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Maryland’s farmworkers, poultry, and seafood workers are crucial members of our communities - yet they lack the basic protections from COVID-19. Their working conditions, housing, low-incomes, inability to access healthcare, pesticide exposures, and lack of protections make them particularly vulnerable to COVID-19.
For the rest of us in Maryland, we rely on them to pick the watermelons that are synonymous with summer, pick the crab meat that we turn into crabcakes and soup, and slaughter and pack the chicken that was so scarce on our shelves early on in the pandemic.
Maryland has already seen outbreaks in poultry plants and crab picking houses. Many of these workers are exempt from paid sick leave and other worker protections, and their ability to work directly impacts their ability to remain in the United States.
Other states, like Virginia, have issued Emergency Temporary Standards to protect workers with required, not recommended, practices.
Join us as we ask Governor Hogan to issue an Executive Order for mandatory COVID-19 protections for these workers who are putting their lives at risk to put food on our tables.