SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) — Gov. Kristi Noem said she is doing everything she can to protect Smithfield employees, despite advocates saying workers’ voices have been unheard as state government responds to the COVID-19 outbreak there.
Noem appeared on KELO Radio’s It’s Your Business Friday along with Nancy Reynoza, an advocate for Sioux Falls’ Latino community and a member of the South Dakota Dream Coalition. Reynoza said she’s heard stories from Smithfield employees that don’t match what the company has said publicly.
“The bathrooms are extremely dirty. The cafeteria doesn’t have paper towels, doesn’t have water running for them to wash their hands before they eat,” Reynoza said.
Smithfield’s Sioux Falls plant is closed indefinitely after more than 800 employees tested positive for COVID-19. The company says it plans to improve worker safety before the facility reopens.
United Food and Commercial Workers, the national union that represents Smithfield, said Monday its workers should be prioritized for testing and personal protective equipment, given their employees “have found themselves on the frontlines of this public health crisis.”
Reynoza told the governor she agreed with the assertion, but Noem implied a “frontline” designation may be a step too far.
“That is a definition that’s reserved for health care workers: for doctors and for nurses,” Noem said. “It’s never been used in an employee situation like this in a critical infrastructure business in the state of South Dakota.”
Noem said she would “make wise decisions based on what we have the ability to do.” Both Noem and Smithfield have stressed the importance of the plant to keep the nation’s food supply running.
Reynoza told the governor she believed the administration wasn’t giving proper credence to employees’ version of events.
“It looks like nobody’s really paying attention to what the employees are saying. They’re paying more attention to Smithfield on its own,” Reynoza said.
The governor said she “wholeheartedly disagrees” with that assertion.
“As soon as we had this hotspot, I was the one who said we have to pause; we have to go in there and make sure Smithfield’s doing everything they can to protect employees,” Noem said.
Noem cited a CDC report her office released Thursday about conditions at the plant. The report contains 11 pages of recommendations for the plant to improve working conditions, including barriers between workstations, staggered shifts and face coverings.
“I’m the one who released the report, for heaven’s sake,” Noem said. “The CDC didn’t put it out. Smithfield didn’t. The Department of Ag didn’t. I put it out. I put it out so you could see that report, Nancy. So who do you think is caring about taking care of these employees and being transparent?”
Smithfield first announced it would close on April 9. At the time the closure was expected to only last three days. Reynoza and others orchestrated a drive-by protest at the plant that night.
“Three days is not enough. Three days should have been done the first day they had a case,” Reynosa said at the time.
The next day, Noem called the three-day plan “appropriate” while acknowledging she was having “honest, frank conversations with Smithfield.” Noem and Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken recommended a two-week closure on April 11. Smithfield announced the next day it would close indefinitely.
Reynoza and Noem agreed that Smithfield workers want to get back to work as soon as the plant can safely open.
“There is somebody that is willing to risk their life and go to work and provide food for our tables,” Reynoza said. “We need to be more thankful of what they’re doing.”
