield;
- Assure that all employees be immediately tested for COVID-19 and ensure that all households of those who have tested positive in the past through the future are tested too AND cover testing costs if there is no health insurance coverage;
- Assure that all employees be given hazard pay, not a $500 incentive called “Responsibility Bonus” to continue to work through a pandemic if they show up to work through the rest of the month! Reports received are indicating that employees who are sick are showing up to work to receive this “Responsibility Pay”.
- Assure that if an employee has a temperature or any symptoms of COVID-19, the employee be quarantined at home for 14 days. Reports indicate that those with doctor’s notes saying “high risk” are returning to work and employees with temperatures of 100.3 have also returned to work; and
- Assure that all employees are shown an instructional video in all major languages spoken at the plant on how to properly sanitize and how to mitigate risk of exposure upon returning home to families.
- Contact the Mayor of Sioux Falls at 605-367-8800 orptenhaken@siouxfalls.organd ask the following:
- Assure testing of all employees at Smithfield covering costs if employee does not have health insurance coverage;
- Assure testing of all Smithfield employee households where employee has tested positive, covering costs if employee does not have health insurance coverage;
- Because employees of Smithfield will not be eligible for Families First Coronavirus Protection Act,offer monetary employment assistance for those who have tested positive and been exposed to COVID-19 until no longer contagious and can return to work;
- Track incidences of racism and bias directly related to communities of color and COVID-19 bias;
- Encourage Sioux Falls Police Department to classify crimes against communities of color with evidence of COVID-19 bias to be classified as a hate crime; and
- Provide transparent information on the location of the “hot spots” in Sioux Falls, the steps being taken to test those exposed, the contact tracing measures are taking place, and the way in which those in high risk exposure are being notified.
You can also sign this online petition asking Smithfield to close for two weeks and pay employees.
Change.org Petition for temporary closure
Contact information is below:
Kiera Lombardo is the EVP of Public Affairs and Compliance at Smithfield: (757) 365-3000 klombardo@smithfield.com
Sioux Falls City Council
| Office of the Mayor
Paul TenHaken 224 W. 9th St. Sioux Falls, SD 57104 Office Phone: (605) 367-8800 Office Fax: (605) 367-8490 Erica Beck, Mayor’s Chief of Staff ebeck@siouxfalls.org |
City Council Office
Carnegie Town Hall 235 W. 10th St. Sioux Falls, SD 57117-7402 Council Phone: (605) 367-8080 Council Fax: (605) 367-7801 |
District #1 (Southwest)
Marshall Selberg 7512 S. Denton Ave. Sioux Falls, SD 57108 Voicemail: (605) 367-8819 |
| District #2 (Southeast)
Rick Kiley, Vice-Chair 3809 S. Lisanne Ave. Sioux Falls, SD 57103 Voicemail: (605) 367-8102 |
District #3 (Northwest)
Greg Neitzert 2024 S Shaw Ave, Sioux Falls, SD 57106 Voicemail: (605) 367-8109 |
District #4 (Northeast)
Pat Starr 5305 Lake Placid Cir. Sioux Falls, SD 57104 Voicemail: (605) 367-8809 |
| District #5 (Central)
Curt Soehl 235 W. 10th St. Sioux Falls, SD 57117 Voicemail: (605) 367-8110 |
At-Large Council Member
Christine Erickson 1109 S. Hyanns Port Ln., Sioux Falls, SD 57106 Voicemail: (605) 367-8818 |
At-Large Council Member
Janet Brekke 235 W. 10th St. Sioux Falls, SD 57117 Voicemail: (605) 367-8808 |
| At-Large Council Member
Theresa Stehly 1621 S. Van Eps. Ave. Sioux Falls, SD 57105 Voicemail: (605) 367-8806 |
Minnehaha County Commissioners
| County Office
415 N. Dakota Ave. Sioux Falls, SD 57104 Phone: (605) 367-4206 Cindy Heiberger 25499 467th Ave. Hartford, SD 57033 Phone: (605) 951-7684 |
Jeff Barth
3605 E. Raven Oaks Cir. Sioux Falls, SD 57103 Phone: (605) 371-0154 Dean Karsky 415 N. Dakota Ave Sioux Falls, SD 57104 (605) 367-4206 |
Jean Bender
8502 E. Saddle Creek Rd. Sioux Falls, SD 57110 Phone: (605) 582-7740 Gerald Beninga, 4205 S. Lewis Ave. Sioux Falls, SD 57103 Phone: (605) 339-1921 |
US Congress
| U.S. Senator John Thune
Republican U.S. Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 Washington Office: John Thune U.S. Senate SD-511 Washington, D.C. 20510 Phone: (202) 224-2321 Fax: (202) 228-5429 logan_penfield@rounds.senate.gov Sioux Falls Office: 5015 S. Bur Oak Pl. Sioux Falls, SD 57108 Phone: (605) 334-9596 |
U.S. Senator Mike Rounds
Republican U.S. Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 logan_penfield@rounds.senate.gov Washington Office: Mike Rounds 4 Russell Senate Courtyard Washington, D.C. 20510 Phone: (202) 224-5842 Fax: (202) 228-5765 Sioux Falls Office: 320 N. Main Ave. Suite A Sioux Falls, SD 57104 Phone: (605) 336-0486 |
U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson
Republican U.S. House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515 john.weber@mail.house.gov Washington Office: Phone: (202) 225-2801 Fax: (202) 225-5823 Sioux Falls Office: Phone: (605) 275-2868 |
Local Sioux Falls Reporting on developing Smithfield situation: