Guestworker safety and health in Louisiana: Lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Guestworkers are a critical labor component of many industries considered essential to U.S infrastructure. Despite their essential role in the U.S. labor force, guestworkers are vulnerable to exploitative labor practices. This research aims to document guestworkers’ experiences in the Louisiana’s crawfish industry, and to demonstrate the marginalized role of guestworker labor in a major Louisiana industry. METHODS: News articles were reviewed to draw upon examples of workers’ experiences across the spectrum of labor abuse, ranging from worker mistreatment and non-payment of wages to workplace safety hazards and labor trafficking. Data on COVID-19 outbreaks at food processing plants reported by the Louisiana Department of Health were also evaluated. RESULTS:COVID-19 outbreaks at food processing plants in Louisiana resulted in the greatest number of cases in all state workplaces, representing about one in every five outbreak cases. As of March 2021, there were forty-one outbreaks and 1059 cases. Although not all the outbreaks occurred at seafood processing plants, more than one hundred workers at three Louisiana crawfish farms developed symptoms of COVID-19. Two whistleblower accounts filed with representation from the Seafood Workers’ Alliance, a New Orleans-based worker collective, depicted unsafe working and living conditions and a disregard of public health COVID-19 recommendations. CONCLUSIONS:The COVID-19 pandemic compounded guestworkers’ vulnerability to include a lack of public health protective measures in addition to longstanding labor abuses. This research highlights structural determinants of health inequities, such as unsafe and exploitative working conditions; and examines local public health approaches that can bring attention and resources to labor issues. As public health increases its focus on social and structural determinants of health, it can contribute to improved labor conditions for guestworkers. KEYWORDS: guestworkers, crawfish, labor rights, public health, COVID-19